Ellie Norman, chief marketing officer of Formula E, wants to evolve how people think about car racing – it’s gone electric.
“My vision as CMO is simple but ambitious: to make progress thrilling,” says Norman.
“Formula E isn’t just a motorsport Championship, we’re the progressive challenger brand in global sports. We’re not trying to be the electric version of another racing series. We’re building the next evolution of motorsport.”
Launched in 2014, Formula E – ABB FIA Formula E World Championship– is the international single-seater motorsport sport featuring exclusively electric cars. The event showcases advances in electric car technology in races on temporary street circuits set up in cities around the globe. Since joining, Norman has brought global brand experience from Formula 1 and Manchester United to grow the sport’s audience through creator-driven content and culturally resonant partnerships.
“My role is to transform an incredibly exciting sport into a broader cultural movement by meeting modern fans where they are,” explains Norman. “That means combining world-class street racing with music, gaming, fashion and sustainability to create experiences that resonate beyond race day.”
“As we continue growing our global fanbase of more than 420 million people, my focus is on creating participatory brand experiences that prove performance and purpose don’t compete with one another, they actually strengthen each other,” she adds.
Brand Innovators caught up with Norman to discuss redefining motorsport marketing by blending culture, creators and innovation. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What is the brand’s mission and how does this show you up in your creative?
Our brand is built around one core belief: we’re driven by a different energy. Our mission is to accelerate sustainable human progress through the power of electric racing. Rather than simply talking about sustainability, we demonstrate what progress looks like at over 200 miles per hour on iconic street circuits in cities like Tokyo, London and Monaco. Creatively, we bring that to life through fearless storytelling, bold innovation and bringing fans closer to the action.
Whether it’s short-form social content, long-form documentaries like Formula E: Driver on Amazon Prime Video or experiences like Evo Sessions, we focus on creating emotionally engaging stories that showcase the human drama behind the sport. We think of Formula E as a sport built on positive contradictions, where engineering meets instinct, data meets danger and sustainability meets high performance and that creates a distinctive creative identity unlike traditional sports marketing.
Can you talk about reaching audiences through sport?
Sport remains one of the world’s most powerful platforms for creating real-time emotional connections, but the way fans consume it has fundamentally changed. Today’s audiences expect more than a traditional race broadcast. Our approach is to build an omnichannel ecosystem where the race itself is the heartbeat, but every surrounding experience becomes another entry point into the brand.
For example, during the Tokyo E-Prix we’re combining racing with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s GX Action Festival, showcasing Japanese car culture through collaborations like Andretti and Liberty Walk, supporting grassroots initiatives such as FIA Girls on Track and introducing AI-powered fan experiences through our Race Center.
The goal is to give fans greater access, personalisation and participation, turning casual viewers into lifelong advocates.
Can you talk about how you are reaching Gen Z?
Our Gen Z audience values authenticity, innovation and participation over traditional marketing.
We refer to our audience as culture drivers, people who naturally move between sport, gaming, music and creator culture. To reach them, we build creator-led experiences that feel native to the platforms they already use.
EVO Sessions is a great example. Rather than simply hiring creators as ambassadors, we embedded them directly into the sport by pairing them with Formula E teams and drivers before giving them the opportunity to drive our race cars themselves.
That authentic collaboration has helped significantly expand our reach. TikTok has grown 37% year over year to become our second-largest platform, while creator partnerships continue introducing Formula E to entirely new audiences.
At the same time, innovations like our upcoming GEN4 car, which accelerates from 0–60 mph in just 1.8 seconds reinforcing the innovation and excitement that resonate with younger fans.
What are the biggest marketing challenges you are facing and how do you address these issues?
The biggest challenge today is standing out in an increasingly fragmented media landscape while maintaining brand integrity. With every brand competing for limited attention, it’s critical to stay disciplined. We follow a 70-20-10 approach: 70% focuses on proven marketing activity, 20% tests new formats and optimizes existing work, and 10% is reserved for experimentation and innovation.
Equally important is remaining authentic. We’re not trying to be everything to everyone, we’re focused on being the progressive challenger brand in motorsport. Another challenge is connecting purpose with performance. Rather than treating sustainability as a corporate obligation, it’s embedded into everything Formula E does. As the first sport to achieve both B Corp Certification and BSI Net Zero Pathway validation, sustainability isn’t separate from the racing; it actually enhances the technology, speed and spectacle that define our product.
How have your experiences at other companies helped shape your perspective in your current role?
Every step of my career has reinforced one consistent belief: people buy people. At Honda, I learned how to translate complex technology into compelling human stories. Virgin Media taught me the value of challenger thinking and moving quickly. At Formula One, I helped lead the sport’s marketing transformation under Liberty Media rebranding the championship, expanding digital storytelling, elevating driver personalities and helping launch initiatives like Drive to Survive, esports and broader collaborations across music and fashion.
Manchester United then gave me experience managing one of the world’s most passionate fan communities while strengthening my understanding of reputation management and long-term fan engagement. Today, Formula E combines the agility of a scale-up with the platform of an FIA World Championship, allowing us to take the best lessons from entertainment and legacy sports while building a modern sports brand designed for the future.
How are you thinking about brand partnerships?
We view partnerships through the lens of shared value creation, shared purpose and cultural integration.This isn’t about logo placement, it’s about building meaningful collaborations that create value for both brands and fans. A great example is our partnership with Tinder, our Official Sparking Connections Partner. While it may seem unexpected, both brands are ultimately focused on creating real-world connections, encouraging self-expression and helping people make the first move.
Whether we’re working with technology leaders like Google Cloud and Infosys to enhance the fan experience, global partners like ABB and Hankook to advance sustainable innovation or lifestyle brands entering the Formula E ecosystem, we treat every partner as a co-creator.
Formula E provides a platform where brands can experiment, innovate and connect authentically with an audience that actively embraces progress.
