The growth and popularity of Formula 1 racing is one of the great marketing stories of the past five years, and on this week’s episode Jim is going behind the scenes to understand why. His guest this week on The CMO Podcast is Louise McEwen, the Chief Marketing Officer of McLaren Racing, the global leader in high-performance supercar production, and elite motorsports. Founded in 1963 by racer, engineer and entrepreneur Bruce McLaren, the company is formed of McLaren Automotive, which hand-builds lightweight supercars; and a majority stake in McLaren Racing which competes in the Formula 1 World Championship and INDYCAR in the US. McLaren is based in the UK, and is one of the top independent companies in the world. The McLaren team is currently in first place in the 2024 Formula 1 series.
Louise has known for a long time that she wanted a career in sports & entertainment; Louise studied Sports Science and Social Science at Loughborough University in the UK, before joining sports marketing firm Octagon in 1999. Following Octagon, Louise spent nine years at Vodafone, where she worked with McLaren, before eventually joining the racing company in 2017. Louise was appointed CMO in March 2024. As the racing world eagerly anticipates the Las Vegas Grand Prix on November 23rd, Louise welcomes Jim on the track to talk about how storytelling can reshape a brand.