Mark Rohan Becomes Renault Brand Ambassador

Recently in the media there has been many questions asked both by the public and by the manufacturers themselves as to the value of having so called ‘brand-ambassadors’. Typically they have tended to consist of a ‘celebrity’ being given a car for a year, usually with all the costs thrown in for free. The benefit being that everywhere the ‘celebrity’ goes, they are seen driving that brand’s vehicle and although they may not be directly involved in promoting the brand the hope would be to gain sales success by association. This may of course work very well in places like L.A. where there is a huge celeb culture and, more importantly, a paparazzi culture that continually snap everything from awards ceremonies to nipping down to the shops.

But now that the ‘party’ is well and truly over in economic terms, many brands are either seriously reviewing or completely halting their practice in having brand ambassadors. Renault have taken a slightly different approach this week by announcing a new ambassador, except its someone who truly is a deserving and worthy ambassador to have. Irishman Mark Rohan from Ballinahown in Co. Westmeath is the current World Paracyclist Champion and Renault Ireland have now supplied him with a new Grand Scenic to travel in between training and competitions. Mark has just recently won gold at the UCI Paracycling Road Wolrd Championships in Denmark and will be competing in the Games in London next year. In August he became the first ever athlete to win 6 World Cup Gold Medals in a row and is the current holder of the World Leader Jersey. In terms of having a brand ambassador, Renault have made the right decision in not just choosing one of the usual suspects, instead choosing a hard working athlete who is doing something really positive and representing Ireland on a global scale.