Report questions F1 sponsorship thinking.

A new report issued today [Wednesday] will enable companies to gain an accurate view of the success - or failure - of their corporate spending in Formula One during the 2004 season, and is expected to call into question long-established opinions about F1 sponsorship.

With the first race of the 2005 season just over a week away, the F1 Brand Exposure Yearbook 2004 is likely to be mandatory reading for corporate sponsors and sponsorship agencies alike. Put together by image recognition experts Margaux Matrix, the report was compiled by analysing brand recognition at televised races during 2004. This was carried out through the use of a new type of image recognition software developed at the Brain and Cognition Research Centre in Toulouse, and adapted by Margaux Matrix to provide a fully integrated end-to-end analysis service which should enable companies to measure the success of their brand placement. The results, however, may not provide the success stories that some multi-nationals had been hoping for.

"What this report shows is that some teams and sponsors have been failing to fully exploit brand positioning and values," Margaux Matrix director Joe Sweeney revealed, "This report shows, for the first time, where they have been failing and, perhaps more importantly, how they can put it right."

By providing an accurate picture of exact brand exposure, the report came up with several surprising results, many that showed that corporate sponsors have not always been spending their money wisely.

Firstly, the report shows that sponsors and their agencies failed to recognise the impact of the increase in the use of on-board cameras, which, last year, created 50 per cent of all brand exposure on the cars. This resulted in brands placed on the top of the tub gaining a huge 29.55 per cent of the total car exposure. This was almost twice as much as the exposure of brands on the rear wing - which garnered 17.42 per cent - and nearly three times that of the brands placed on the sidepods. In addition, the engine cover - traditionally viewed as a premium spot for brands - gained just 7.12 per cent of exposure in return for the high rates that part of the car usually commands.

The changes brought about by the use of on-board cameras means that the wing mirrors are likely to take the place of the engine cover as a favoured slot for sponsors. This was something that Renault alone spotted in 2004, placing the logo of fuel partner Elf on the top and side of the wing mirror cowls, pushing the branding on screen for just under a quarter of the car's total TV time. This was more than for any other area, including even the top of the tub, which took a 24.16 per cent share, and enabled ELF to gain four per cent of all brand coverage on television, making it the fifth most exposed sponsor last year.

This figure put the French brand only slightly behind Ferrari sponsor Shell, which gained 4.15 per cent exposure, a remarkable result for ELF considering that Ferrari had 40 per cent more coverage than Renault owing to its runaway success on track last season.

"The exposure for ELF was remarkable when you consider the exposure that Ferrari had compared to Renault," Sweeney commented, "This just goes to show the importance of proper, in-depth analysis to demonstrate just which brands are being seen on television and which ones aren't."

The other surprising result from the research was the increase of brand exposure on clothing, which has traditionally been seen as the poor relation to other brand positioning. Incredibly, almost half of all Formula One brand coverage came from logos placed on the clothing of drivers and other team members. This was something that little known brand DeutscheVemogens benefited greatly from, coming 21st in the league of 221 brands simply by having their logo on Michael Schumacher's cap during podium and press conferences.

The top five brands involved in last year's Formula One championship were, in order, Marlboro, Vodafone, Mild Seven, Shell and ELF - three from Ferrari and two from Renault, which finished third in the constructors' championship. While Ferrari drivers Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello won 15 of the 18 races, and finished 1-2 in the drivers' championship - Renault took one race win - courtesy of Jarno Trulli in Monaco - and claimed fourth and sixth in the title race.