Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms Morgan Oak at Le Mans

So was the sponsership of the Oak racing team by Morgan at Le Mans a success.
Certainly being at the race I did not see any signs of support ?

Did you not visit the OakRacing shop in The Village. full of special Morgan branded goods.

p.s. - hope you had a good time.

Missed you at St Saturnin. We were luckily it did not rain during the race.

What did you think of the cow sheds?

Andy, I'd suggest that the key to answering your question is how you define success.

If the exercise was designed to raise the profile of Morgan, then, even if one new person is aware of the brand, I'd suggest it was a success.

If, on the other hand, you had hoped for a Class win, 40-years after the last one, then no, it wasn't a success.

For my part, I am quite ambivalent about MMCs actual involvement in the Le Mans 24 Hours; perhaps like most British football supporters, I don't expect a win but had we done so, I'd have been thrilled (does that make me a fair weather racing fan? ). However, I always support the company putting themselves forward, in relevant activities, where they are able to bring the company name (and by default the product range) to an audience who may not be aware of what is on offer from MMC.

I was at the WEC at Spa
it was a great to come together with other Morgan-owners, Belgian import and some factory people (incl. Charles&Kiera)

couldn't make it to LeMans due to familiy-obligations
but would have enjoyed being there AND have a team participating
for whom I could feel some passion

take a look at this. oak racing at le mans

50!

...can you tell I was having an off day and trying to do too many things at once!

Lets just suppose that 10 extra people did become aware of the brand as a result. Lets suppose that 10% of them ie one person decided to buy a Mogan trad. Probably a bit optimistic since the race car doesnt bear any relationship to the road car at any level, but lets assume it anyway. Lets further suppose that MMC make a contribution about variable production cost on a trad of £5000, then that is the value of the sponsorship. Now how much did the sponsorship cost? £500k?

Very rough figures indeed but presumably someone at MMC knows the real numbers. My suspicion is that the return on the sponsorship is a bit like the return to the UK on the Olympics - dreamed up in the mind of someone looking for a reason for doing something he already has decided to do.

But then MMC is someone's personal toy so why not go to le Mans if he wants to do?

Howard, whilst I appreciate MMC should have a commercial case for it (including a clear plan to maximise ROI), I was simply commenting from an enthusiasts perspective.

Old habits die hard - I spent a working life running businesses and making decisions amongst other things on proposals to take stands at shows, run advertising campaigns etc . Difficult to think any other way than " is this a sensible business proposition?" IMO it wasnt - but it is Charles Morgan's company so he can do what he wants with it.

Interestingly enough, there is a parallel isnt there in Lotus sponsoring the ex Renault F1 team. Maybe more relevance since the Lotus brand is about modern design and track day type cars but even here I would question whether the cost is remotely worth while.