January 15, 2009
Motorsports Sponsorship - Dollars Well Spent?
Foresight Research - Marketing ROI Study
ROCHESTER, MI., January 15, 2009 -
Automakers and their marketing agencies are being forced to question the value
of every dollar spent. With that in mind why would any manufacturer sponsor
motorsports - especially in these challenging times? Other sponsorships are
being cut from the budgets - so why not cut motorsports too? The answer is
clear: because it sells cars and trucks.
In the recently completed new vehicle owner
survey by Foresight Research, motorsports influence is compared to 15 different
forms of marketing communications used by shoppers. Interestingly, among the
total sample of new car and truck buyers 43% indicated that they had watched at
least one motorsports event in the last 12 months. 14% had attended at least
one race and 23% indicated that motorsports had at least some influence on
their new vehicle purchase decision.
But what may be the most compelling reason
to be involved in motorsports is the power that some fans can have in the
purchase decision of other buyers. "Shouters" are people who influence the
automotive purchase of others and are often influenced by motorsports. This
group of buyers reported giving an average of 10 new vehicle recommendations
per year to other people. It's this strong power of influence that makes
motorsports sponsorship deliver a better ROI than many other forms of
marketing.
Among those who were influenced by
motorsports, 67% said that power and performance was a key message. But
surprisingly, a whopping 60% reported price and value as key takeaways and 56%
learned about a specific vehicle make and model. How does this happen? 59%
of race attendees visited the manufacturer's display.
"With proper activation, motorsport
sponsorships offer a great opportunity for communicating to shoppers in an
emotional and rational way, and don't lose sight of the word of mouth
recommendations by these Shouters" said Steve Bruyn, CEO of Foresight. These
findings and many other tools for calculating the effectiveness of marketing
efforts and ultimately return on dollars spent are reported in this benchmark
Marketing ROI study.
Established in 1998, Foresight Research is
a full-service market research company primarily serving the automotive,
financial services and health-care industries. The study was conducted under
the direction of Steve Bruyn, CEO and Ron Hein, Executive Vice President -
Automotive. Additional information about Foresight Research and the
availability of the syndicated 2008 Marketing ROI: Communications Effectiveness
Audit be found online at: www.foresightresearch.com (click on syndicated
studies) or by calling 248-608-1870.
Ron Hein
Executive Vice Presiden
248-608-1870 ext. 18
ronh@foresightresearch.com
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