Target wins IRL exposure race

Target, the primary sponsor of 2008 Indy Racing League champion Scott Dixon and his teammate Dan Wheldon, secured $16 million of exposure value during race broadcasts this past season, more than twice the amount of the next most successful team sponsor, Motorola.

According to research conducted by Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Joyce Julius & Associates. Inc.–which specializes in measuring sponsorships across all forms of media—Target’s name and/or logo was monitored for four hours, 31 minutes, five seconds, while the retail brand was also referenced verbally 166 times during 2008 race telecasts appearing on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Classic. One way Joyce Julius determines exposure value is by comparing the in-broadcast time and audio mentions garnered to the estimated cost of a commercial spot during the telecasts.

In-broadcast exposure accrued during ABC’s broadcast of the Indianapolis 500 last May, which was won by Dixon, accounted for 40.1 percent ($6.4 million) of Target’s final tally. On average, the IRL’s top-10 exposure earning team sponsors secured 53.2 percent of the year’s TV exposure from the Indy 500 coverage.

Motorola, one of the main brands backing Danica Patrick, collected $6.9 million throughout 2008, with nearly 70 percent of its season–ending amount having originated from the Indianapolis 500 telecast.

Top Team Related Brand Exposure Results:

Rank    Brand  Exposure Time  Verbal Mentions  Exposure Value  % From Indy 500

  1)        Target    4:31:05              166                        $16 million         40.1%

  2)        Motorola 1:30:56               9                           $6.9 million        69.5%

  3)        7-Eleven  1:16:29             36                          $4.74 million      46.1%

  4)        GoDaddy.com 0:49:37       0                           $4.74 million       77.4%

  5)        McDonald’s     1:08:48      35                          $4.63 million      43.4%

  6)        XM Sat. Radio  0:51:32      0                            $4.4 million        76.2%

  7)        Ethanol            1:01:38      22                         $3.73 million      36.6%

  8)        Mobil 1            1:01:26      0                           $3.1 million         32.3%

  9)        AirTran           0:27:17       0                           $2.95 million      78.9%

 10)       Delphi             0:33:35      31                          $2.91 million       56.6%