Adidas takes sponsors gold

Adidas has emerged as the clear winner among official sponsors of the London 2012 Olympic Games with its sponsorship of Team GB leading to a spike in positive sentiment about the sports brand.

Metro Adidas

Few fellow sponsors, however, have seen any impact on the way their brand is perceived despite spending millions on activation campaigns, according to YouGov BrandIndex data.

The positive association of being kit maker for the record-breaking Team GB and the high-profile “Take The Stage” campaign saw Adidas’ brand sentiment increase markedly during the Games’ fortnight the Games took place.

According to YouGov’s BrandIndex, the sports brand’s Buzz score – a net balance of whether people have heard positive or negative things about the brand – increased from 4.2 on 26 July, the day before the opening ceremony, to 16.5 yesterday (13 August).

Its Index score – a measure of an average of how customers rate the brand in terms of impression, quality, value, reputation, satisfaction and whether they would recommend it – also increased to 26.1 from 24.9 on the eve of the Games.

Adidas also outpaced rival Nike, a non-sponsor but one that has consistently enjoyed a greater association with the Games through its pre-Games “Make It Count” campaign starring brand ambassadors Mo Farah and Paula Radcliffe.

Nike’s Buzz score rose to 9.6 from 7.6 over the same period, while its Index rating fell to 23.4 from 25 on the eve of the Games.

Elsewhere, the feel-good factor the Games generated failed to provide the majority of sponsors with any significant uplift in consumers’ perception of the brand despite the profile enjoyed by many during the Games (see box).

Coca-Cola, which has been the subject of criticism over its sponsorship not least from Jacques Rogge who said growing levels of obesity had led to a “question mark” over Coke’s- involvement with the Games, saw the Buzz score for its master brand rose to -3.3 up slightly from -3.5. Its Index ranking dropped to 14.2 from 14.8.

BrandIndex

Recommended