-By Shahnaz Mahmud

NEW YORK Relay Worldwide, a sports and events marketing company owned by Publicis Groupe, has elevated operations chief Tim Mauer to CEO. Mauer replaces chairman and CEO Wally Hayward.

Mauer is one of the founding members of Relay and was involved in the merger between Starcom Sports Marketing and JC Dolan & Associates to form Relay in 2001.

"Sports sponsorship consulting and marketing is the second-fastest growing area in the marketing mix behind digital. So, there's huge opportunity in this area and there will be for quite some time," said Mauer. "We have a great foundation and core expertise within the team, and I'm committed to bringing fresh and innovative ideas to the mix that will continue to fuel the growth of our clients' brands as well as our own," he added.

Relay claims to be the first agency in the industry to merge sports and sponsorship consulting with full-service event activation. The company also claims its Hispanic division was the first internal agency unit dedicated to multicultural consumers. Within the last two years, Relay has absorbed sister shops Publicis Meetings USA, Publicis Events USA and Sponsorship Intelligence into its operations.

Relay also has other international offices, including China, India and Dubai, which have opened, for the most part, within the last 18 months.

Prior to Relay, Mauer was CEO of Bologna, Italy-based Compass International, a division of JC Dolan. Before that he spent 11 years with McCann Erickson and Interpublic's Momentum.

"The important thing in terms of what we do to provide for clients is to transfer relevant insights into real connections with people," added Mauer.