Maurizio Grande and Dario Salvelli travelled from the Sant'Agata Bolognese headquarters, in Italy, to speak to the University’s Business School students about how, and why, they are refreshing Lamborghini’s image. The duo spoke about ways in which the ‘Raging Bull’ has looked for a slight change in its marketing with the 2014 launch of the Huracán, changing the image of the brand from “Italian, uncompromising and extreme … to … inspiration, visionary, cutting edge and pure”.

The talk covered the history of the company; how it has developed from humble beginnings as a tractor producer, to becoming a world-leading super car manufacturer.

Maurizio Grande, Brand Communications Manager, described the Audi takeover in 1999 as one which has added “greater structure” to Lamborghini and demonstrated the vast changes between their old adverts, and brochures, to ones they are producing today.

He said: “In the 1990s and 2000s we were producing an extreme and aggressive brand – cars for flashy people maybe. The image was extreme and uncompromising. This has changed over time and prior to the launch of the Huracán, we wondered if we could change the overall image of Lamborghini Automobili.”

The latest promotional film produced by the team is their first ever to have a human presence, and portrays a more luxurious brand, whilst the brochures communicate the history of Lamborghini, the people who drive them and what their experience is like.

Maurizio said these changes were created by looking back at the founder, Ferruccio Lamborghini, and his beliefs, to see if they could help produce a more evocative image for customers to not only think about the product, but its history too.

“Ferruccio was a pioneer, a visionary and we wanted to reflect this.

“In marketing it is important to remember not only how or what the company is doing, but why it is doing it.

“We’re proud to express our uniqueness.”

The event also looked at how companies are responding the challenges of digital marketing – focusing on social media. Dario Salvelli, a Social Media Specialist for HiBO who was brought in by Lamborghini to further its online profile with the launch of the Huracán, spoke about his tactics which have helped a 4 million follower increase on Facebook amongst many other achievements within the space of just eight months.

He said, “The key for large companies online is to understand its audience, and capture their attention within just three seconds. It is important to engage, quiz, reward, educate, and link everywhere.”

The day was a tremendous success; Maurizio praised the University and its students. Dario in turn thanked the Business School for their “… hospitality, sensitivity, everything was perfect and well organised." Students also welcomed their insight, thanking Dr Maria Rita Massaro, one of the key organisers, for … “allowing us to gain a first-hand experience of the branding behind such a prestigious and famous brand.”

As expected, Dario was quick to tweet and retweet about their visit on #LamboLove. Automobili Lamborghini has kindly agreed to return to the Business School next year, and has offered the Business School a reciprocal visit to the Lamborghini Factory in Sant'Agata, Italy.

This lecture was part of the Business School’s vision to bring high quality practitioners into and around the curriculum to raise the aspirations of our students and prepare them as the workforce of the future.

• View further photos of the event