New research from GlobalWebIndex has found that Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Visa and Adidas were the most recognised sponsors from the 2014 World Cup, with recognition levels of 50%, 39%, 41% and 36% respectively (among UK, US and Brazilian consumers).
However, 30% of people polled still believed that Nike was an official sponsor for the event. MasterCard and Samsung also received high level of mistaken recognition (25% and 20% respectively).
Overall GlobalWebIndex found that awareness of the sponsor was significantly higher in host nation Brazil than either of the other two countries.
Jason Mander, GlobalWebIndex’s head of trends, said: “Real-time, ambush, content and football-related marketing meant a wealth of content-spread across the globe and significantly influenced spectators’ brand awareness and reactions.
“Consequently, it became more difficult for consumers to differentiate between official sponsors and competitors. Interestingly though, it seems that overall sponsorship recognition comes from long-term associations, which ultimately defies the intense marketing efforts made this year.”