Marketing is not an optional expense that companies engage in only when they make a profit. The withdrawal of such spending, especially during tough times, sends negative signals to their markets that might have produce more losses of income than the losses from mere diminished branding and exposure.

The Mercedes sponsorship was deal was completed by the previous management team at BB.

It was probably the best "marketing deal" that BB made at a reported $12M year for 3 years[1].

1] http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d6695dde-6ef4-11e2-b6da-00144feab4...

also noteworthy, is that this wasn't just a 'marketing deal' per se but an "enterprise partnership"

The Mercedes F1 team runs its business on BB hardware and software.

"The Mercedes F1 Team uses more than 200 BlackBerrys including Blackberry Z10s, Q10s, Z30s and Passports. It's these along with BlackBerry Enterprise Sever 10 (BES10) which seem integral to the day-to-day running of the business."