Siemens and the Team McLaren Mercedes Formula One racing team have extended their partnership, as specified in the sponsorship agreement recently signed by Rudi Lamprecht, member of the managing board at Siemens AG, and
Ron Dennis, CEO and Chairman of the McLaren Group.
Siemens remains a Technology Partner of the Team McLaren Mercedes team and will receive extensive advertising and hospitality rights. The branding on the racing cars and the drivers’ suits will be changed from ‘Siemens mobile’ to ‘Siemens’.
The sponsoring partnership between Siemens and the Team McLaren Mercedes Formula One racing team has existed uninterrupted since 1998. Siemens remains one of the team’s Technology Partners and one of its largest
sponsors. Changing the branding from ‘Siemens mobile’ to ‘Siemens’ opens up the sponsorship with its extensive advertising and marketing programs and hospitality activities to all parts of Siemens. The new MP4-19 racing car will carry Siemens logos on the sides of the chassis and on its nose, making them clearly visible for the TV cameras. Drivers David Coulthard, Kimi Räikkönen, Alexander Wurz and Pedro de la Rosa will sport the logo on the front of their racing overalls and on their helmets. All Team McLaren Mercedes team members will also have the logo on their clothing.
Rudi Lamprecht, member of the managing board at Siemens AG, said: ‘Formula One is one of our most important sports marketing activities with a global effect. In the future, all Siemens Operating Groups will be able to benefit from our very successful partnership with the Team McLaren Mercedes team.
The expansion of the Grand Prix series with races in China and Bahrain puts us into growth markets that are very important to us and will continue to advance our profile and brand image.’
Ron Dennis, CEO and Chairman of the McLaren Group said: ‘We are delighted that an important partner like Siemens is extending their relationship with the team. The 2004 Formula One season will be exciting and competitive, and Siemens’s continued commitment and support is important in order for us to achieve our objective of winning races and World Championships.’
Siemens has been a sponsor of Formula One for many years and was one of the first electrical engineering companies to use Formula One for marketing purposes. Siemens follows a two-pronged strategy: Since 1998, the company has been a partner of the holding company Formula One Management, and starting with the 2003 season became ‘A Global Partner’ of the world’s largest racing series. Besides extensive advertising rights along the race courses and during TV broadcasts, the arrangement also gives Siemens, as the only mobile phone manufacturer in the world, the right to distribute the ‘Official Mobile Phone’. As a Technology Partner of the Team McLaren Mercedes Racing Team, Siemens is also directly involved with one of the most successful Formula One teams and equips it exclusively with Siemens
telecommunication products. The team sponsorship also provides extensive marketing and hospitality opportunities. Recent marketing studies prove the positive effect of the company’s relationship with Formula One: More than 50 percent of people interested in Formula One in Europe are aware of Siemens as a sponsor of the racing series (GfK 2003).
For more details contact:
Christina Dinné
Tel.: +49- 89 636-53018;
Fax: -53484
E-mail: christina.dinne@siemens.com