Vodafone change focus of global sponsorship strategy

Telecoms giant Vodafone has said that as a result of its global sponsorship review it is now planning to increase its focus on delivering an enhanced approach to customer engagement, founded on a new, Vodafone-owned marketing platform, to be developed and implemented throughout 2013.

As part of this change, it has agreed to end its relationship with McLaren at the end of the year, saying its need for that type of exposure is decreasing.

Vodafone Group Chief Commercial Officer, Morten Lundal, said: "We've achieved very high levels of recognition and awareness for the Vodafone brand, supported by our investments in sponsorship.

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"We now want to focus on our own marketing engagement platform to showcase the key attributes of our brand directly to our customers, using digital interactions and live events in ways that are both locally relevant and globally consistent."

He added: "We have been very happy with our engagement with McLaren. Our relationship has been a key ingredient in bringing the Vodafone brand to where it is today. However, our brand is evolving, and we've concluded we will have less of a need for this kind of exposure in future. We now look forward to further success and brand engagement with McLaren in 2013."

The share price slipped 0.74% to 180.90p in opening trade on Thursday.

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