2023 has been a sensational year for DriveTribe and as it draws to a close, we wanted to reflect on what has been an exceptional period.
This year has seen significant changes, predominantly behind the scenes, for us. As our main channel continued to grow, we acquired the talented Centric Creative team in August enabling us to position ourselves as a complete automotive content production and distribution house with some of the best talent available on our roster.
We also launched our first ever in-person event which was held at the Haynes Motor Museum during a glorious day in October. The dream of bringing our online community together was something we have had for a long time, so to finally meet so many of our supporters and help put on a show for you all was fantastic to see.
In terms of the YouTube channel itself, we finally hit the 2.5 million subscriber milestone and have just launched the ‘More DriveTribe’ channel which gives car enthusiasts further opportunities to see what we get up to behind the scenes.
With so many eyeballs engaging with our content, we have also continued to grow the presence of a host of various car manufacturers and aftermarket companies we have partnered with. We’re glad to have worked with so many different partners this year and look forward to continuing our work with building these relationships in 2024.
However, DriveTribe is a family, both in front and behind the lens. We recently asked the team to share their personal highlights of 2023 and here is what they had to say:
Richard Hammond – Creative Director:
“Seeing the DriveTribe community come together at DriveTribe Live was a really amazing thing as we got to mirror what we do on-screen for our channels in the real-world at the event – and with a tonne of genuine DriveTribers! But the whole year has been huge for DriveTribe and to finish 2023 in such a great position, with so much growth and opportunity is a testament to Dave and the team. Bring on 2024!!”
Dave Murdoch – Managing Director:
“For me, it was the moment – after the acquisition of Centric Creative and the launch of DriveTribe Live – that we went from being ‘a group of highly engaged social media channels’ to a full-blown power-house automotive media company with in-house production, marketing, mass distribution, talent, vehicle assets and events all in one place.
Putting the slides together to describe that evolution and describing it for the first time was a great moment – as was being surrounded by absolute experts in their fields across every facet.”
Nick Fox – Head of Operations:
“We have been absolutely spoilt with a year of fantastic opportunities and experiences. A stand out one was the coming together of Centric Creative and DriveTribe, which paves the way for an extremely exciting future for all involved. I would say that the inaugural DriveTribe event at Haynes came a close second. It was a fantastic turnout and was so great to see the community all come together.”
Mike Fernie – Head of Video:
“Filming a country-crossing road trip with Richard was a lot of fun, and Richard very much seemed to be in “Grand Tour mode” throughout, with some great moments across the few days of filming, all while getting to share my favourite road with him. We just don’t talk about our hotel in Scotland!”
Lucy Brown – Marketing Director:
“I joined the video team on one of our most ambitious projects filming the launch video for NIO ET5 Touring across Europe. It was incredible to see our team come together on such a large project in such amazing locations. The end result was an epic video which we were so proud to see go live.”
Eve Rawlings – Junior Marketing Manager:
“One of the more prominent memories from this year was from our first DriveTribe Live event at Haynes Motor Museum.
“After weeks of the team pulling together and organising every little piece of the event, seeing it come together so smoothly on the day was amazing.”
Matt Woodley – Video Producer:
“Filming for Zap with their new EV scooter in London earlier in the year with the Bickers rig was a heck of a lot of fun, and a unique way to spend the day.”
Turner Crosby – Video Producer:
“Travelling to the Isle of Arran where we got to film the first drive of Martin was a big highlight for me. The location was stunning so the fact we also got to stay out there and film a few other videos was a lot of fun.”
George Pocock – Video Producer:
“Though being new to the company, in the past two months I’ve had so many great experiences and memories. Getting to film Richard Hammond in a GT3 was very exciting – we all know how much Richard loves his Porsches.”
What does 2024 look like? Well, that would be spoiling the fun, wouldn’t it? We have already announced our next in-person event in June. You can register your interest here to get updates on when tickets go online.
As well as that, you’ll just have to keep tuning in to our channel. Let’s just say 2024 is going to be another massive year for us.
Finally, from all of us here at DriveTribe: Merry Christmas and we hope you have a happy New Year. Here’s to brilliant 2023, and an even bigger 2024!