McClaren shows off the benefits of thinking big

There are few things I find less interesting than cars … even ones that go fast around tracks.  But I have loads of respect for Interbrand as a thought leader on marketing strategy, so when they invited me to one of their "Utopian Nights" chats with a marketing bigwig, I made a point of going.

Even though he was going to talk about cars.

Sure enough, turns out McLaren is about much more, and marketing boss John Allert offered ideas we could take into any industry.  Here are the three that struck me most profoundly.

ONE:  Think sideways.  We're all programmed to go in a straight line.  Build on what we know, and keep making it bigger.  McLaren, which always has a need for vast amounts of cash to develop their cutting edge machines, got creative about that.  They looked at their core skills, saw what was transferrable to other markets, and started transferring.  They're not about cars, it turns out.  They're a cutting-edge engineering company with insightful management.  So now they have sidelines in management consulting and predictive analytics, doing stuff like making toothpaste production plants run better.  A lesson for us all on the possibilities of diversification.

TWO.  Unactivated sponsorships aren't worth having.  McLaren wants to work with smart sponsors, and isn't even interested in people who just want to slap their logo on the car.  Even hospitality packages are on the passé end these days.  True partnerships that last for a long time, build ongoing relationships, combine the expertise of both companies … that's where the value lives.

THREE.  Environment matters.  We'd all accept that our homes are extensions of ourselves.  So why do so few companies treat their offices as extensions of their brand?  McLaren commissioned its justly-famous, Foster-designed headquarters as the physical manifestation of its corporate soul.  High tech and innovative, they pushed the boundaries so far that their own engineers had to design a new system to hang the previously-unmanageable sizes of glass sheets for their vast exterior walls.  The message continues inside, where offices are cleaned four times daily to mimic spotless laboratories, and employees wear uniforms to evoke the dedication and speed of F1 pit crews.

I may not care much for cars, but I like McLaren's business style.  And I love their architecture.