#prastri

[monacobby]

what thoughts 🤭

(in reference to my tags about the uptick in lily being featured on oscar’s ig)

lmao, i think oscar has really adjusted his pr strategy over winter break. and yes, i do think mark stepping back plays a role in that.

his online presence since he joined mclaren has been very focused on racing, its been detached and impersonal in my opinion. and originally, i do think that was to combat the alpine fallout, but then i think it morphed into trying paint a certain picture of where oscar’s focus is (that mark would have been invested in).

i think in the fallout of losing the championship, they took a hard look at what was and wasn’t working. and i think painting oscar with more substance than just racing, is one of the adjustments (this also relates to the shift in oscar taking responsibility for his aus crash, which i do not believe personally he would have done last year).

[adeleb23]

Oscar is becoming unbearable. Arrogant. Whiny. Self absorbed. Awful. I've always had a soft spot for him but he's becoming SO unlikable it's not even funny. Genuinely thinks he's gods gift to motor sport. So incredibly unattractive.

[monacobby]

Read your thoughts on Oscar's evolving pr and image strategy, very insightful!! Would love to hear what you think about Lando's over the years and what you expect for the future

lando’s strategy over the years has been a much more obvious one to me! it likely became clear very quickly to his team that lando has an appeal beyond traditional motorsports audiences, and he entered f1 at the perfect moment to capitalize on that with dts propelling the sport into the zeitgeist at the same time.

they used things lando already had interest in, starting with streaming then expanding that to youtube with landologs, even things like lando.jpg, and eventually quadrant to cement him as a personality. the way into caring about lando the driver was via caring about lando himself and feeling like you have access to him. honestly, it was hugely smart bc when you get into f1 you dream about a career with longevity, which i’m so grateful lando now has, but you never actually know the hand you’ll be dealt. and having a dedicated fanbase who likes you for you vs. you tied to your sport, set him up to have a fallback (that he’s never needed).

access and humanity was always central to the strategy around lando. there are certain people who i fully believe would have tried to media train lando to be less forthcoming with his emotions, and paint a picture of that traditional champion, but his team knew there was power in letting him be open.

this doesn’t come without its drawbacks though, and the evolution we’ve seen over the past year i think is a result of those, which sadly manifests less “real” access to lando. however, i think the other piece of meaningful change we saw last year was an emphasis on wanting to enjoy himself over winning. and while i do genuinely think lando cares about enjoying his life, i also feel strongly there was a concerted effort to push that narrative during a time where it looked like the championship might be slipping out of his grasp. it felt like it was a shift to set the stage for people’s investment in him not being impacted by the sport.

as for the future, this is already a novel so i won’t go in depth, but lando has (imo) one of the strongest personal brands on the grid so i think he’s set up for long term success in sustaining interest regardless with what happens with f1 (which some other people, have taken note of i’m sure and are trying to replicate 😉)

[monacobby]

@passengerprincipessa messaged me to talk about oscar’s revamped social presence while i was pitching social strategy to a client on zoom. in my head this is what was happening.

“excuse me, yeah sorry can we pause?? people are waiting for me to weigh in about a racecar driver’s latest post. no, i know you’re a paying client but like. the people are waiting. they need to hear my thoughts.”

[monacobby]

oscar’s new sm strategy !!!

he loves to prove me right and i love being right!!that last pic is going to birth a thousand “he’s so boyfriend” posts, it’s all part of the game (x)

[monacobby]

dare i ask for more info on you think alex is direct comp for oscar’s pr strat…..im intrigued….

so, we know alex has a social media manager because he's mentioned before that lily sends this person content. that's exactly what got my wheels turning about alex being the direct comparison to oscar's strategy. i think that is EXACTLY what oscar's lily has been asked to do (and is doing) this year. i feel fairly confident her personal oscar content is being fed to a social media manager to curate these dumps to craft this new boyfriend image— just like alex.

and it's working!! the existence of @foxlaren's "who is the ultimate pinterest boyfriend" poll between oscar and alex proves it. oscar lost criminally, but like the fact it's even a thought in anyone's head....... 👀

[monacobby]

REALLY into your theory of the Oscar media strategy for 2026 (if I've understood it correctly - selling him as the Boyfriend Type to remedy the emotionless accusations?) and I have to say that I see what you mean more and more every day. oh Mark knows what he's doing

guys you can’t keep stroking my ego like this, i love being right and influential too much (don’t stop)

yes!! the boyfriendism is the crux of it, but also just in general trying to paint him as having a life outside of racing. i swear every day i sign onto this website and there’s something new that feeds the theory.

the thing that is up for debate to me is the part mark actually plays in this rebrand. i feel very confident based on whisperings of the way mark likes to manage that oscar’s previous image was carefully curated by mark. and i don’t know if i agree that this new one is equally guided by mark. i think if he had his way, oscar would stick to the previous strategy. i think they had to do some serious regrouping over winter break and with mark stepping back a bit, that plays a role in the rebrand. i think mark is on board but he wishes they could play the game his way.

[monacobby]

i actually think that this quote from oscar from last gp does explain a lot and makes scenes for him tbh, strategy or not "once you've got some results, you feel a bit more comfortable showing yourself more, not being the super professional f1 driver all the time and letting your personality show."

the thing about good strategy is that it should make sense for you!! loosening up after having a successful season aligns with things we know about oscar. but also to play devil’s advocate, oscar led the championship for most of the year last year, and we didn’t see that switch until regrouping after losing. and after someone stepped away from being as involved with managing him. i 100p agree, this is the right decision for oscar and feels natural to the version of himself we saw pre-mclaren, but i also think there’s an alt universe in which people would have continued to guide him towards a different image.