Ambush Marketers Did Not Steal World Cup

Despite the efforts of “ambush” marketers, official sponsors seem to have won the audience awareness battle during the World Cup, new research shows.

Carat asked 1,000 adults how many matches they viewed and which brands they most associated with the World Cup, therefore giving equal footing to both official and unofficial football associated brands. Coca-Cola was the winner overall, gaining the highest level of association. Spontaneous awareness was four times higher than rival Pepsi.

Official sportswear sponsor Adidas had a closer battle with Nike, which used its sponsorship of winning team Brazil to raise awareness. However, Adidas still managed to outdo Nike overall in both spontaneous and prompted association. However, while Adidas achieved 40% spontaneous awareness among 15-24 year olds, compared to 30% for Nike, the US brand managed 23% awareness among 35-44 year olds, compared to Adidas’ 19%. Nike also achieved higher levels of awareness than Adidas among fans who viewed 20 games or more.

Carat: 020 7430 6000 www.carat.co.uk

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