Nutri-Grain and Billabong best known sports sponsors while Telstra and 3 slump
Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain has climbed to the top spot as Australia’s most familiar sports sponsor, says a new report from Sweeney Sports. But telcos 3 and Telstra have both taken a battering in their levels of recognition.
In the survey, which is released today, 30% of Australians recognise Nutri-Grain as a sports sponsor, which Sweeney says is “a result of its long term association with surf life saving”.
The brand is neck-and-neck at the top of the list with Billabong, which has declined slightly from 32% sponsorship awareness to 30%.
But by far the biggest fall is mobile phone brand 3, which dropped from 24% awareness to 12%. In part this could perhaps be because of less activity, while the current merger with Vodafone was in the offing. And a major factor, says Sweeney Sports, is the growing competition in cricket sponsorship.
KFC has had a succesful run with Twenty20, and seen awareness of the brand as a sports sponsor shoot up from 2% to 12%.
Big Pond / Telstra is another telco brand that has seen awareness decline – down from 24% to just 16%. Sweeney says: ‘It may be largely a result of its non-renewal of the naming rights sponsorship of the Homebush and Docklands stadiums.” The sports research consultants also cited a “softening in interest” in NRL, which Telstra has naming rights over.
Meanwhile when it comes to specific events, Emirates comes out on top, with 28% of people aware of its involvement in the Melbourne Cup. That’s followed by 17% being aware of car brand Kia’s sponsorship of the Australian Open tennis.
The survey involved 1000 telephone interviews carried out late blast year and early this year. The previous survey covered 2006-2007
1 Billabong – 30% awareness; -2 change on last year
1 Nutri-Grain – 30% +4
3 Nike – 28% -5
4 Ford – 26% -1
4 Uncle Tobys – 26% -1
6 Speedo – 22% +8
7 Adidas – 20% -3
8 Rip Curl – 19% +1
9 Holden/GMH – 18% -1
10 Toyota – 17% +2
10 Emirates – 17% 0
12 Telstra/ Telstra/Big Pond – 16% -8
12 Kellogg – 16% +1
14 VB (Victoria Bitter) – 13% -2
14 Foster’s – 13% -6
14 Kia – 13% -2
14 Quiksilver- 13% 0
18 KFC – 12% +10
18 3/three.com – 12% -12
20 Gatorade – 7% 0
Linkedin
That’s an excellent result for Billabong (especially), Rip Curl & Quiksilver considering the primary sport they sponsor, surfing, does not receive any live TV broadcast.
Other brands and sporting codes would do well to note how these 3 are leading the way in interactive online sports broadcasting via the live webcasts.
Are there any other professional sports that broadcast 100% live and exclusive online?
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