FINISHING STRAIGHTTHE FINAL LAP
from Rich Energy’sshareholdersattr ibutingthi s to “the rogue actions
of one indivi dual” whom they were“in the pr ocess of l egally removing
fromall executive responsibilities”. Rich Energy’s Twitteracco unt
fired back w ith a copy of a letter fromthe team’s lawyers casting
doubt on their abi lity to do this.
Acoll eague fro m
Autosportmagazine
trackeddownthe
shareholdernamedon
theletter,whoclaimed
Storeyhad failedtojoin
ascheduledconference
callto discusscertain
pressingissues–o ne
ofwhichwastheimpending 11July deadlinebyw hichcosts fromthe
aforementionedcourtcasehadtobepaid.Therewasalso thematter
ofan outstandinginvoicefromHaasfor£6million.Thetiming ofthis
coincidedwith theTweetannouncingtheendof theHaas sponsorship.
When staging a coup, one of yourfirst acts must be tocut off
communications before youpark your tanks on the lawn andremov e
the leader. This RichEner gy’smutinous investors palpably failedto
achieve as Storey continued to Tweetfrom
the company account.
At Silverstone I spoke to a number of
people in theF1 pa ddock with experience
of the en ergy drink business, some more
successfulthan others. Eachpointed out that
it’s not theeasy moneysome peoplebelieve
it to be,principally because orchestrating
the supply chain is challenging at thesort
of scales required,especially if distribution
arrangements aren’tin p lace anddemand
is uncertain. “Andthe en d of theday,” said
one, “You’re not goingto make your fortune
selling it on Amazon.”
In recent months Rich Energy ha d
broughtformer Sainsbury’s boss JustinKing
on board, a man with the necessary contacts
to get p roducton shelves. But it appears
that tensions behind thescenes betweenthe
shareholders andtheir eccentric CEO came
to a head before thatcame to pass.
And now Storeyhas sold his controlling
stake inthe business to “a thirdparty” –
seeminglya company that specialisesin
acquiring insolventbusi nesses.Yet another
F1 story of what might havebeen?There arethosewho subscribeto the belief
that any publicity is good publicity, as well asits
close cousin,Oscar Wilde’sbon motthat there’ s
only one thing worsethan being talked about,and
that isnotbeing talked about.Even so, who can
fathom thethinking – if indeed there wasany –
behind Rich Energy’s approach to public relations
during its intersection with Formula 1?
The company’s hirsute CEO William Storey
specialisedin a certain type of bomb ast from the
off, declaringthe carbonatedbeverage“bet ter
than RedBull”. I’d have putthat claim to the
test if I couldever have gothold o f a can of the
st uff. Indeed, when finding againstStor ey, Rich
Energyand its web designers in a copyright case
concerning theuse of a st ag’s head logo in May,
Judge Melissa Clarke wrote that Storey had
“a tendency to make impressivestatements,
which onfurther investigation orconsideration
were notquite what they seemed”.
Whether you enjoyits Taurine-tinged fizzy pop
or not, one thing youmust concede about RedBull
is that its marketing isslick and lavishlyproduced.
The images and videos Rich Energy publishe don Twitter, typically seekingto demonstrate that- yes! – canswere onshelves in sundry retail
emporia, hadpro duction values mo re in common
withRentaghost.
As I write, RichEnergy’s future is uncertain.
On theeve of the British Grand Prix,the
company’s official Twitter account announced
the firm was unilaterallypulling the plug on its
Haas sponsorship on accountof the team’s “poor
performance”.Haas responded with a statement
RICH ENERGY: A
PR OWN GOAL?
PICTURE:JOEPORTLOCK.ILLUSTRATION:BENJAMINWACHENJE@CoddersF1 facebook.com/f1racingmagPICTURES114 F1 RACING AUGUST 2019
STUART CODLING
FLAT
CHAT
{ {
FULLTHROTTLE
MUSINGSWITHCEOWilliamStoreyatthe
officialannouncementin
FebruaryofRichEnergyas
titlesponsorofHaasTHEREWAS ALSO
THE MATTER OF AN
OUTSTANDING INVOICE
FROM HAAS FOR
£6 MILLION
F1Racingnowhasapodcast!
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