Who's Tops on TV?
Earnhardt Jr. Stands Number One;
Hendrick Motorsports Drivers Take 3 of Top
5 Spots in Ranking of NASCAR Television Exposure
Dale Earnhardt Jr. has delivered $185 million of comparable exposure value to a total of 46 sponsoring brands during telecasts devoted to the first 15 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events of 2008, nearly $40 million more than the number-two ranked exposure gatherer, Kyle Busch.
Earnhardt Jr.'s sponsors have enjoyed a combined 16.5 hours of clear, in-focus exposure time during Sprint Cup Series telecasts this season, while also being mentioned by the announcers (or Earnhardt Jr. himself) 32 times, according to Joyce Julius & Associates. Exposure value is determined by comparing the in-broadcast time and verbal mentions to the estimated cost of a commercial spot during each respective telecast. The exposure generated from Earnhardt Jr. was monitored on team-related locations such as his race car, uniform, transporter and support crew equipment.
Busch stands second among all Cup drivers, having secured $146 million for 66 total brands – marking the most sponsors monitored in association with any driver in the Series thus far. Meanwhile, Earnhardt Jr.’s Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson stand as the only other drivers to break the nine-figure mark, with total exposure tallies of $121 million and $118 million, respectively.
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Not surprisingly, Earnhardt Jr. was also the driver who contributed the most to Series
title sponsor Sprint’s in-broadcast exposure ($1.7 million) and tire provider Goodyear ($2.2 million), while his $18.5 million exposure total for his car manufacturer Chevrolet is the largest single amount generated by a driver for a car make in the series.Busch led the Toyota contingent, having secured $11.2 million of exposure value for the auto brand, while Carl Edwards was the largest single contributor to Ford ($10.8 million), and Ryan Newman was on top for Dodge ($5.8 million).
Summer Blockbuster Iron Man Offered Few, but Potent Product Placement Opportunities
Audiences
worldwide have flocked to see Iron Man this summer, with an estimated box
office return of more than $550 million as of mid-June.
While the superhero movie
provides an excellent vehicle for
product placements, relatively
few brands were granted access into Tony
Stark’s fictional world.
One
brand making an exception was Caesars Palace, the site of an award
ceremony early in the film. Thanks
to a podium sign, the familiar Caesars Palace logo was on-screen for a
total of 21 seconds. When
comparing the in-movie appearance
to traditional advertising, the
hotel and casino received more than $1.4 million of exposure value.
Dell
took over the spotlight during a suspenseful sequence of the movie when
Gwyneth Paltrow’s character Pepper Potts attempted to retrieve information
from a computer in Stark’s office.
The Dell logo appeared for 12 seconds, good for an exposure value of
$780,600.
Among
the film’s other notable brands were Burger King and Verizon.
Logos on Verizon phones were seen for six seconds ($390,300), while
Stark's craving for a cheeseburger brought in to focus a Burger King logoed
bag for three seconds ($195,150).
Sponsors Beware...
Not All Home Plate Rotational Signage is Created Equally!
No two ballparks enjoy identical dimensions, so brands utilizing home plate rotational signage should not expect similar exposure results from venue to venue. That basic truism, and a lot more useful planning data, can be culled from Joyce Julius & Associates’ two-year intensive study of the home plate signage areas in each Major League Baseball stadium.
Available surface area, camera height, camera positioning, pitcher blockage, batter blockage and even brand clutter all play a role in determining the effectiveness of a home plate sign’s ability to deliver clear, in-focus television exposure time. Should any of those elements be out of sync, the brand faces the likely proposition of falling well short in securing all of the broadcast time bought and paid for via the sponsorship fee.
So what do the numbers tell us? Well, the quickest gauge of home plate signage effectiveness is to look at the ratio between brand exposure time and total broadcast time. The highest ratios occur when the centerfield camera shot is used frequently, and those opportunities for exposure are maximized as a result of clear sightlines to the signage location. It is a simple notion, but not one necessarily achieved at all times.
Two
veteran ballparks stand atop this time ranking, as Chicago’s U.S.
Cellular Field clocked in with an average of 24 seconds of brand exposure
per one minute of telecast
time, while Toronto’s Rogers Centre posted
a
0:22 to 1:00 ratio. Both of
these locations benefit from a propensity of the local
broadcasters to
remain with the standard centerfield camera angle for lengthy periods of
time, and a lack of left handed batter blockage.
In the case of U.S. Cellular Field, its sign extends down the first
baseline far enough to escape any commotion occurring at the plate.
Toronto, on the other hand, features a twin signage panel, located
to the third base side of the plate, which can be used to offset the
lefties’ negative effect.
Conversely, home plate sponsors at San Diego’s Petco Park and Houston’s Minute Maid Park face multiple challenges in acquiring on-screen time during local broadcasts, as the stadiums’ averaged ratios of 0:09 to 1:00 and 0:11 to 1:00, respectively, during our study. In San Diego’s case, pitcher and left-handed batter obstruction cumulatively eliminated two thirds of the signage area from the home viewer’s vantage point.
Although sometimes aided by a twin signage panel positioned to the third base side of the plate, a lefty batter engulfs nearly the entire main panel signage area in Houston, making this a location working best only for brands utilizing small, repetitive logos in their messaging.
Home
Plate Rotational Signage Quick Facts:
-
The average home plate sponsor logo appears clear and in-focus for 2:11 per half-inning
-
The top and bottom of the first inning are the worst for securing on-screen time (ratio of 0:14 of exposure to 1:00 of broadcast time)
-
The bottom of the ninth inning is the best for securing on-screen time (ratio of 0:21 of exposure to 1:00 of broadcast time)
-
Yankee Stadium ranks in the top one-third in home plate exposure per minute of broadcast
-
Shea Stadium ranks in the bottom one-third in home plate exposure per minute of broadcast
The Joyce Julius Major League Baseball Home Plate Rotational Signage Comparative Index Report is available for purchase. For more details, please contact a Joyce Julius representative.
Big Brown
Lands UPS Cutting Edge Media Exposure
Big
Brown’s defeat at the Belmont Stakes in early June ended yet another
attempt at horse racing’s elusive Triple Crown. This time, however, a
corporate partner was along for the entire journey to probable
immortality, and perhaps ignited a new sponsorship trend in thoroughbred
horse racing.
If
nothing else, UPS wins the sponsorship tie-in of the year award thanks to
its association with the horse Big Brown, which, legend has it, was named
after the delivery giant as a congratulatory salute by the horse’s
original owner after securing a new contract with UPS for his trucking
company – a key first step. Another phase
in the
stars aligning process occurred when UPS opted not to renew its trademark
on the Big Brown phrase in 2005, thus rendering the name legitimate (i.e.
non-corporate) in the eyes of the racing industry, and opening the door
for a marketing opportunity.
One
of the fastest ways to gauge whether a sponsorship arrangement is merely
effective, or has a chance at greatness, is to see if the mainstream press
covers the sponsorship as a news story, much like the recent examples of
Taco Bell’s give-away during the 2007 World Series, or NASCAR driver
Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s multi-sponsor negotiations last year.
In both of these cases, the back story enjoyed tremendous media
coverage and the brands benefited accordingly. UPS
enjoyed similar perks leading up to the Kentucky Derby and even more
following Big Brown’s victory in May.
In
the week surrounding the Kentucky Derby, UPS was referenced in
approximately 400 articles on the Internet and 150 print features, with
many describing the unique relationship between the company and its horse
racing namesake. When coupled
with the in-broadcast television exposure UPS garnered during NBC’s
Derby telecast, the brand rolled up more than $1.4 million of exposure
value through the first leg of the Triple Crown – and that was just the
beginning.
A
perfect storm was swirling around Big Brown in the weeks following the
impressive Kentucky Derby win and the buildup to the Preakness Stakes.
With an outspoken trainer, a comeback kid of sorts for a jockey, a unique
corporate sponsorship in place and a shot at the first Triple Crown win in
30 years, the Big Brown story had... incredible legs.
Another
1,800 articles appeared on the Internet mentioning UPS in that time span,
while more than 350 newspapers and magazines, the likes of Advertising
Age, Redbook and Time, continued to churn out articles.
And when Big Brown went on to dominate the Preakness (along with NBC’s
telecast), UPS added another $2.6 million of exposure value to its ever
expanding media exposure account.
The
buildup and hype leading to the Belmont Stakes and Big Brown’s chance at
history began slowly, most likely due to the three-week gap between races
and concern over the horse’s potential hoof injury, but as the final week wore down, the
press found its way back to the track.
The third and final segment of the Triple Crown saw UPS gain
recognition in another 400 Internet and 125 print articles, which were
valued at more than $600,000 when compared to traditional advertising.
Meanwhile, two minutes, 29 seconds of clear in-focus time for the
UPS logo during ABC’s Belmont broadcast brought in another $1.4 million
of exposure value.
Altogether,
Big Brown’s six-week run in front of the North American press enabled
UPS to amass $6 million of comparable exposure value from its association
with the would-be Triple Crown winner. No
doubt a victory at the Belmont would have taken UPS’ exposure to even
greater heights, as one can easily imagine a UPS-logoed hat or shirt
appearing with jockey Kent Desormeaux’s appearance on the David
Letterman or Jay Leno talk shows. Instead,
we are all left wondering, what might have been...
Motorsports Sponsorship
Through the first 10 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series events of
2008, Pontiac leads all car brands with $4,040,820 of exposure
value during coverage on ESPN2. The
Ford nameplate is next with $3,442,495, followed by Chevrolet
($2,031,310), Toyota ($918,435) and Dodge ($692,345).
It must be in the name...
Driver Scott Speed made the move from Formula 1 to the NASCAR
Craftsman Truck Series and ARCA
RE/MAX Series in 2008, and thus far the results have been nothing but
positive. Currently, Speed
ranks second in the ARCA driver’s championship, and his primary sponsor, Red
Bull, stands number one in terms of television exposure value through
the first six race telecasts, with some $430,000 – nearly $67,000 more
than the second place team sponsor.
Meanwhile, eight Speed starts in the Truck Series this year have produced
nearly $1.1 million for Red Bull. Speed’s
career shifted into high gear when he won the Red Bull American Driver
Search in 2002.
Through the first 10 events
of the 2008 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, one quarter of Craftsman's
total television exposure value has been generated by the brand's
windshield decal.
The auto manufacturer battle for exposure in the American
Le Mans Series is shaping up as a battle between Audi and Acura.
After telecasts devoted to the first four events of 2008, Audi held a slim
$5.2 million to $5.1 million lead over Acura. Porsche stood
next with $4.7 million of exposure value.
Scott Dixon's win at the 2008 Indianapolis
500 brought in $5.2 million in exposure value for his main sponsor Target
during ABC's five hours of coverage, via one hour, 17 minutes, 52 seconds
(1:17:52) of on-screen time and 40 mentions. Dixon's Chip Ganassi
Racing teammate Dan Wheldon also contributed to the retail store's
exposure, securing $3.3 million of exposure value as a result of 39:06 and
10 brand mentions.
On-camera driver interviews are certainly a key component in securing
brand exposure on television. For example, Nationwide has
received 1.2% of its overall in-broadcast exposure from driver uniform
patches this season in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Meanwhile,
during the longer broadcasts devoted to Cup Series races
–
which
afford the opportunity for more interviews –
Sprint has received 6.3% of its total exposure
time from driver uniform patches.
A
Second Look is a newsletter published by Joyce Julius & Associates,
Inc., updating recent developments, trends and happenings in the areas of
sports, special events and entertainment marketing.
All information contained in this newsletter is available for
journalistic use, with all rights reserved.
www.joycejulius.com Ph: 734.971.1900