Thank You for Seeing Us: How Elemis is Changing Formula 1
An interview with Amy Mansell, Chief Partnership Officer at Elemis
One year into their groundbreaking partnership with Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team, luxury skincare brand Elemis has proven that female-focused brands not only belong in Formula 1, but they’re also thriving. Sarah Kaye sat down with Amy Mansell, Chief Partnership Officer at Elemis, to discuss the unexpected success of this partnership and what it means for women in motorsport.
Sarah Kaye: January marks the one-year anniversary of Elemis’s partnership with Aston Martin. What’s been a highlight for you over this past year?
Amy Mansell: First off, I can’t believe it’s been a year - it’s gone so quickly. There have been so many highs, but one in particular has been the response from the female community: our customers, female fans, and women within the sport. We had such incredible positive social sentiment. We had over 99% positive social sentiment on launch, which I think was record-breaking.
But more than the numbers, it’s been the women reaching out to me personally, sending notes saying “thank you for making us feel represented and heard in a place that traditionally didn’t feel built for us.” I think we’ve captured the hearts and minds of the female fan base and women within the sport, and we want to continue doing that.
SK: That must be so rewarding. I heard you speak about the female response, but what about the male fan base? How are they getting involved?
AM: Great question. Look, our customers are predominantly female, but our products are for everyone - my husband absolutely loves Elemis! Part of the partnership is about reaching new audiences. And while we are showing up for women in the sport, in our Paddock Club pop-up spa in the Aston Martin Aramco suite, the treatments have been as popular with men as with women.
We tend to see that women are having hand and arm massages because they’re made up for the day, whereas the men are having facials, most of them for the first time. So it’s absolutely been one of the byproducts of the partnership and a very welcome one. We had hoped to recruit new customers on the male side, but we’re also really proudly showing up for the women in the sport and helping them break boundaries.
SK: I absolutely love that you’re not only making a welcoming space for women, but you’re showing how women and men can be fans together in F1 and find common ground.
AM: Absolutely. The sport’s for everyone.
SK: What was the catalyst for Elemis partnering with Aston Martin and Formula 1?
AM: Formula 1 has become this cultural phenomenon, and as part of that, off the back of Drive to Survive, there’s been a huge growth in the female fan base. Now over 42% of F1 fans are women. Traditionally, brands haven’t been showing up for women within this space. We saw an opportunity to change that and be a part of the movement to make the sport a more inclusive space.
SK: Do you have any advice for other brands that focus on female audiences and how they might get involved with Formula 1?
AM: I think there’ll be lots of movement towards more female-focused brands in the future. The one thing I’d say is that F1 fans are very switched on, and they really need brands to show up in ways that are authentic and relevant. Make sure that’s true to who you are as a brand, and that you’re showing up authentically and adding value to fans and the experience.
SK: How has the partnership impacted the brand? What type of growth have you seen?
AM: We did a brand health survey through Fluency, and before the end of the year, we saw a 23% brand awareness increase amongst F1 fans versus the general population, which was phenomenal. We’ve also seen that F1 fans are twice as likely to purchase Elemis. And if you’re an Aston Martin F1 fan, you’re three times more likely to purchase Elemis.
So we’ve had some really strong initial data, coupled with social sentiment, brand love, cultural relevance, and all the phenomenal feedback we’ve had across the partnership.
SK: That’s amazing growth. How are you going to build on that next?
AM: No pressure, right? We’ve only been going for a year, and we’ve just started. We’re excited to do more. We want to build and do more wellness trackside and take our skin spa, our converted Airstream, to more fans. We launched it at the British Grand Prix last year, and it hit the road, bringing our immersive pit-stop treatments to the fans. We want to do more of that. We’d love to continue championing and telling the untold stories of women behind the sport and deepening grassroots involvement as well.
SK: Elemis is a technical skincare line. Do you see any alignment or similarities between how your product works and gets developed compared to F1 teams?
AM: Formula 1 is fundamentally about performance, innovation, technology, and engineering. Skincare has those same principles. When you put that together and couple it with the growing female audience, this partnership makes huge sense. There’s absolutely a lot of overlap, and it was one of the reasons why we looked at the sport in the first place. There really is more overlap than you would initially think.
SK: I’ve learned more about Elemis; it’s incredible to hear about the technical side of it and your focus on performance, not just flash. Is there anything that the female fans have taught you or influenced how you’re approaching this partnership?
AM: One of the things that has really come across is the importance of community amongst female fans. We’ve seen the importance of support. Sometimes at races, I meet female fans who are there with other fans they met through social media - they’ve got collectives.
In fact, there’s Alexandra from Off to the Races, whom we’ve supported this season. She runs a hospitality program that takes groups of women to Formula One races so they don’t have to travel alone. There’s that kind of community. I think we’ve learned a lot about building community and supporting it with watch parties, and hopefully, we can continue to build and support the female community within the sport.
The Elemis and Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team partnership continues to set new standards for how brands can authentically engage with Formula 1’s rapidly growing and diverse fan base.
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