Shoppers ‘don’t know who Olympic sponsors are’

Sponsors of the London Olympics may not be getting much bang for their buck, according to a new poll that found many shoppers unable to name a single commercial partner of the upcoming jamboree.

Just 4% of those polled by Ipsos MORI were able to identify Cadbury as an Olympic sponsor. Coca-Cola and McDonald’s, both long-term partners of the movement, jointly top scored but were still named by only 11% of those polled.

“The Olympics represent a wonderful platform for brand building and the evidence to date is that there is more work for sponsors to do,” said Milorad Ajder of Ipsos Reputation Centre. “Building brand equity on the back of the Games cannot be achieved without awareness.”

Londoners were more aware of sponsors than those living outside the capital, while youngsters also scored higher.

“There are signs Londoners are becoming more positively disposed to the Olympic sponsors than the rest of the population,” Ajder added. “Given the size of London to the UK and its role as an international capital this provides a useful platform from where sponsors can build.”

With Sainsbury’s making its Paralympic tie-in a central plank of its marketing efforts, almost three-quarters of those polled (73%) said Olympic sponsorship made no difference to their perception of a company.

Six percent of the 1,985 consumers polled said they were likely to view partners of the games more negatively due to their involvement.