Reflections on MotoGP, fans and brand storytelling: why brand management is worth more than the product
This year we were fortunate enough to work on the official website of one of MotoGP’s greatest champions: Marc Marquez https://marcmarquez93.com.
As MotoGP fans know, Marc won his ninth world title this year after a couple of agonizing years in which he was on the verge of retiring for good.
To celebrate this incredible victory, a limited-edition helmet - the one the rider wore during his victory lap - was put up for sale on his website for the modest sum of 7,000 euros.
A few hours ago, some colleagues on the team working on the MM93 project reported that only one of the 60 helmets remains for sale… and this is where our reflection begins…
What does that helmet represent?
We don’t know how much of this was planned by Ducati Corse and Marquez’s management, but if you think about it, this helmet is the perfect “talisman” (or perhaps “relic”) of a story structured around the “hero’s journey” model: Ducati, the red, the #93, the ninth world title, the narrative of the comeback after years of suffering and a drought that had lasted since 2019.
And then there’s the product: the Shoei Safety Helmet Corp. X-SPR Pro helmet, hand-painted, signed, numbered, sold for 6,990 euros, complete with a display case, care gloves, and a certificate of authenticity.
For a fan, it’s undoubtedly the symbol of “rising from the ashes”: injuries, arm surgeries, a bike change, and then the ninth title described by many as one of the greatest recent sports comebacks (you can find a wonderful miniseries about it on Prime Video). But there’s also the fact that owning an item that comes directly from official channels makes you feel part of the inner circle: you’re not just a spectator, you’re “closer to the action.” The signature, the numbering, and the display case transform the helmet into something almost “sacred.”
From another perspective, these are items for which, paradoxically, demand grows as the price rises, because the cost itself becomes part of the appeal and the status. Having a helmet in your living room or office that is numbered and signed by a nine-time world champion isn’t just “I’m a fan of MM93” but also “I can afford this extravagance,” “I am this kind of enthusiast.”
Looking at the big picture, the price thus becomes the sum of various levels: Technical Value + Artisanal Value + Symbolic Value + Scarcity Value. In luxury economics and marketing, these elements make it a “positional good” whose value is largely derived from its social desirability, its status, and its limited availability.
Here comes the interesting part from a “sociological” and marketing perspective...
The athlete has become a brand
Marc is not just a rider: he is an ecosystem of values (courage, aggression, resilience), an aesthetic (the number 93, Ducati red, his riding position), and a narrative (“fall and return to the top”) embodied in physical objects sold through his official store.
The brand creates “totem” objects
Ducati, Shoei, the design team: all contribute to producing an artifact that is not a functional product, but an identity totem. The fact that it is sold with a display case, gloves, and a certificate — and that it cannot be returned — sends a crystal-clear signal: “this is not a helmet to be used; it is an icon to be revered.”
The fanbase is willing to monetize the emotion
The object becomes the place where years of Saturdays and Sundays in front of the TV, trips to the racetracks, social media discussions, memes, arguments between VR46 and MM93, and so on, all crystallize. Spending amounts that seem absurd to a “non-fan” is, for the fan, a way to give concrete form to something that would otherwise remain only an abstract emotion.
In conclusion… whether it’s rational or not depends solely on how much that brand printed on the front matters in your life. And this applies to any brand… even yours.
Have you ever thought about it?
