Study: GM’s Corvette gift to Galarraga worth $9 million in media exposure

[Titanic]

Study: GM’s Corvette gift to Armando Galarraga worth $9 million in media exposure
Crain's Detroit Business

The decision by General Motors Co. to give a $53,000 Corvette convertible to Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga the day after his perfect game was botched by an umpire was worth $8.9 million in media exposure value for the automaker, a new study shows.

Ann Arbor-based Joyce Julius & Associates Inc., which specializes in measuring sponsorship scope across all forms of media, said the give-away was referenced in 714 television programs between Thursday and Sunday, which was worth nearly $1 million in exposure.

The give-away also appeared in 151,000 publications and web entries in that time, worth another $7.9 million, Joyce Julius said.

General Motors, which returned as the Comerica Park fountain sponsor after a one-year hiatus because of bankruptcy-fueled marketing cutbacks, did not commission the report.

“We were not contracted to do the study. We often look at national level happenings in sponsorship and provide that information to all of our clients and the media,” said Eric Wright, Joyce Julius’ vice president of research and product development, in an e-mail to Crain’s.

The report comes after skepticism of the decision to give the pitcher the car emerged.

“Until G.M. has repaid the taxpayers in full for the money they have borrowed, every action that G.M. takes should advance them in that direction,” Kurt Bardella, a spokesman for U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., told the New York Times on June 4.

[Simon says]

. . . then they should have given him a Malibu or other vehicle with much more need of the $9 million worth of exposure.

What a great showing of sportsmanship. Go Galarraga!!

[Mustapha Mond]

I thought this was a brilliant gesture. We all know Galarraga was robbed. How cool of a hometown business to do this for a member of the hometown team? Everyone who watches baseball felt good about it. Every Detroit fan got a lift from it. You can't buy PR that stirs the heart like that. A part of GM is and always will be baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet... and by extension America. It made me feel like Chevy was America's car company again. It made my day anyway.

[OLDSCHOOLGMFAN]

Hopefully this will earn GM a few more sales.

[bballr4567]

“Until G.M. has repaid the taxpayers in full for the money they have borrowed, every action that G.M. takes should advance them in that direction,” Kurt Bardella, a spokesman for U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., told the New York Times on June 4.

Or how about she get on Calif for giving its citizens IOUs on over paid taxes. Pot meet kettle.

Plus, got to look at how much they would of actually made selling that Grand Sport to a dealer. If it was a 4LT then they would of sold it to the dealer at an invoice of around $62k. Now, lets say it costs, maybe, $40k to build the car they really lost 20-25k on a deal that made them millions on free marketing. You really cant go wrong there IMHO.

[Gm_Tooler]

Definitely a wise PR move by GM.

I started a thread on a similar version of this story a couple of days ago and it promptly disappeared without explanation?

[AMERICA 123]

Beyond belief.

Nice to see 'the General' quick on his feet - done before the others got there.

[1G6]

Awesome.

[cbennie2]

Or how about she get on Calif for giving its citizens IOUs on over paid taxes. Pot meet kettle.

Plus, got to look at how much they would of actually made selling that Grand Sport to a dealer. If it was a 4LT then they would of sold it to the dealer at an invoice of around $62k. Now, lets say it costs, maybe, $40k to build the car they really lost 20-25k on a deal that made them millions on free marketing. You really cant go wrong there IMHO.

LOL!!!

To me it sounds like a good investment by GM!

[BrickTamland]

How do the creators of the report assess and determine how much each piece of media exposure is worth?

[CTS-Vfan]

I would not have guessed the media exposure was so wide-spread, but the benefit by far out-weighs the cost. Galarraga got a nice gift after he showed a lot of class in an otherwise unfair situation, and the Grand Sport got a lot of exposure in the process. Giving the guy a Malibu probably wouldn't have received near as much publicity, although it probably could use it more. Love them or hate them, people aspire to have a new Corvette. Marketing genius, imo.

[CTS-Vfan]

How do the creators of the report assess and determine how much each piece of media exposure is worth?

To over-simplify it, they measure the cost of reaching the estimated number of people this would have reached, and on the media it was delivered on. A lot of television, internet, and other publications would not be cheap, but if someone else volunteers to carry the message on, that is a pretty good deal.

[Neanderthal]

Good work, CHEVY.

Yes, I said it. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY. CHEVY.

[Eulentier]

“Until G.M. has repaid the taxpayers in full for the money they have borrowed, every action that G.M. takes should advance them in that direction,” Kurt Bardella, a spokesman for U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., told the New York Times on June 4.

Straight from the mouth of a Toyota-loving Republican, none the less.

[meltdown2k]

“Until G.M. has repaid the taxpayers in full for the money they have borrowed, every action that G.M. takes should advance them in that direction,” Kurt Bardella, a spokesman for U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., told the New York Times on June 4.

So let me get this straight. First, corporations are evil because all they look for is profit, they don't care about the average American. But in this case, GM should only care about profit, so marketing, goodwill gestures, etc. should go out the window and they should truly become an evil corporation until they pay back all the money (which won't really happen until after they go public again).

Sometimes I think everyone within the Beltway needs to go back and take Logic 101 before they open their mouths.

This is actually the first I've heard of the gesture and I think its perfect, especially since its a hometown hero.