Misstep for TikTok on the day Aston Martin announces partnership extension
Aston Martin and social media platform TikTok have today announced the extension of their partnership, setting ambitious—but somewhat controversial—goals. The Anglo-Canadian team’s marketing director explained that the initiative aims to give content creators more opportunities to access Formula 1 and produce their own videos.
While this is a positive goal, it was paired with another announcement, which some felt was poorly worded, by TikTok’s marketing head. The statement outlined plans not only to expand Formula 1’s fanbase but also to specifically focus on increasing engagement from female fans.
The announcement from Aston Martin and TikTok
Rob Bloom, Chief Marketing Officer of Aston Martin, was the first to speak, sharing the news with content creators: “From the very first day of our collaboration with TikTok in 2021, we shared a common vision of giving our fans a leading role in shaping the culture and community within our sport. Together, we opened the doors of F1 to the TikTok community. Fans continue to be a constant source of inspiration for us at Aston Martin. In this next phase, we are committed to expanding the creator engagement program, giving them greater behind-the-scenes access and further amplifying our moments together with fans.”
Next, Aoife Moran, TikTok’s European sports marketing director, added a statement that inadvertently drew a distinction among fans: “From day one, our partnership with Aston Martin has aimed to offer fans a more authentic Formula 1 experience. The TikTok community has helped generate real-time content. Fans can watch, interact, and feel part of the action. We are excited to continue leveraging this momentum and opening the sport to a new audience, particularly female fans.”
Partnership results so far
Alongside the announcement, Aston Martin highlighted some achievements of the collaboration with TikTok. Since 2021, the F1 team and TikTok have sought to bring fans closer to Formula 1 through authentic, community-driven storytelling. Since then, F1’s fanbase on TikTok has seen significant growth: the sport has generated 9.3 million posts, while the F1 TikTok account has grown 61 percent year-on-year.
An avoidable misstep
Some viewed Moran’s final comment as a minor misstep. Many women are already interested in motorsport, and emphasizing a need to engage them specifically may imply that TikTok intends to create targeted content as if there were a lack of interest. Motorsport has its own audience—some men and boys love it, some don’t, and the same applies to women. Perhaps it would have been better to avoid making distinctions between fans in this way.
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