Philadelphia, PA – November 28, 2016 – Lincoln Financial Field: Trent Dilfer on the set of Monday Night Countdown
(Photo by Phil Ellsworth / ESPN Images)
Sponsorship is an important part of any sport. From the signage on an outfield wall to a commercial in between periods of a hockey game, professional sports franchises and brands are always looking to increase fan engagement. iQ Media has launched a platform designed to track sponsorship for teams in areas never before reached — both in-game and out-of-game.
“The problem that a lot of these sports teams have is they’ll have signage that promotes their main sponsors in many different areas,” iQ Media CEO Kevin Kohn said. “Some are pregame, in-game, postgame and some are in joint advertising.”
The real-time sponsorship measurement platform can be the solution to that problem. No longer do in-game data points need to be captured manually — instead, the platform will listen across 1,200 TV stations and 210 designated market areas (DMA’s). The wide reach allows teams and sponsors to learn more about mentions and media opportunities that fall outside of the game itself.
“Our feeling is that the current solutions only address a small piece of the opportunity,” Kohn said. “By us providing a more comprehensive way, we can help the clubs better monetize that exposure.”
The data that this platform generates can do a couple different things for the clubs and brands. Through voice-to-text, closed captioning and human-eye logo recognition software you can see how many times the brand was mentioned, when it was mentioned, the frequency, which TV outlet, etc.
Kohn gave an example, saying, “If we said that the Bank of America logo was shown in the right field of Yankee Stadium, we could actually have the video clickable and linked to that mention, and they could actually see it.”
All of this information makes it easier to assess the value of a sponsorship asset. “They [teams] can calculate how often a logo will be seen on TV based on predictive things within the game and can start to assess what the value of that asset is,” Kohn said.
An area that iQ Media is really focusing in on is the idea of view ability and exposure. Are logos being viewed? Even though they’re plastered on billboards and around stadiums, does that mean the TV is picking it up? Kohn believes this is exactly where iQ Media can use its capabilities to create a win-win for both a brand and sports team.
“I think this is an evolution, not a revolution,” Kohn said. “We put a broader lens on how a lot of these franchises are doing it and we just give them more ammo. We give them more tools, more coverage, more exposure that helps them do their jobs better and hopefully allows them to deliver better product and better revenue.”
iQ Media knows that for teams it works with like the Philadelphia Eagles, Cleveland Indians or Dallas Cowboys, focusing strictly in-game only tells half the story. “There’s a ton of other times that those brands are connected with the franchise and are meaningful,” said Kohn. “Right now the sports franchises and brands aren’t realizing the full value of the relationship.”
iQ Media hopes this real-time sponsorship measurement platform is just the beginning. According to Kohn, the company is looking to partner with other organizations that can add additional value such as a geolocation company. A partnership like that would allow for even deeper insight into the way people react to seeing a brand. Kohn elaborated, “Say Toyota does a halftime promotion — did that create any lift to people going to local dealerships in that market?”
iQ Media is opening up avenues of information never before accessed by professional teams and brands.
