brand-e

By Simon Fuller. England’s dismal display against Germany in the World Cup might have come as a shock to some, but another surprise might be just how little UK consumers knew about brand involvement in FIFA’s event heading into the competition.
Brand research outfit Echo conducted a study into public awareness of brand sponsorship around the tournament, with the result that many brands failed to score – out of eight of the tournament’s big backers, among them Sony, McDonald’s and Visa, only Coca-Cola was identified as a sponsor by more than half of respondents.
Awareness was muted in the case of poor Emirates and Hyundai – only one in eight members of the public was able to name either brand as a sponsor. There was bad news too for adidas – the brand is a World Cup backer, but 30% of Brits reckoned that Nike were more likely to be involved, with Echo pointing to the latter brand’s high-profile ad campaign as one probable factor in this.
So how come so many brands failed to enter the public consciousness? And how can they do better next time around?
“This lack of clarity [suggests] a missed opportunity to exploit all the pre-tournament hype and excitement, and so raise awareness of the sponsor’s World Cup role and rationale,” says Matt Painter, research director at Echo. “There are clear lessons here for sponsors of comparable sporting events, chief among them London [Olympics] 2012. In Echo’s experience, communications initiatives of this magnitude take time to build momentum, so brands [who] begin pushing out their message well ahead of the opening ceremony can steal a march on their co-sponsors in building public awareness and interest.”
Perhaps more worrying for brands than not being recognised is having intentions doubted. And it seems that the British public is more than a little cynical about why brands are putting themselves forward as World Cup sponsors.
More than 80% of respondents reckon that brands are in it for the exposure – n other words, ‘to get their company name or logo on TV’. And while this might be a factor in brand involvement, brands would probably like to think they’re being appreciated for their more humanitarian efforts too. The public doesn’t quite see it that way, with a mere 7% agreeing that they are sponsoring through a concern for South Africa and its people.
“Part of a sponsor’s rationale for backing the World Cup will be to align their brand with the values and virtues that the tournament embodies in the public mind, and to demonstrate their active, authentic concern for the sport, its supporters and the host nation,” says Painter. “The poll’s findings show that the public are, as yet, unconvinced by these efforts. One reason for this may be the failure of even the biggest, most successful brands to join the dots between their sponsorship activities and the communications and brand marketing strategies that should, ideally, underpin them – a disconnect Echo has seen again and again.
“Before the end of the World Cup, sponsors will therefore look to convey the message that they are motivated by more than airtime, click-throughs and billboard inches,” says Painter. “For example, as a football fan I’d be interested to hear what a particular sponsor is doing to support the development of the grassroots game in South Africa, or indeed in the other 31 competing nations. I’d also like to see them explain how this work links to the company’s publicised brand values and wider corporate responsibility agenda.”
More on brand involvement in the Word Cup at out social media buzz event at the IAB in London this month