The Sporting News

September 6, 2006

By Kara Yorio

Researchers Give Value for Sponsorships

Did it feel as though you heard Allstate mentioned 100 times during last month's broadcast of the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard? Not quite. Actually it was 62.

Was the Allstate logo burned into your mind following the 3 1/2-hour telecast? Well, it was seen clearly for 55 minutes and 1 second in total.

The sightings and mentions add up to a value of $8,227,285. That's $8,227,285 Allstate would have had to spend in traditional commercial advertising to get the exposure it got in that race telecast. This was the value of the Allstate NASCAR sponsorship that day.

Companies do not plaster their logo on cars and hats and signs and just hope that it means something to the bottom line. They want to know for sure it's worth it.

The benefit of sponsorship is science, not theory, thanks to Joyce Julius and Associates, a company in Ann Arbor, Mich., that tabulates mentions and sightings in a NASCAR telecast and puts a monetary value on them. It is invaluable information for companies, particularly when it comes time to decide whether to renew a sponsorship. And NASCAR knows showing a real dollar value of its sponsorships is key for continuing the relationships, as well as starting new ones.

"Sponsors certainly have found the Joyce Julius on-screen exposure numbers useful," NASCAR spokesman Andrew Giangola said. "Their quantification of the massive exposure NASCAR sponsors receive is helpful to teams and the sanctioning body in attracting new companies to the sport."

Joyce Julius' researchers spend more than 30 hours reviewing the broadcast of a weekend's race. You and your TiVo have nothing on these guys. Using specially designed software, a team of two or three people spends seven to 10 business days on a report documenting exposure and tabulating its worth. That final report breaks down every clear, in-focus exposure on screen and brand mention and puts a monetary value on those exposures and mentions based on the cost of 30 seconds of advertising.

The researchers first go through and listen to the broadcast for mentions of brands. The second step is the frame-by-frame review for clear video exposure. Wouldn't clear be in the eye of the beholder? Not here. Joyce Julius trains its people to recognize a standard of what it considers clear and in-focus. The job requires a special "skill set," as the company's vice president of research and development Eric Wright puts it.

Doing the research for NASCAR is particularly difficult, according to Wright. The races are extremely intense with long broadcasts, a large number of brands and a large number of sources for brand sightings - cars, signs, graphics, etc. Audits confirm the researchers are tabulating properly.

Joyce Julius also does independent third-party research analyzing golf, horse racing, the NFL and the World Cup among many other sports. According to Joyce Julius, clients include corporations such as Best Buy and FedEx, professional teams including the Red Sox, Lions and Roush Racing, as well networks (ABC, CBS, NBS, Fox, ESPN), leagues (NHL, Arena Football League, Pro Beach Volleyball to name a few) and marketing agencies and universities.

For NASCAR, a subscription for the season, which includes a report from each race, as well as a midyear and end-of-the-year tabulation, cost $3,500 this year. Beyond the base cost and report, clients can get personalized information, including something such as which driver of a multicar team translates into the most value for the sponsor.

Joyce Julius is available for clients to call and ask questions or request special breakout numbers. Sometimes a company is shocked to see a lower number than expected in a race report and calls the researchers to ask why. It's not always as simple as the best drivers being seen the most and translating into the biggest return for a brand. Sometimes a logo just doesn't pop on screen during a race and doesn't get that in-focus, clear exposure desired and tabulated. Joyce Julius researchers can explain that to a client.

For NASCAR, where sponsorship and sport are so intertwined, the latter would be lost without the former. That, of course, is not about to happen. A NASCAR sponsorship translates into millions of dollars of exposure value every race weekend. That's not hypothetical. Sponsors have the numbers to prove it.