M&C wins £10m Toyota F1 deal

M&C Saatchi Sponsorship has been appointed to manage Travelex’s $10m (£6.8m) five-year sponsorship of Toyota’s F1 team, following a competitive pitch.

M&C won the foreign exchange company’s business after pitching against four other unnamed sports marketing agencies. The agency will be responsible for maximising the brand’s exposure, arranging corporate hospitality and ensuring that the sponsorship rights set out in the contract with Toyota are enforced.

M&C will also be involved in helping Travelex to broker opportunities with other parts of Toyota’s business, apart from the motorsport side. Anthony Wagerman, Travelex group head of marketing and communications, says: “The potential is enormous in terms of working with all their [Toyota] dealerships all over the world.”

Travelex has invested heavily in sponsorship this year. As well as sponsoring the F1 team, it has paid £3m to sponsor ITV’s World Cup coverage (MW April 25) and earlier this year it signed a deal reported to be worth £10m to sponsor the Australian cricket team’s away matches for the next five years.

M&C Saatchi Sponsorship chief executive Matthew Patten says: “Travelex is indicative of a new breed of consumer and business organisation that is moving away from advertising and towards sponsorship, and it’s a strategy that is working for it.”