Sports sponsors suffer drop in brand awareness

Some of Australia’s leading brands are failing to make themselves heard in the increasingly cluttered $1.1 billion sports sponsorship market, according to the Sweeney Sports Report.

Awareness of Ford, Uncle Tobys, Kellogg and Vodafone as sponsors has fallen dramatically, according to the latest survey into whether consumers can recall the brands behind the sport.

The Sweeney Sports Report found the number of Australians able to recall any of the big brands’ sponsorship areas fell by 11 percentage points – a record low.

But Uncle Tobys, despite a fall in recognition that was double the average level, still led the field. Some 27% of the 1000 Australians surveyed between April and September recalled the breakfast cereal and snack company as a sports sponsor.

Uncle Tobys parent, Nestle, said it was still enjoying the fruit of its sponsorship of the surf lifesaving Iron Man event six years after it ended. The brand now sponsors swimming.

Almost every brand studied by the report suffered a drop in awareness, reported The Age. Speedo, despite sponsoring swimming stars such as Libby Lenton and Leisel Jones, suffered the largest decline over the year, falling 8 percentage points to register just 12% awareness.

Inside Retail