McLaren F1 to hire AMV boss as marketing chief
McLaren Formula One is poised to appoint Abbott Mead Vickers.BBDO executive Simon Points as its new marketing and sponsorship director.
Points, who is a board account director at the London agency, has worked closely on sponsorship programmes at AMV.BBDO.
He spearheaded Douwe Egberts’ sponsorship of the Channel 4 drama series A Dance to the Music of Time and has also worked on Ovaltine and Sainsbury’s Homebase accounts.
Points was unavailable for comment as Marketing Week went to press. McLaren refused to comment on the appointment.
McLaren driver Mika Hakkinen is the current F1 champion. He secured his first back-to-back championship at the Japanese Grand Prix last month. McLaren’s second driver, Scotsman David Coulthard, finished fourth in the championship table.
The team has won the Constructors’ World Championship eight times and, with 19 drivers’ titles, it is the sport’s most successful team.
F1 chiefs came under fire last month over their decision to reinstate the rival Ferrari team on appeal, after its cars were disqualified from the Malaysian Grand Prix following technical irregularities. Critics said the move was designed to keep sponsors and fans interested until the last race of the F1 season.
