US-based AI company Perplexity will make its first entry into sports via a deal with Lewis Hamilton, SportBusiness can reveal.
SportBusiness understands that Perplexity, which was founded in 2022 and offers an AI-powered answer engine, went through an evaluation process that included conversations with several F1 teams, before landing on an individual agreement with seven-time world champion.
Red Bull Racing, Aston Martin and Williams were among the group of teams spoken to by the brand, but as conversations progressed it became clear that a deal with an individual with the reach of Hamilton would be more suited to the brand’s objectives than a team-level sponsorship.
Perplexity’s objectives include building brand awareness across global markets. This will be supported by a branding presence on Hamilton’s race helmet, as well as access to his vast social media following through collaborative content.
Speaking exclusively to SportBusiness, Ryan Foutty, vice-president, business, for Perplexity, said: “Whilst we looked at a variety of options across the grid, it was very clear that Lewis Hamilton was the best partner for us. We see a great opportunity to grow awareness of Perplexity and its capabilities through Lewis’s reach. The helmet branding exposure is significant and across his channels, he has a vast amount of fans who are really engaged and love following him.
“Already, Perplexity has seen organic growth through talking about the brand on social media and we see this as an extension of that to expand the audience both in terms of scale and to new areas, reach fans of sport and Lewis in different geographies around the world.
“It’s also exciting that Lewis transcends racing, he has his own businesses, his foundation, he’s a fashion icon who was just co-chair of the Met Gala, so that reach is vast across several areas. With all his success he also stands for greatness and excellence and those are brand values that we want people to associate with Perplexity – the faster you learn, the better equipped you are to pursue excellence in whichever domain you’re in. for us.”
While Hamilton did not previously hold a brand endorsement deal in the AI category, his employer Scuderia Ferrari has ongoing sponsorship contracts with AWS and IBM which include AI-related elements.
Drivers are typically required to avoid category conflict with team sponsors in their personal agreements. Some sources had earlier told SportBusiness that the presence of IBM and AWS in the Ferrari portfolio could provide a challenge to any deal between Perplexity and Hamilton, but it is understood that this ultimately didn’t become a significant factor or hold up negotiations.
Global sport
When Perplexity first considered accelerating its growth strategy by making a first move into sports sponsorship, F1 was the standout choice.
Foutty explained: “We immediately saw a greatly alignment with both the Perplexity brand and the product. F1 is a truly global sport which is synonymous with speed and the pursuit of excellence.
“Perplexity is all about giving you fast, accurate answers to your questions and building on that it’s about curiosity – not just answering questions but continuing the curiosity and asking better questions. F1 is incredibly cerebral, it’s all about technical strategy and its fans very much mirror that, so there’s a great opportunity to introduce Perplexity to F1 fans around the world.”
There is also strong geographical overlap between the F1 calendar and Perplexity’s target markets. While the brand’s ambitions are global in scope, its home market is the US, where three F1 Grands Prix are held each year. Some of its fastest growing markets include the UK, Spain, Italy, Japan, Australia, Brazil, all of which are stops on the F1 calendar.
Moving forward, Perplexity is interested in furthering its presence in sport. Foutty said: “We want Perplexity to be integrated into the fabric of culture and sport is a big aspect of that. In general, we’re interested in working with talent who stand for the pinnacle of excellence in sports. It could also be teams, but we’re particularly interested in talent, so we’ll continue to seek out the best people in their particular sport.
“There needs to be that alignment where the person or organisation is genuinely engaged with Perplexity so there’s that opportunity for authentic storytelling and we certainly found that with Lewis. There are many other sports that we think align with our core values and characteristics around being technical, cerebral and strategic. F1 is one of the best examples, but there’s a wide variety out there and those are the type of sports we’re interested in working in.”