5 Questions with sports marketing valuation analyst Eric Wright

Eric Wright is vice president of research and development for Ann Arbor-based Joyce Julius & Associates Inc., which specializes in measuring sponsorship scope across all forms of media.

His supervises various research departments, product development, media relations and new business development. He joined the company in the 1990s as a television researcher before eventually assuming management responsibilities of the company's in-broadcast exposure measurement department.

Local and national media have quoted the firms reports. For example, Joyce Julius estimated that the June decision by General Motors Co. to give a $53,000 Corvette convertible to Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga the day after his perfect game was botched by an umpire was worth $8.9 million in media exposure for the automaker.

The company was founded in 1985 by the late Joyce Julius-Cotman and her husband, Robert Cotman. It began with analysis of television exposure valuations via a subscription-based report. It then branched into other media and eventually online.

QUESTION: What are the trends you're seeing today in corporate marketing when it comes to college and pro sports?

Sponsoring brands and sports properties are embracing social media at a rapid pace right now. Social media, from a marketing standpoint, is all about engagement and that is really the essence of sports marketing in its simplest form. Corporations first moved dollars from traditional advertising to sports sponsorships years ago with the notion of becoming aligned with something their current or potential customers were passionate about following. Now with social media, marketers have the potential to truly engage that sports fan at any point in the day.

QUESTION: There's been a steady encroachment of corporate marketing at the high school level, such as stadium naming. This appears to be an area fraught with potential pitfalls for corporations. That said, what are your expectations on this front and what sort of things must companies navigate when it comes to prep marketing?

We've been approached with questions from a few organizations around the country that are attempting to centralize their prep marketing efforts — and that type of approach seems to us be a win-win for the companies and schools. From the sponsor's standpoint, it is much more efficient to create a footprint with a league-wide or regional buy. It is a one-stop approach, with a better chance of consistent messaging over a wider mass reach. One-off deals, such as a high school stadium entitlement sponsorships, have worked on the local level to varying degrees, but for this to become a viable marketing choice, brands will insist on a more broad-based approach. School systems likewise could benefit from not having to continually broker individual deals.

QUESTION: How does brand exposure and deployment of social media, in general, fare when it comes to dollar value compared to traditional outlets, such as broadcast, print, etc. Obviously, this is dependent on the creativity and dexterity of the brand involved.

In this era of social media engagement, eyeballs are still very important. What I am saying is brand exposure through traditional media (TV, radio, print, old-fashioned Internet) is still a very effective mechanism for generating brand recognition — and that is not going to change. While I concede it gets tougher each year to reach large audiences due to the number of media choices available, and social media has already proven itself to be powerful marketing tool, the biggest splashes are made within mainstream media. It is a simple notion, but true — the best campaigns take advantage of all available marketing tools, including advertising, sponsorships, promotion, and of course social media.

QUESTION: In this market, who is getting the most bang for their buck?

I think Ford with its sponsorship of Ford Field has gotten a tremendous bang for its buck over the recent past. By all reports, the original entitlement deal was a reasonable one, and having hosted a major national-level event in nearly every year of its existence has been a major benefit. And from a local tie-in standpoint, the rest of the nation certainly gets the relationship to the auto industry in Detroit, so it has an organic, non-intrusive feel.

QUESTION: What changes in corporate/brand marketing did you see because of the recession?

The recession certainly took its toll in on sports marketing world. What we saw from our clients was not necessarily a reduction in deals (although there was attrition), but rather a reduction in activation of the sponsorship. With deals that were locked in through multi-year contracts, many companies chose to not do additional ad buys, or run promotions, etc., which typically go beyond the basic sponsorship agreement. An attempt for everything to "run lean" has been the theme for the last two years.

More recently we are seeing new deals brokered, which is encouraging. General Motors' aggressive moves back into the PGA, IndyCar Series and Super Bowl ad buys seem to provide an indicator of improved outlooks from a sports marketing standpoint. The major brands and big league properties seem to be in full recovery mode, but it will be interesting to see how long takes (and to what extent) the next tier of sports, to return to pre-recession levels.