You really don't know Alpine, and its history in rallying and the 24H of Le Mans… or were you joking? 😉
I think that Renault wants to revive the Alpine sub-brand as Renault's sports brand, just as Mercedes-AMG is for Mercedes-Benz, Abarth for Fiat, Cupra for Seat...
This is the current Alpine A110 street car:
Well as you say it's all cynical. But when it becomes extra-obviously so, then it can be damaging to a brand.
I still don't get why it's extra cynical. Just because there's no history behind it? Just because some people think Max is a dick? Most F1 sponsors aren't historical, is Google sponsoring McLaren extra cynical?
For no other reason than because it looks like they're switching around teams based on who they think is going to give them the best exposure. As I said, there will be people will loyalty and affiliation to Tag Heuer because of their past sponsorship of McLaren and history in F1, so switching allegiances will naturally upset a few folk surely.
People keep saying that TAG Heuer should sponsor McLaren again, but that would be hyper cynical, wouldn't it?
That's true, but I think you have a rather idealised view of sponsorship. Is Richard Mille extra extra cynical for sponsoring three different teams? Were TAG being super cynical when they switched from Ferrari to McLaren?
It would now, yes. They would be viewed as only going back because McLaren are becoming successful again.
No, not at all. I agreed with you that all sponsorship is cynical. It's just that some actions, like chopping and changing teams, risk becoming overtly cynical.
If I look at Richard Mille, I couldn't tell you which team(s) they sponsored. A good sponsorship tie-up I guess is one where you feel the brands naturally fit together, whether that's customer base, shared values, history together, or there's some other match or depth to their support (for instance, providing timing). And yes, I repeat again, it's all cynical, but surely the idea is to create the illusion of partnership and support.
Okay, fair point. But TAG were with McLaren for thirty years, then they moved to Red Bull.... does that really constitute chopping and changing?
How do you feel about IWC and Mercedes, does that seem like a natural fit? It's always seemed a bit odd to me... probably cos I don't see IWC as remotely sporty. But then it's not as odd as Moser and Alpine.
I perhaps can't fully explain why I saw this move particularly as overtly cynical. Maybe it has something to do with the fact as well that Red Bull are a more modern addition to F1 compared to Heuer having it's roots with it back in the 60s. Coupled with the fact that other than Red Bull being a successful F1 team, I couldn't see an obvious reason for alignment between these two brands.
IWC isn't especially sporty, no, but I think the brands are aligned in terms of German precision and engineering.
How do you feel about IWC and Mercedes, does that seem like a natural fit? It's always seemed a bit odd to me... probably cos I don't see IWC as remotely sporty