Inspiring and thought-provoking day at McLaren

There are fewer sports that are pushing the boundaries of technology further than F1.

The minute details and incredibly small margins between success and failure are what attracted me to the sport many years ago.

This was the era of the genius Ayrton Senna and the ruthless Alain Prost. Both of whom, along with many of their peers, showed bravery beyond what the average fan can comprehend. Going into corners at frightening speed and waiting until the rest last millisecond to tap the brakes is a type of bravery only gifted to the very few….but we can all be brave in our own way.

Therefore, the HQ of one of the most famous and prestigious F1 teams was a fitting setting for the latest “Brave Leaders” Society event: “Enhancing performance at McLaren”. Obviously, The Marketing Society is not advocating being “brave” by navigating your journey to work in a manner that would be better suited for Silverstone, but they do mean making brave decisions in marketing, strategy, vision and execution.

“We are at our best when we’re at our bravest” – John Allert, CMO, McLaren

In the surroundings of the most impressive and futuristic auditorium that I have been in, at McLaren’s Technology Centre in Woking, after Stephen Maher’s (The Marketing Society ambassador) opening speech, Allert opened the proceedings for McLaren. He took us through the history of McLaren and spoke about the importance of the brand: “we needed to find something that was fundamentally true for every part of our brand”.

Next up was Rob Bloom who is widely seen as a highly inspiring and influential digital marketer proven by his inclusion in Leaders of Sport’s “Leaders Under 40 Awards – Class of 2017”. Rob talked us through how McLaren have driven fan engagement beyond the track. He also discussed how agility is fundamental to the success of his team.

“Your brand is never too big to be agile” - Rob Bloom,  group digital director, McLaren

What was interesting from Rob’s presentation was that it was evident that agility is a mindset that he is driving within his team and other internal departments. Often, clients and agencies alike, are determined to follow textbook agile “processes” that can actually hinder natural agility. This not the case at McLaren as it appears their people are given the freedom and autonomy to be agile outside the realms of a framework.

I was lucky enough to get a moment of Rob’s time during a coffee break and he talked to me about how he wants to create a more central hub of data to enable more efficient and targeted marketing. For example, those with the necessary levels of disposable income (a lot) that allows them to purchase a McLaren, are going to enjoy a race day experience at the track which will help generate customer loyalty and brand advocates.

Mike Collier, head of human performance at McLaren Applied Technologies, then spoke to us about how he and his team ensure that everything is geared towards getting the very best from their drivers from the rookies right through to Jenson Button, Stoffel Vandoorne and Fernando Alonso. Although top-level athletes are a rare breed, there were some great tips and advice that can be applied to an office environment in terms of getting the best out of your people.

To close proceedings, Simon Roberts, COO at McLaren, presented on the future McLaren before joining a Q&A with Mark Temple, Team Leader Simulator Development at McLaren, chaired by Maher. Simon provided some wonderful insights on how they have gone about creating a “high performance culture”.  They have clearly been extremely proactive and forthcoming in gathering employee feedback and opinion over the last few years. It was evident that this is not always easy reading but Simon truly cares about the happiness and enjoyment of his employees.

We then jumped on shuttle buses that took us over to the main building where 12 randomly selected delegates took part in the “Pit-Stop Challenge” whilst all of us not selected to take part looked on enviously.

After a bit of lunch, we were treated to a tour of the highly impressive facilities, which included a peek behind the scenes of the production factory for the McLaren road cars. We concluded the tour with a look at McLaren race cars that have shaped the organisation over the last 55 years including Bruce McLaren’s first racing car and the legendary McLaren MP4/4 (which won 15 out of 16 races in 1988).

We then jumped back on the shuttle buses to go back to the station and head home. Reflecting on the way back with my colleague, we were in agreement that the day had been excellent. To get this type of access to senior leaders at an inspiring brand in an exciting industry….well, it sums up what The Marketing Society is all about!

By Robert Yardy, head of business development, MMT Digital