OCTOBER 5, 2006

ING confirms Renault talks

The Dutch financial company ING has confirmed that it is in talks about the sponsorship of Renault.

"F1 would provide us with a platform on all continents where we are active,'' said an an ING spokesman, although he added that the deal has not yet been agreed. The firm is also believed to be negotiating for trackside advertising deals with Allpsort Management.

The move into F1 is believed to be an attempt to increase ING's brand awareness. In a recent survey by Interbrand, ING was rated to have the 85th most valuable brand of companies that are publicly traded. This was behind eight other financial institutions: Citibank (11th), American Express (14th), Merrill Lynch (21st), HSBC (28th), JP Morgan (33rd), Morgan Stanley (36th), Goldman Sachs (37th) and UBS (42nd). Brand value is a difficult thing to measure but estimates not only the recognition for the brand but also the way the brand is seen by the public.