• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, January 12, 2009

Repucom, which provides analysis of sports sponsorships seen in TV broadcasts, said it has inked a multitiered deal with Nielsen that includes data-swapping. The arrangement includes the partial melding of Nielsen Scorecard, which similarly measures the effectiveness of sponsorships, with Repucom's services.

The long-term agreement includes offering Scorecard clients the opportunity to segue to Repucom. Nielsen is making some of Repucom services the basis for its offerings in certain instances, while Repucom is gaining access to Nielsen ratings data in the U.S.

Repucom clients include Gatorade, Red Bull, Visa, the NBA and the PGA Tour, as well as GroupM and Octagon. Paul Smith, a former executive with the PGA in Australia, launched Repucom five years ago.

The firm uses a service branded Radiuss that gauges brand exposure in sports telecasts, based on shots of in-stadium signage and other images and logos. Nielsen TV ratings will assist it in measuring the exposures, the company said.

Tom Ziangas, senior vice president of Nielsen Sports, said that as sports marketing grows as a medium, "increasingly the resources and methodologies required to deliver the highest standard of information in the space are becoming specialized ... we recognize that we have an obligation to deliver global best practice to our clients and in this instance Repucom represents such standards."