McLaren’s Zak Brown says his Formula 1 team isn’t chasing a title sponsor, because it can compromise other deals and ultimately lead to having “too many eggs in one basket”.
McLaren hasn’t had a title sponsor since 2013, when mobile telecommunications company Vodafone sponsored the team in a deal worth tens of millions per season, which included naming rights to the team, which at the time was known as Vodafone McLaren.
Such deals were commonplace in Formula 1, but recently they have become rarer with only a few teams now enjoying such lucrative deals.
Ferrari enjoys a unique deal with Philip Morris through its ‘Mission Winnow’ initiative. Red Bull previously had a deal with Infiniti and Aston Martin which ended recently and Sauber is now known as Alfa Romeo, in what is effectively a sponsorship deal that was recently renewed.
Despite Zak Brown’s background in marketing, he believes controlling the naming rights is an important aspect for McLaren, given its ultimate goal is to promote its own automotive business and he isn’t therefore chasing a title deal, but would be open to it.
“I think it’s each to their own,” said Brown. “Everyone has got their own business models. I like the name of our team as McLaren.
“Would we do a title deal? We would. Are we actively pursuing it? No. Do I want to sell title level branding? Yes.
“But I want us to be known as McLaren. I like our colour. I think it has really resonated with the fans who are critically important to us and so our business model is built upon doing what we are doing which is bringing on great partners but not needing a title sponsor.”
Given the scarcity of such deals, Brown would rather spend time chasing lots of smaller partnerships which won’t have such a major impact on the team’s finances if one or two were to leave.
“I think the days of title sponsors writing the size of cheques that they did historically are gone and also with a title sponsor you tend to get, in my opinion, too many eggs in one basket.
“I would rather spread our sponsorship over a portfolio of partners. The other thing is, and Cisco Webex did a really great job with the global TV campaign, it’s really important our partners activate us.
“So the more awareness the Dells, the Ciscos and the DeWalts can bring to the McLaren brand around the world, the better than having all your eggs in one basket.”
McLaren did a one-off deal this year however, which saw partner Gulf take over the livery of both MCL35M’s at the Monaco Grand Prix.
This guy is a total idiot. In five years this supposed “sponsorship guru” has lost every long-time McLaren partner (except Hilton, I think), and now has the cars plastered with low-rent deals that don’t even allow for their racing division to break even; most being sponsors that the average person has never even heard of. All we ever hear from this clown is “the times are changing and we are adapting”. Yeah, they are changing, but because you are failing so badly and all of your sponsors have fled to Red Bull and Formula E. As much as I want to see the McLaren name winning again, and Norris to win the many races and championships he deserves, part of me hopes they bomb out with next year’s new regs so maybe Brown can finally get sacked and replaced by someone who is not only competent, but also has respect for McLaren’s rich history; which almost exclusively consists of the Ron Dennis-era that Brown and the sketchy McLaren Group shareholders have tried so hard to erase from people’s minds.
Strange comment given the team were going no where until Brown came in and brought Siedel.
Not really. Before Brown, McLaren were profitable in all areas, had an excellent chassis (just the worst motor ever in F1 history, which obviously would have been dealt with eventually), the strongest driver lineup on the grid, and lots of new talent coming in who all quit when Dennis was kicked out. Their results in 2017 under Brown were comically bad, and ever since they have hardly surpassed results from 2016. Now they are completely broke, have lost all of their buildings and a ton of their historic car collection, McLaren car dealerships have gone down the drain, and to top it off they still aren’t winning races or rarely even get podiums.