Measuring TV Exposure Does Not Capture Sponsorship ROI
Posted: 12/19/2011 10:00:51 AM by
Mark Ording | with 0 comments
There is much more to measuring the ROI of a sponsorship than accounting for the value of brand exposure during TV broadcasts, yet I continue to hear stories of sponsors that put nearly all of their measurement emphasis on that.
Here’s an example: A representative for Europecar, a Paris-based rental car company that is the title sponsor of a French cycling team, said in a Wall Street Journal article after the team competed in the Tour de France that the company was “calculating every second that our logo is seen on the screen” and “there is no doubt this Tour has paid for itself.”
Europecar paid an estimated $6 million for the cycling sponsorship. Even if they generated $30 million worth of advertising value during Tour de France broadcasts, does that mean they got a 5 to 1 ROI? No. All that means is the company’s logo was on the screen (along with dozens of other corporate logos) during the broadcasts. Did any of the TV viewers even notice the logos? Do they feel any better about Europcar because they sponsor the team? How much does the sponsorship influence their decision about which company they will use the next time they rent a car? These are all important questions that would need to be answered in order to truly determine ROI.
Granted, I do think there’s some value to getting brand visibility on screen – especially for new brands that are trying to generate awareness. But there are more significant factors that need to be considered to determine the ROI of a sponsorship. Here are some of the most important ones:
- How well the property fits with the brand story the company is trying to tell
- Potential business and cross-promotions with other sponsors
- Impact on consumers’ perceptions and purchasing behavior
- Impact on employee retention and pride
- Type and quality of PR coverage the sponsor obtains around the property (not just mentions and logos, but editorial coverage about how the sponsor may be benefitting the community, fans, sport, event, etc.)
To be fair, Europecar may be doing more than just measuring TV exposure to quantify their ROI. The WSJ article did mention that they have sent supporter kits (T-shirts, caps and flags) to 6,500 employees and invited 150 VIPs to the Tour. So hopefully they are creating some type of metrics around their goals related to their employees and business partners.
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Filed under: sponsorship measurement, sponsorship ROI, international