Most F1 fans know Zak Brown because of his role as McLaren’s CEO. However, the American has been involved in racing and F1 since the 1990s. Brown, a former racing driver turned businessman, has helped multiple teams with their marketing and sponsorship strategies over the years. He’s now revealed one such instance involved Mercedes.
“There’s still some sponsors on Toto Wolff’s Mercedes that I did”, said Brown in the Tom Hartley Jnr Let’s YouTube video. A conversation about the McLaren CEO’s ability to bring sponsorship was going on when Brown suddenly made this statement. He added, “But every time I see that logo, it’s like, ‘I need to take that back’”.
Brown joined McLaren in 2016 as the company’s Executive Director before becoming the CEO in 2018. However, it all started for him back in 1995 when he founded Just Marketing International [JMI].
Brown continued to work with JMI until he joined McLaren. Under his leadership, JMI became the most successful and the largest motorsport marketing agency.
It was during his time at JMI that he helped Mercedes land some of the sponsors he’s talking about in the video. He not only advised Mercedes, but also helped Williams, Ferrari, Red Bull, and Lotus in helping secure sponsorships.
And now in his role as McLaren’s CEO, he has helped the Woking-based outfit secure some outstanding sponsorship roles as well. It is this ability of Brown that has helped the team achieve their financial goals and also push towards achieving other goals such as fighting for the championship.
Moreover, since Brown is a marketing genius, he recently also warned Red Bull of having financial issues as the sponsors wouldn’t like to continue with the Milton Keynes outfit following the Christian Horner “inappropriate behavior” saga. However, as far as McLaren’s sponsors go, Brown is doing a fantastic job.
Brown’s marketing masterclass helped McLaren secure sponsorships worth millions
Before Brown joined McLaren, the cars of the team barely had any sponsors. Moreover, even the car’s side pods, the most prominent place for a team’s sponsors to appear, were empty in both 2015 and 2016.
However, ever since Brown joined McLaren, the fortunes of the team have changed drastically for the better. McLaren was moving towards bankruptcy in the late 2010s. Back then, the team had both financial and performance-related issues.
Despite this past of McLaren, Brown worked his magic and signed multiple big sponsors for the team. OKX, Google Chrome, Android, and Monster Energy are just a few of those big names. And when it comes to the 2024 grid, McLaren arguably has the most sponsors when compared to the other teams.
