Technogym supplies specialist equipment which is used by McLaren’s racing drivers to prepare for their gruelling sport at the headquarters of the Formula 1 Racing team in Woking. In early March, the company held a business leaders' day at the McLaren Thought Leadership Centre.

The day kicked off with a talk from ‘practical futurist’ and former global managing partner at IBM, Andrew Grill, who said all businesses need to embrace disruption to keep improving their offer to ensure they’re the very best at what they do.

He said social media is key and stressed the importance of “making data and loyalty your currency” and encouraging organic engagement – grab your audience or customers when they’re young and get to know their appetites while creating a sense of energy and drive.

Group digital director for McLaren, Rob Bloom, outlined the role of digital in storytelling giving live examples of how McLaren engages with its fans and connects with its audiences.

In 2018, McLaren installed a new safety frame in its cars which was unpopular with fans, who said it looked like a flip flop.

Bloom’s team ‘flipped’ this story to a positive, by partnering with social good fashion brand, Gandys, to design a McLaren flip flop, which went on sale to fans worldwide.

Gandys was founded by brothers Rob and Paul Forkan, who were inspired to start the brand after losing both their parents in the Tsunami that affected much of southeast Asia in December 2004.

The Gandys brand began with a single flip-flop design, with its success enabling the brothers to open the first Orphans For Orphans foundation kid’s campus in Sri Lanka in 2014.

Bloom explained how by using storytelling the campaign switched a negative to a positive, and stressed the importance of social engagement for McLaren, which uses social media to inform and respond to McLaren enthusiasts and supporters, as well as the world’s press.

The morning session was wrapped up by Tim Benjamin, founder of Fitness Space and former international athlete, who talked about his own journey from athlete to entrepreneur.

Attendees also got to try out the Technogym kit, which is used by McLaren drivers, including Skill Line, mywellness cloud and the Teambeats heart rate training solution, as well as Wellness Assessment, a dedicated zone focused on understanding users’ biometric data, with body compositions devices and assessment questionnaires using a profile app.

More than 90 senior industry leaders attended the day, which was hosted by Technogym’s Clayton Herbert.