If you sat in a meeting with marketing types and discussed the brand values of Ferrari, one of the words that would pop up immediately is “passion”. The fans of the Italian race team are called the tifosi, a word that derives from the typhus fever. The implication is that the fans are feverish in their passion for the red team. Whatever the case, all Italians seem to be Ferrari fans.
I met one last night at the opening event of the Wrooom week in Madonna di Campiglio. It was an agreeable buffet dinner in the Hofer Hall of the Grand Hotel Des Alpes, where once the Habsburg emperors used to pass their winter months. It was a chance to catch up with F1 pals after six weeks apart and to meet some of the locals.
This is what I love most about F1 because you never know who you are going to meet next, and a lot of them seem to be unusual people. Last night it was the Marquese Anselmo Guerrieri Gonzaga, a delightful Italian aristocrat who speaks English like an Englishman and makes very fine wines at his Tenuta San Leonardo vineyard, near Verona. Like all Italians he is a big Ferrari fan and gets to visit a few races each year, thanks to the fact that he is married to the daughter of the boss of Pirelli.
Luca Colajanni. © Sutton Motorsport Images.
The job will now be taken over by Renato Bisignani, who was previously the Business Development Manager of Ferrari, having joined the team from Renault F1 Team in March 2010, where he spent nearly five years in the commercial department.
The Scuderia always seemed unique in the way they used to send their PR man to face the media. I can’t remember having ever seen a PR person from any other team for similar tasks. Most of the times it looked awful! From the outside Colajanni did not look exactly like a charming person. Whenever he got in front of TV cameras he looked like having been beaten for whatever reason and frequently talked in defensive style. It looked like a journalist from the Cold War era. I never saw him smile. It’s hard to grasp why his role looked so different from all other PR persons in F1.
Joe, maybe you can shed some light on this. Can I say that most people with PR roles in F1 are women? Isn’t this nowadays a job which requires secretarial skills?
I reluctantly have to agree with this. He may well be a lovely, and certainly is a passionate-for-Ferrari, man, but… I’m not sure he ever did them many favours; certainly not when interviewed by the BBC in most cases!
Anyway, best of luck to him in his new role!
Let me add that after reading some Italian blogs most people seem to be happy that Colajanni got “promoted” to production cars! Most of their comments are not very polite….
For once, lots of people agree with me
Joe,
I’ve always wondered about the information you and other journalists such as yourself have on events like the ones that transpired on 2007 and couldnt expose at the time for some reason or another.
Do you think you will ever be able to publish such sories with all those inside details that give you a better understanding of what transpired? in other words, Is there some kind of statute of limitations on the “radioactivie” components of such stories? or is simply a case of being unable to 100% corroborate the facts and thus exposing yourself to Libel claims?
I imagine that the info you must have on all those events must make some very interesting reading.
There will come a time when the true story can be written, but that will involve a few people no longer being with us. Libel is a difficult thing to work around sometimes.
I didn’t think libel was an issue if journalists printed the truth!!
Truth is something you have to prove, in legal terms. It is not that easy.
Libel under English law is a tricky beast. Also there’s no legal aid for it.
The rich always have the advantage in law because they can go on paying lawyers for longer…
Oh to be able to rummage through your files!
If Bernie has a few filing cabinets of contracts worth a few billion, then one assumes that Joe & David must have a few files, just waiting to be written worth the same amount or close to it. Of course starting with that small incident of 2007. Now that would be worth paying to read.
I’m still waiting for Nigel Stepney’s book…
As a marketing type, I wouldn’t describe Ferrari’s brand values in terms of passion. Passion might well be one of the best descriptions of the attributes of the tifosi but not of the brand. The brand demonstrates to me images of luxury, sporty performance, and masculinity.
But, above all, heaps of money!
And Mr. Colajanni is a NASCAR fan? Or is he studying how to bring the NASCAR finances/management/ownership structure to F1 as you have suggested Joe? Nice article.
I remember seeing Kimi skiing (or was it snowboarding) at this event in the past. Are the F1 drivers allowed to ski these days or is it considered to risky?
No, they are skiing.
Will Luca Colajanni’s move have any bearing on the Horse Whisperer?
Good question.
No. In Italy everybody seems to think the horse whisperer is Montezemolo himself.
Do you mean future whispers might become a little hoarse?!
Who or What is “DT” ? Thanks in advance.
David Tremayne. My business partner in GP+, who is often mentioned in this blog.
And on no account ever to be referred to in the plural!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delirium_tremens
nice underarm reading…Regards,Cameron