How Marquez’s signing elevates Ducati’s presence in the global spotlight

Modern civilisation has completely changed its habits in consuming information. Social media, not just for the younger generation, is now the primary source people use to stay informed about current events. Two key factors come into play here: the packaging of the product and the media figure presenting it.

The signing of Marc Marquez, the only rider on the current MotoGP grid who transcends the paddock and the sport itself, places Ducati at a level far above the global visibility of its brand and that of its sponsors.

While Ducati may not have needed Marquez from a sporting perspective, his signing could propel the Italian manufacturer into the big leagues in terms of media presence. The communicative impact of the team presentation last Monday in Madonna di Campiglio alone justifies the association.

When Ducati decided to sign Marquez last June, foregoing a rising young talent like Jorge Martin, some doubts arose about the motivations behind this move. It didn’t align with the recent hiring philosophy and forced Ducati to leave out the Spaniard and lose Italian rider Enea Bastianini.

There were also other significant implications, such as the irreconcilable enmity between Marquez and Valentino Rossi, an Italian national idol, Ducati partner, and friend of Francesco Bagnaia, and what that means when the Spaniard visits circuits in his new team’s home country.

However, during the two-day presentation in Madonna di Campiglio, where Ducati gathered over 400 guests including clients, distributors, personalities, media and influencers, any doubts about the risk of signing the eight-time world champion were completely dispelled.

The impact on social media and traditional media was colossal compared to previous years or other teams, and the brand’s fans ended up captivated by the charm of the new star.

The question of whether Ducati needed Marquez has answered itself without the rider even taking to the track yet. The team’s Instagram post about the presentation crossed 2.5 million views in the first 24 hours, reaching 3.6 million just two days later.

A year ago, when the 2024 line-up featuring two-time world champion Bagnaia and Bastianini, an all-Italian duo, was presented at the same venue, the post, which can still be seen today, doesn’t even reach half a million views.

Marquez is a ‘global product’, known beyond the sport and an enormously attractive hook for the sponsors that support Ducati’s sporting project.

“Setting aside the performance aspect, which we analysed thoroughly in the months leading up to the decision, Ducati held constant meetings with our main sponsors, including of course Lenovo, with whom we carefully analysed the possibility of signing Marc,” explains Mauro Grassilli, Ducati’s marketing and communications director, to Motorsport.com.

“As a result of these meetings, many analyses and data studies, Lenovo conveyed their interest to us: ‘We want Marquez because in terms of visibility, he is an international rider, a global rider. We are a global company and we need an ambassador who is universal,’ that was their reasoning,” explains the Italian executive.

Campioni In Pista with Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Photo by: Ducati Corse

“An assessment based on studies and data that lead our title sponsor to believe that Marc brings the added value of brand visibility that transcends the MotoGP paddock,” Grassilli continues.

“Apart from the performance contribution at a sporting level, the data from the analysis from a communication and visibility point of view were extremely important for Lenovo, and they conveyed this to us.”

The influence of social media

As mentioned, nowadays people stay up to date through social media, whether to get informed, entertained, or directly make purchases, and whoever has more followers has more value for brands.

Last year in Assen, 15 days after Ducati announced Marquez’s signing, the Spaniard was directly asked if he ‘sold’ more than Martin: “Yes, of course. That’s not a bad thing,” said the Catalan, before trying to prioritise his sporting value over his commercial value.

“But if that had an influence it’s something you have to ask Ducati, I’ve only spoken with Gigi Dall’Igna,” added Marquez, who currently has 7.3 million followers on Instagram, plus 2.7 million on X, formerly Twitter.

These are numbers that no other rider on the current MotoGP grid can compete with, and only Fabio Quartararo exceeds two million (2.4) and four other riders exceed one million followers: Bagnaia (1.7), Maverick Vinales (1.5), Alex Marquez (1.3) and the champion, Martin (1.1). The rest are below, with Alex Rins at 905,000 followers and Pedro Acosta and Jack Miller barely reaching 0.9 million.

This media strength, this value on social networks with such a positive impact as Instagram offers, were arguments considered by Ducati when making its decisions.

“It’s a crucial piece of data,” acknowledges Grassilli. “We don’t have the final figures yet, but this year’s team presentation has broken the record for views in Ducati’s history for an event of this nature.

“These are the best numbers since we started doing streaming presentations,” he reveals. A success for which Marquez and his fascinating power of seduction among fans and the general public are largely responsible.

Campioni In Pista with Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Photo by: Ducati Corse

“Everything Marc brings from the Instagram and social media perspective is extremely important. It’s an instrument that Ducati will be able to use in the future to increase its brand value,” adds Grassilli, aware that Marquez alone has more followers than the Ducati Corse team (1.5 million) and the manufacturer itself (6.2), the Italian considering the rider’s signing fully justified “at all levels, both commercially and, obviously, on the sporting front.”