MaxPoint Interest Index Finds Washington, DC is the US City with Neighborhoods Most Interested in Athletics

RALEIGH, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MaxPoint Interactive, the company that helps retailers and brands drive local in-store sales with its innovative Digital Zip® technology, today issued the results of an indexing study that reveals the neighborhoods across the country with sports fans and exercise enthusiasts. After analyzing billions of offline and online data points, MaxPoint found that neighborhoods in the Washington, DC area have the highest concentration of people interested in athletics.

“Interest in athletes, teams and athletic events is hugely popular among consumers today, which is very appealing to advertisers who look to capitalize on this growing market to sell their product or service”

The Index data further revealed that there are two unique personas when it comes to staying active: those who enjoy watching and supporting organized sports teams, and those who enjoy working on their own physical fitness. The Potomac Hills neighborhood in McLean, Virginia, indexed highest for its interest in sports teams, while the Garfield Heights neighborhood in the District of Columbia prefers to focus on personal exercise routines. This information is extremely valuable to advertisers who offer products or services that appeal to either sports fans or exercise enthusiasts but not necessarily both groups.

The top 10 cities that show the greatest interest in athletics are:

1. Washington, DC
2. Binghamton, NY
3. Santa Barbara, CA
4. Minneapolis, MN
5. Gainesville, FL
6. Philadelphia, PA
7. Honolulu, HI
8. Madison, WI
9. St. Louis, MO
10. Denver, CO

Using the data gleaned from the September Interest Index, MaxPoint implemented hyperlocal digital advertising campaigns geared toward sports fans and fitness enthusiasts:

A CPG manufacturer of a new line of energy-enhancing cereal wanted to reach men who had both an interest in sports and an active lifestyle. MaxPoint implemented an ad campaign featuring professional male athletes that targeted those men who met the shopper profile and who lived within a certain radius of a big-box store carrying the cereal.
A regional yoga studio wanted to increase membership at two of its Manhattan locations. MaxPoint executed a hyperlocal digital ad campaign targeting New York City neighborhoods that over-indexed for an interest in fitness. The campaign targeted only those neighborhoods within a certain radius of each studio that had residents with an income of more than $100,000.

“Interest in athletes, teams and athletic events is hugely popular among consumers today, which is very appealing to advertisers who look to capitalize on this growing market to sell their product or service,” said Gretchen Joyce, chief operating officer at MaxPoint Interactive. “Yet, the challenge for advertisers is that this interest varies across such a wide spectrum of sports, teams and exercise types that it is often difficult to reach the right audience. MaxPoint helps these advertisers pinpoint a very specific audience at the neighborhood level and use that information to create a highly effective digital advertising campaign that drives in-store traffic.”

About the MaxPoint Interactive Interest Index

Using its unique Digital Zip technology, MaxPoint Interactive analyzes billions of data points consumed by neighborhoods across the United States such as: offline point-of-sale data, social media, videos, music, local Web pages and online magazines. For the September Interest Index, the company scored each neighborhood across hundreds of online topics related to consumers interested in athletics, including the NFL, FIFA, cardio workouts, strength training and yoga. In addition, MaxPoint evaluated neighborhoods’ past purchases of sports goods (e.g., team apparel, sports paraphernalia) and exercise products (e.g., P90X, diet products, fitness memberships).

About MaxPoint Interactive

MaxPoint Interactive’s retail advertising platform drives in-store traffic for retailers and brands. The company’s Digital Zip® technology delivers the most effective and scalable neighborhood-level online campaigns. MaxPoint can pinpoint qualified customers interested in purchasing a product with more precision than using traditional zip codes, ultimately offering accurate neighborhood-level targeting with national reach and local results. Founded in 2007, MaxPoint has offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Bentonville, Austin and Raleigh-Durham. For more information visit: www.maxpointinteractive.com, follow us on Twitter @maxpoint_int and subscribe to the OnPoint blog.