The power of a brand is all about the perception of it by the market place. Its integrity is vital to maintaining a healthy view from those that purchase the product. McLaren’s integrity has been compromised by the recent actions of its employees, both directly and indirectly. Thus the ‘McLaren’ brand is currently tarnished.
Think of key brands in our everyday life – Coca Cola, Toyota, Microsoft, McDonalds. Like it all not they can have a powerful influence on the day-to-day lives of billions of people in the world.
Why? It is all about the positive emotions that they can evoke in people, particularly trust, comfort, reliability and security. Because of this people keep buying their products. Even minor brands in our own world or culture do the same. It is often referred to as brand power.
Now think of what happens to the perception of the brand if any of these strong emotions are corrupted. An extreme example of this was the ‘melamine’ episode in China. The Sanlu brand is now perceived as worthless, the company bankrupted.
Near the end of the 2009 Australian F1 Grand Prix the safety car came out after a collision between Sebastian Vettel, (Red Bull), and Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber). Straight after the crash while in third position, Jarno Trulli (Toyota) momentarily went off the track and was passed by McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton.
The Toyota driver then overtook the reigning world champion (illegal under safety car conditions). After a stewards hearing straight after the race he was penalised and demoted to 12th place. But new evidence revealed that Hamilton had been told by his team to let Trulli through, contrary to what he told the hearing - this is where he deceived the race stewards.
It is now known that Lewis Hamilton and David Ryan,his team manager have lied to the FIA and thus to the public. The FIA has released a statement* regarding their findings and penalised the team, reinstating Trulli to third. Subsequently Lewis Hamilton has apologised and the McLaren team have suspended Ryan.
An adult doesn’t suddenly start lying; it is a learned behaviour. A child lies and learns the difference between right and wrong. An adult has a learned sense of right and wrong and therefore chooses to lie in order to better their position. When individuals lie for their employer/company/team it can reflect a prevalent element in the culture of that entity.
Personally this episode leaves a sour taste in my mouth, and I start to question my loyalty to the McLaren brand over other more appealing F1 teams. I’m not sure if it is the lying or the incompetence. You see what they did was just plain dumb. How would they think that they would get away with this defies belief, particularly with video and audio footage readily available.
More concerning is that one has too ask if this episode reflects a culture within the McLaren team that doesn’t sit well with the way the brand is perceived. Given their recent history with falling out of favour with the FIA and the rest of the paddock over certain Ferrari papers that ‘fell’ into their hands, one has to questions how honest they were over their handling of that matter.
In the end it is the market place that can decide the fate of brands. Strong brands built on solid foundations can stand the test of time. In the end McLaren will survive albeit slightly tarnished. The brand is bigger than it’s drivers who will eventually be replaced.
From the FIA Press Release
*During the hearing, held approximately one hour after the end of the race, the Stewards and the Race Director questioned Lewis Hamilton and his Team Manager David Ryan specifically about whether there had been an instruction given to Hamilton to allow Trulli to overtake. Both the driver and the Team Manager stated that no such instruction had been given. The Race Director specifically asked Hamilton whether he had consciously allowed Trulli to overtake. Hamilton insisted that he had not done so.
The new elements presented to the Stewards several days after the 2009 Australian Grand Prix which led to the reconvened Stewards Meeting clearly show that:
a. Immediately after the race and before Lewis Hamilton attended the Stewards Meeting he gave an interview to the Media where he clearly stated that the Team had told him to let Trulli pass.
b. Furthermore, the radio exchanges between the driver and the Team contain two explicit orders from the Team to let the Toyota pass.
