Hamilton is DONE at Mclaren

That's the line the teams like to put forward for obvious reasons but the public identifies more strongly with individuals than with abbstractions like teams.

Just look at the ads. I don't see McLaren pitching Tag Heuer watches.

Tell Tiger Woods that he's not a brand

 

Oh thats really interesting. Tell that to the Ferrari merchandising department. Ferrari sell quite a bit of gear without ANY driver on it. As does Mclaren. See that at any race.

LH is not even close to the brand Mclaren is or MS for that matter if we want to talk drivers. Without an F1 drive LH has what to offer - 1 title and a popstar girlfriend. Not the stuff of marketing dreams.

He needs more than that to make a brand. He has a long way to go. He doesnt keep the watch contract without a drive. I guess his singing career will cover it. He has enough not to work but he is not a world marketing power like Tiger. Not even close.

MS has done the best with it and I dont see the LH management making those moves. He's tweeting data from the team. Hardly the reliable pitch man 1 needs for a quality product. Poor headwork doesnt sell much these days.

The brit press is making mince-meat of him. Not a legacy building weekend for LH, watch contract or not. Highly entertaining though

 

Both corporations and individuals can be marketed successfully. While individuals can be harder to manage the public does identify more readily with them.
For better and for worse.

 

The hookers still love him...
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ah ghetto

 

The brand is the car+driver combo. Ferrari and Schumacher had tremendous brand identity. Would the same have been true of Rubens coupled with Massa? I'd think not.

LH is not a pitchman for McLaren, nor was Schu or Alonso for F1...they are part of the product. Bad boy drivers have been around as long as "gentleman" drivers. As long as they win races, both are great for their teams. F1 can absolutely exist without LH, FA, MS, etc., but their presence makes it more exciting and more popular.

At the end of the day, the gifted are a different lot than the average person. They have terrible personalities or solid ones, they live on the edges or live solitary lives, they party hard or avoid the public...but they are never just "one of us". They come with headaches, but those are often counterbalanced by their brilliance.


EDIT: LH may be a similar marketing power to Tiger now, but NOBODY ever could match him at his height. He was a transcendental figure (and a terribly flawed one at that)

 

Odd how so many here tout the WDC over the WCC.

 

Before I jump him for those pics, are those current? If so "growing up" needs to be at the top of his New Year's resolution list.

He looks a bit younger in those pics though...plus there's not Nicole.

 

If you mean this year then yes, they are current. and i read in the same article Nicole wanted to split, and went as far as celebrating her birthday in Vegas earlier this year amongst other things without him. They've worked things out for now I suppose.

 

You only have to look at the threads lengths on here, when Hamilton is mentioned, that should give you a indication of his marketing power.

 

Agree with Krafty...he needs to figure out his priorities and drop the entertainment stuff. Too many people riding your jock will make you think the world does, in fact, rotate around you.

At this rate, he's going to be closer to "Irv the Swerve" than Ayrton or Schu....

 

Yes. Like I said, it's not whether you're a gentleman or a bad boy, it's the ability to draw interest. Actually, bad boys tend to stir more attention (in all facets of life).

 

WCC is corporate...there is no face


...ah, nevermind, you're making the point about brand.

 

Thank you.
Even the Massa Sux threads make that point.
As the old saw goes " don't care what you say as long as you spell the name right".

 

Maybe that's why I like him and kimi in that sense..

In all seriousness I can't stand the team public PR BS anyway.

 

Individual as brand.

 

A pleasure as always..
The old saw LOL...

 

The hooker pics are a few months old, as is the middle finger one. But they don't matter much really (except that his taste in hookers is piss poor...on his salary he could get some fine girls, even if he was scraping the barrel they'd be better than these ghetto sluts, lol). This topic is about what he does directly with McLaren, good and bad. His life outside of F1/McLaren isn't important much. I doubt many on here would want to see what the average 20 to 30 year old employee of theirs does on his average weekend...

 

Not at all.

Pete

 

If the company is the brand not the driver shouldn't the WCC be the bigger deal?

 

I still remember when Kimi was piss drunk in Monaco and did a face plant off a yacht lol.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VW2oAkjcJ4[/ame]

 

Or the day of the launch of one of their F1 cars when he went to a stripclub, got drunk and started dancing/stripping on stage....lol!

 

then subsequently passing out at the front door as he was trying to leave =D

 

And don't forget his non-chalant responses during interviews which are epic.