The Relative Value of Sponsorship Engagement in

Brand Activation Strategies

Kirk Wakefield Anne Rivers

6/24/2013 2

BAV®

The Largest and Longest Study of Brands in

the world

• Building since 1993

• Over 740,000 respondents

• 50,000 brands across 200 categories

• 276 studies in 51 countries

• $140 million invested since inception

United States BAV®

• Measured quarterly since 1993

• BrandScape of 3,500 brands

• Panel of 16K consumers

• Custom studies are can be anchored back to

database

for depth and breadth

A Comprehensive Set of Measures

• Brand health

• Brand imagery/ personality

• Consumer funnel: Usage, Preference,

Consideration, Loyalty

BAV® Consulting’s Proprietary Brand Database: BrandAsset®

Valuator

• Kirk Wakefield Passion and fan model

• Bob Jacobsen & Natalie Mizik

Tie compustat valuation and brand metrics

• Kevin Keller

Brand resonators and consumer funnels

• David and Jennifer Aaker

Leading emotional Attributes

• Rajeev Batra

Power of a global brand

Academic Partners Continually

Developing the Model

6/24/2013 3

Percentile

rank

Brand Strength

LEADING INDICATOR

Future Growth Value

ENERGIZED

DIFFERENTIATION

The brand’s point

of difference.

Relates to

Pricing Power

RELEVANCE

How appropriate the

brand is to you

Relates to market

penetration

Brand Stature

LAGGING INDICATOR

Current Operating Value

ESTEEM

How well

regarded the

brand is

Relates to

loyalty

KNOWLEDGE

An intimate

understanding

of the brand

Relates to depth

of consumer

experience

The BAV model uses 4 pillars to assess brand health, development,

momentum, and competitive advantage

6/24/2013 4

BrandAsset® Consulting: USA All Adults Half Years, 2001-2011

4

BAV’s Brand Strength Fund nets $21,169 (+112%) vs. NASDAQ’s $13,357 (+33.6%) on $10,000 initial

investment made 10 years ago

Optimizing Brand Strength directly drives stock price

6/24/2013 5

Percentile

rank

Different

Distinctive

Unique

Innovative

Dynamic

Differentiation

Energy

ENERGIZED DIFFERENTIATION

Different, Distinctive, Unique,

Innovative, Dynamic

• A Brand’s point of difference

• Relates to Pricing Power

• Differentiation is the leading

element for emerging, successful

brands

• Differentiation is the leading

negative indicator for brands that

are getting into trouble

Energized Differentiation: the engine of the brand train

The brand’s meaning, identity relates to margins

Bra

nd

STR

EN

GTH

(E

ner

gize

d D

iffe

ren

tiat

ion

& R

elev

ance

)

Brand STATURE (Esteem & Knowledge)

0

50

100

0 50 100

Source: BrandAsset® Valuator USA NASCAR Fans and Non-Fans, Note: Fan defined by usage or consideration of NASCAR

Sponsor brands have higher perceived Brand Strength and Differentiation among fans because fans are more engaged with their media

Ford

Sprint

Nationwide

Bank of America

Ford

Sprint

Nationwide

Bank of America

NASCAR fans

Non-Fans

New, Unfocused

or Unknown Commodity

or Eroded

Ubiquitous, Declining,

Mass Market

Leadership

Niche or Unrealized Potential

0

25

50

75

100

EnergizedDifferentiation

Relevance Esteem Knowledge

Fans Non-Fans

∆ = 33 ∆ =23

∆ =15 ∆ =5

Average NASCAR sponsor Pillar Performance

Fans, in particular, find sponsor brands to be more Differentiated

and Relevant

Breyers Chevrolet

Coors

Breyers

Chevrolet

Coors

Engagement Activation

• Activation describes the relationship

between environmental stimuli and

emotional processing

• Originates in psychobiology (Kroeger-Riel 1979),

• Activation in sponsorship terms is

interpreted as measurable communication

consciously observed by the audience

• “turning on a prospect to a brand idea

enhanced by the surrounding context” (Advertising Research Foundation, Elliott, 2006)

• Engagement involves evoking emotion in the

audience

• Traditional media engages the audience

with cognitive and emotional measures at

low amounts of attention (Heath 2009)

• Sponsorship and online contexts engages

active participation among the audience at

high levels of attention (Whelan and Wohlfeil

2006)

Opportunity to physically track via RFID

Traditional media and sponsorship activities offer different types of

engagement; sponsorships support audience interaction leading to Activation

1. What is the relative value of sponsorship engagement and activation in driving brand differentiation?

- How can we employ RFID technology to prompt and measure relevant behaviors?

2. Accounting for traditional media, what is the contribution of sponsorship activation?

3. Accounting for traditional media and sponsorship engagement and activation, what is the contribution of second screen engagement?

The Questions

1 2 3 4 5

The Event: The Championship Challenge November 15-17, 2012; Last NASCAR race of the season

Fans entering any of the gates at the Homestead Miami Speedway (1) were intercepted and invited to register for the Championship Challenge (2) inside the gates to win prizes based on the frequency of checking in at 12 stations across the 3-day event. Patrons could also opt for engagement via four green-screen photo booths for mobile uploads (3). For check-ins and photos, participant were given an RFID-tagged lanyard to wave in front of the check-in RFID (4-5).

Sponsors

Sponsor Space (Sq Ft) 1. Ford (Ford Eco-Boost 400) 45,000

2. Sprint (NASCAR Sprint Cup

Series) 15,400

3. Speed TV 14,400 (includes audience space)

4. Coca-Cola 2,400 stage (open thoroughfare in front)

5. Army 12,100 (outside gates)

6. New Holland 7000*

7. Geico 5000

8. Contender Boats 2000*

9. Best Buy 1600

10. Yamaha motors 4 charging stations

*Located outside gates

5

1

2

3 4 6 7

8

9

10

• 2073 subjects registered for the Championship Challenge received emails on Monday (11-27, following the Thanksgiving Holidays) from the Homestead Miami Speedway requesting participation in a survey. Reminders were sent two days later.

• An incentive of a $10 online gift card was offered.

• 390 (18.8%) responded to the survey and 330 (15.9%) completed the entire survey regarding sponsors.

• Completes were not significantly different from incompletes in terms of hours spent at the track (17.24 vs. 15.47, F 1, 372 = 1.76, p = .19) or reported excitement experienced at the event (5.05 vs. 4.91, F 1, 369 = .76, p = .38). Thus, non-respondents do not appear to be different from respondents with respect to behavior or emotion associated with the event.

• Based on emails provided by subjects, responses were matched with the RFID data collected over the course of the three race days. A total of 216 subjects were correctly matched. Those without matching emails were no different than those matching in terms of event attendance (17.17 hours), but did report higher levels of excitement (5.85) than the non-respondents (4.91). Hence, the sample may be characterized as exhibiting greater enthusiasm about the experience.

Sample

RESULTS

Passion Engagement-

RFID

2nd Screen Media

Consumption

Time at Event

Traditional Media

Consumption

Differentiation Non-sponsors

Differentiation Sponsors

Net Promoter

Score

Sponsor Activation

Activation Non-

sponsors

Proposed Model

Bra

nd

STR

EN

GTH

(E

ner

gize

d D

iffe

ren

tiat

ion

& R

elev

ance

)

Brand STATURE (Esteem & Knowledge)

0

50

100

0 50 100

NASCAR sponsors see a lift in brand equity, usage and consideration

among respondents passionate about NASCAR

Sprint

Nationwide

Bank of America

Breyers

Chevrolet Ford

Coors

Sprint

Nationwide

Bank of America

Breyers

Chevrolet

Ford

Coors

0

10

20

30

40

50

Usage Consideration

Low Passion (NASCAR)

High Passion (NASCAR)

% o

f R

esp

on

den

ts

Average Sponsor Brand Usage and Consideration

Not passionate about NASCAR Passionate about NASCAR

“Please indicate how passionate you are about the following

sports leagues, where 0 – not at all passionate and 10 – extremely passionate “

Source: BrandAsset® Valuator USA, High Passion about NASCAR, Low Passion about NASCAR 2012. Notes: High Passion defined as 8-10 on 10 pt scale, Low Passion defined as 0-3 on 10pt scale.

Selected Sponsors: Sprint Ford

Bank of America Nationwide

Breyers Chevrolet

Coors

New, Unfocused

or Unknown

Commodity

or Eroded

Ubiquitous, Declining,

Mass Market

Leadership

Niche or Unrealized Potential

Passion alone was not enough to stimulate higher activation among

participants, but it affected time spent at the event – allowing for more

chances to check in

0.001

0.017

0.294

Activation

Total Tower Check Ins

Hours at track

Correlation to Passion

Passion Engagement-

RFID Time at Event

Number of towers visited (higher RFID activity) led to higher average

activation

0.146 0.106 0.091

0.119 0.149

-0.141

-0.066

Army Coca-Cola Ford SpeedTV Sprint Apple Rolex

Relationship Between RFID and Activation

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Ave

rage

Act

ivat

ion

Total Tower Check-ins

Engagement-RFID

Sponsor Activation

Activation Non-

sponsors

Average Sponsor Brand Activation

Increased involvement in sponsorship

activities helped participants better identify

and understand sponsor brands

Total towers visited is related to growth in sponsor

brand activation and decreased activation among

non-sponsors

Non-Sponsor

Brands

Sponsor Brands

Coefficients from Structural Equation Model

While mere exposure to sponsors had no effect on activation, size of the

sponsorship activity is related to brand activation

Ford

Sprint

SpeedTV

Coca Cola

Army

New Holland

Geico

Contender

Best Buy

Yamaha

R² = 0.5914 0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

0 10 20 30 40 50

Ave

rage

Acti

vati

on

Sponsorship Station Square Footage

(in thousands)

R² = 0.0127 0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1

1.1

1.2

1.3

1.4

1.5

1.6

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Ave

rage

Acti

vati

on

Total Time Spent at Track

(Hours)

Activation led to greater perceived brand differentiation and likelihood to

recommend in sponsor brands

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1.4

Ford Sprint SpeedTV Coca Cola Army NewHolland

Geico Contender Best Buy Yamaha Apple Rolex

Brand Activation > 0

All Miami Respondents

0

2

4

6

8

10

Ford Sprint SpeedTV Coca Cola Army NewHolland

Geico Contender Best Buy Yamaha

Ave

rag

e N

PS

Sco

re

Ave

rag

e D

iffe

ren

tia

tio

n

45,000 4 Sponsorship Sq. Footage Non-Sponsors

Perceived Brand Differentiation

Likelihood to Recommend Brand

Sponsorship activation is a stronger driver of brand differentiation than

traditional media consumption and second screens

Perceived Brand

Differentiation

Activation

.605

Traditional Media

.146

2nd Screens

.096

Coefficients based on Structural Equation Model

Brand Strength

LEADING INDICATOR

Future Growth Value

ENERGIZED

DIFFERENTIATION

The brand’s point

of difference.

Relates to

Pricing Power

RELEVANCE

How appropriate the

brand is to you

Relates to market

penetration

Brand Stature

LAGGING INDICATOR

Current Operating Value

ESTEEM

How well

regarded the

brand is

Relates to

loyalty

KNOWLEDGE

An intimate

understanding

of the brand

Relates to depth

of consumer

experience

Discussion of Implications

• Sponsorship engagement (RFID) leads to increased activation of brand

• Photo engagement no direct effect on activation, but on excitement

• Mere exposure (time spent at event) has no direct effect on activation

• Activation leads to increased perceptions of brand differentiation and likelihood to recommend a brand

• Comparatively, sponsorship activation more strongly influences brand differentiation than traditional media or 2nd screens among attendees

• Among these fans, Facebook and texting multi-tasking is associated with increased attention presumably leading to enhanced brand equity