State Farm Scores at Home Run Derby

While baseball fans sat and watched ball after ball after ball get hammered out of the ballpark on Monday during the 2011 State Farm Home Run Derby, part of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game festivities, execs at the insurance company, which has sponsored the Derby since 2007, must have been sitting back and enjoying themselves.

The broadcast from Phoenix attracted almost 7 million viewers to ESPN, according to Nielsen, giving a big boost to the State Farm Brand. The insurer received about $45 million worth of brand recognition during the game, estimates Front Row Analytics, a division of marketing, research, and naming-rights firm Front Row Marketing Services, estimates, according to TheBigLead.

“The research firm said the estimated $45 million total value was derived from the average cost of $175,000 for a 30-second commercial spot during the Home Run Derby on July 11,” the Big Lead notes. “Front Row said that State Farm received almost two hours and seven minutes of either visual branding or verbal mentions during the three-plus hour telecast on ESPN.”

That $45 million of ROI is higher than the past two Derbies that State Farm has sponsored, the site reports. The estimated ROI last year was $33 million and $22 million for the year previous to that.

“Exposure expanded this year, [and] constant branding on-screen and [a] new format helped increase the value,” Front Row said.

Besides mentions on-air, State Farm also had plenty of signage in the stadium (right, left and left-center field walls; upper deck banners; an LED banner around the ballpark; dugout tops; and so on) as well as logos on-screen on the baseballs used and on and on.

In fact, State Farm was pretty much everywhere you looked, which served the brand well, as it launched Go To Bat, a charitable giving program, with Mandy Moore and Cal Ripken, Jr. helping to spread the word. The day also included a baseball clinic for kids from a local chapter of Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

Front Row also estimates that Miller Lite received $4.8 million in exposure from 14 minutes of visual exposure due to four signs in the outfield, the  Big Lead reports.