27/07/2010
NEWS STORY
One of the biggest criticisms of F1 is that the marketing of the sport can leave a lot to be desired. You will never see an advertisement for the sport - that is left to the broadcasters or circuits - and its merchandising outfit is woefully inappropriate. To prove the point visit the official F1 website and you will find that the range of executive gifts includes such frills as a Buffalo leather phone charger for the princely sum of £99 and solid silver cufflinks embossed with the F1 logo - yours for only £150. It's hardly the staple diet of F1's 520 million fans but this may soon change.
F1 has never really had a marketing director. According to Bernie Ecclestone this duty is handled by his longtime business partner Paddy McNally and Allsport, the company he founded which is responsible for F1's corporate hospitality. However, Ecclestone may soon break with tradition as meetings have apparently taken place about him hiring an in-house marketing director
Pitpass is sworn to secrecy over the identity of the man in the frame but let's just say that he has one of the brightest business brains in F1 and is someone who has had a high-level working relationship with Ecclestone for around seven years.
It isn't a job to be envied because Ecclestone holds all the keys and having been in the job for over three decades, he has a set way of doing things. It may be no coincidence that others soon moved on from similar positions, such as Normal Howell who once handled media for Ecclestone and is now publisher of the Red Bulletin.
The man who takes control of F1's marketing will surely be someone tame enough for Ecclestone to handle but close enough to his inner circle to make the partnership work. It remains to be seen precisely when the deal may be signed but it is well overdue.