Global sport and entertainment company CSM is in the process of creating a consulting business for brands in North America, which has been the company’s geographic focus for the past year. CSM, whose home office is in London, does some consulting in the U.S. through its Just Marketing Int'l business, but that is limited to motorsports, mostly NASCAR. CEO Zak Brown is leading the development of CSM's consulting business, which he describes as one of the primary legs on the stool of expansion into the U.S. CSM’s North America Chair Harlan Stone also is involved with Brown. CSM’s U.S. consulting division will have a base in N.Y., and Brown said growth will be both organic and from acquisition. More details are expected to come to light in the coming months, he said. CSM is a group of 12 agencies worldwide, some of which already consult with big brands like HSBC, Land Rover, UBS, Jaguar and Unilever, but Brown wants a consulting base in N.Y. to help those major international companies market in the U.S., while also attracting new clients domestically. CSM’s first acquisition in North America under Brown’s leadership closed in February when it acquired Jay Howard’s JHE Enterprises, an event production company strong in motorsports.
