20/10/2013
NEWS STORY
Red Bull Racing's dominance in Formula One doesn't just have an impact on the team and its stakeholders. A report in the Daily Mail by Pitpass' business editor Christian Sylt reveals that revenues at Prism, the largest sponsorship agency of advertising giant WPP, rose 57.7% to £27.6m last year driven by increased work with several brands connected to Red Bull Racing.
Prism was founded in 1993 by its managing director, American marketing executive Steve Madincea, who was previously commercial director of Benetton's F1 team. In 1999 it was bought by WPP whose chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell is a motorsport fan and is an independent non-executive director of F1's Jersey-based parent company Delta Topco.
Many of Prism's clients are focussed on F1 with its roster including luxury car brand Infiniti and watch manufacturer Casio. Both are partners of Red Bull Racing which looks set to clinch its fourth consecutive championship at next weekend's Indian Grand Prix.
"Our UK operation had another outstanding year by driving new business growth complimented by organic growth with existing clients," says Madincea. He adds that "this would include bigger gains with J&J and Casio plus increased work with Red Bull and Infiniti."
In addition to its work in motor racing Prism also has clients in other sports including the Olympics, football's Champions League and the World Cup.
Additional staff were hired last year to deal with the increased workload and Prism's total costs rose 57.5% to £27.2m. This left it with a net profit which doubled to £426,000 for the year-ending 31 December 2012.
The accounts state that Prism has continued to make a profit since the end of last year. They add that "business has picked up since the balance sheet date with new clients gained and higher revenue is expected to be generated in 2013." With no end in sight to Red Bull's grip on F1 that is likely to be the trend for some time to come.