By Adam Tate, Associate Editor
American businessman Zak Brown, founder of the world’s largest motorsports marketing firm, Just Marketing International (JMI) has just accepted the role of Executive Director at McLaren.
The news comes in the wake of the shock departure of longtime McLaren Chief, Ron Dennis who will see his tenure expire with his contract at the end of 2016.
McLaren has been adamant to emphasize that Brown will not replace Dennis, but rather collaborate with company COO Jonathan Neale to lead the business side of the company, and that they are still on the hunt for a new CEO.
Brown issued the following statement.
“I’m immensely proud to be joining McLaren Technology Group, I have the utmost respect and admiration for what the business has achieved to date, and I look forward to contributing to the next important phase in its development. Having worked closely with McLaren for many years, I’ve been struck by the talent and ambition of the entire workforce, and I very much look forward to complementing the business’s many existing strengths, and building on them to drive future success in everything we do. As founder of Just Marketing International (JMI) – now the world’s largest motorsport marketing agency – I’ve often worked closely with McLaren as I say, and I’ve developed some excellent relationships across the company. Together we’ve delivered some great sponsorship deals, including Johnnie Walker, GSK, Hilton, Lenovo, Chandon and NTT. Best of all, in my new role I’ll be able to combine my absolute passion with my unparalleled area of expertise – respectively motorsport and marketing – while ensuring that the two stay totally aligned.”
The next piece of McLaren’s ever shifting puzzle has fallen into place. Stay tuned for further developments.
