Paul Magill, CMO, Abbot, photo courtesy of LinkedIn
As the CMO of Abbott, Paul Magill began his adventure into the world of the Marathon Majors with style. On Friday, October 10, 2014, Mr. Magill announced that his company, Abbott, a $60 billion company operating in 150 countries, and focused on health diagnostics, generic branded pharmaceuticals, and sports nutrition , will become the first title sponsor of the World Marathon Majors.
In our conversation, held immediately after the Press conference, Paul Magill was joined by Mary Wittenberg, CEO of the New York Road Runners, and Tom Grilk, Executive Director of the BAA, also joined Mr. Magill.
The interview was conducted with Mr. Magill, in the presence of a writer from Crain’s, John Elliott of MarathonGuide.com, and communications team from Abbott.
Paul Magill is very relaxed and thoughtful. He answered the questions with the wit and experience of a CMO of a publicly traded company. The import of Abbott coming into our sport was not lost on this writer. For our sport to grow and prosper we need global companies who see the value of a global sport that promotes wellness 24/7.
Abbott will become title sponsor in 2015, and their first event will be the Tokyo Marathon. The Abbott World Marathon Majors will offer, reportedly, some changes to the current structure, and obviously, those are too early to discuss.
We salute World Marathon Majors in holding out for the right fit. We salute Abbott for seeing the perfect fit that marathon running is for their brand vision. And we thank Paul Magill for his time and enthusiasm in this interview.
