Football sponsors’ brands stick best in young minds

Young people are more aware than adults of brands that sponsor leading football clubs, according to research published by TNS Sport.

Sports goods manufacturers such as Nike and mobile phone networks such as Vodafone dominate the research company’s spontaneous awareness surveys.

Nike is the most frequently recalled brand among ten- to 19-year-olds, with 42 per cent recalling the brand’s association with football. This puts it ahead of Adidas and Vodafone, both with 40 per cent, and O2 with 30 per cent.

Among adults, Vodafone scores highest with 21 per cent recalling the brand’s association with football, again ahead of Adidas with 18 per cent and Nike with 16 per cent.

Adult recall scores are generally less than half that of the ten- to 19-year-old age group. Only former Premier League sponsor Barclaycard enjoys equal awareness among adults and the younger group.

Even beer brands, including Carling (20 per cent of youngsters, 13 per cent of adults) and England and Liverpool sponsor Carlsberg (15 per cent of youngsters, 11 per cent of adults) fail to break the pattern, according to the survey.

However, the research finds that football sponsorship does not guarantee brand awareness, even among the young. Of the ten- to 19-year-olds surveyed who watch football, 11 per cent are unable to recall a brand associated with football.

More worryingly for sponsors, 14 per cent of those who claim to watch televised football and support a Premier League team say they cannot recall a brand associated with football.