My studies drove up our sales
Real life storiesMark McKenna MBA (Warwick) is Head of Operations, having previously been Head of UK Marketing, for the car firm SEAT. He used his project to set up a new communications strategy to position the SEAT brand firmly within the sports car sector.
Mark set up a championship race for up to 20 competitors. Each drove the same front-wheel drive turbo-charged 250bhp Leon Cupra R specially built by SEAT for the event. The Holiday Inn SEAT Cupra Championship became the biggest prize in British Motorsport. Totalling over £500,000 the winner got a paid manufacturer drive in a British Touring Car in the 2004 FIA European Touring Car Championship and the use of an apartment in Monte Carlo. Rob Huff won the prize and launched his career as a racing driver. He is currently a World Touring Car driver for Chevrolet, winning his first race in the Czech Republic in 2006.
Mark sponsored the TV series Racing Rivals which captured the competitive world of up-and-coming racing drivers as they strove to become professionals. He also positioned SEAT as playing a crucial part in the development of racing talent by creating a training programme for young drivers. This included sports psychology, media training, sponsorship, professional sports fitness, and nutrition.
I am convinced the knowledge and skills I gained during the Warwick MBA allowed me to enter a new business arena of motor sport with confidence and a winning strategy.
The Holiday Inn SEAT Cupra Championship was a phenomenal success for SEAT.
We sold twice as many Leon Cupra Rs as planned, our enquiry levels are at an all-time high and our sales are 24 percent higher in the first six months of the year, when the overall market is stable.
It's also been rewarding to watch young racing drivers develop as they took part in the programme, becoming much more accomplished in front of the camera, and giving better value to their sponsors.
