Sports Brand Index 2019 Q2

Which sports brands are winning the battle for consumers' attention and admiration? Check out our latest Sports Brand Index to discover the top 10 brands in the sector ranked by Total Brand Equity, and key takeaways for the industry based on how metrics have changed since last quarter.

Please note: This is not the most recent Brand Index. If you’re right where you want to be, read on. If you’re looking for the latest data, click here for our most recent Brand Indexes

The Attest Brand Index is a platform agnostic measure of a brand’s total brand equity in the Sports sector, as determined by real consumers.

What does that mean?

When we say ‘Platform Agnostic’, we mean the results are not influenced by any particular method of obtaining them, like looking exclusively at social media mentions or at brand search terms. This reduces bias and provides a much more accurate view of a brand’s strength in their category.

Learn more about why we think this is the best methodology for Brand Intelligence.

To determine the Sports Brand Index, we look at three things.

  1. Percentage of unprompted brand recall within a named category e.g. ‘Snacks’ ‘Travel’ or ‘Entertainment’
  2. How likely a person is to purchase your particular brand (Purchase Intent)
  3. How likely a person is to recommend your brand (Net Promoter Score)

Our data is gathered every quarter from a nationally representative survey to 1,000 UK consumers aged 18-65.

Key Changes in Brand Attributes

A lot can happen in three months. What was cutting edge at the start of the year can be copied by competitors a dozen times over in a month or so. Trust in a brand can be lost overnight, or it can gradually rebuild over months and years, as we discovered this quarter… 

Each quarter we ask consumers to rank the top 10 sports brands in eight categories. These are attributes that every sports brand worth their weight should aim to win, including offering the latest technology, and being an inclusive brand for all consumers. Here are the main winners, losers and movers this quarter:

  • FIFA (whose history is chequered to say the least) voted the worst of the top 10 brands for inclusivity and pricing last quarter, sidle their way back into public acceptance in Q2. They sit firmly in the middle of the leaderboard, the public’s memory of the recent corruption cases (amongst other widely publicised scandals) finally waning.  
  • Meanwhile, the heavyweights, Nike and Adidas, lost some of their oomph this quarter. Back in Q1, Nike was known as the most recognisable sports brand, leading new trends in the industry. Adidas followed behind, offering the best quality products on the market. This time around, Nike lose their two titles (Liverpool FC becomes the brand with the most memorable branding, Under Armour is the most trend-setting) and Adidas loses their only crown (Liverpool FC take over as the brand offering the best quality). 
  • Speaking of the Reds, Liverpool storm into the top 10 this quarter. They score five top places across the eight attributes – to become the most inclusive and trustworthy brand, with the most memorable branding, offering the best service and the highest quality to consumers. You might even conclude that Liverpool FC fans are more loyal, as Arsenal FC drop out of the top 10 in Q2, after coming last in three attributes and first in just one in Q1.
  • It’s a different story for Sports Direct. The apparel retailer suffers six bottom places of the eight attributes (inclusivity, memorable branding, newest technology, trust, trend-setting and product quality). The fate is just slightly better for Sky Sports, who receives the remaining two last place positions (for service and price). Both brands risk being remembered for the wrong reasons, loitering in the top 10 thanks to high Unprompted Brand Recall, but suffering from low NPS and Purchase Intent scores.
Brand-index-Sports-q2-2019

Key Takeaways

  • Nike and Adidas keep their gold and silver medals for another consecutive quarter. They suffer across all three key metrics, but hang on to a significant lead on the third place brand overall (2,330 and 1,490 Total Brand Equity compared to Liverpool FC’s score of 170). 
  • The Scousers shoot Liverpool FC straight into third place, booting out Arsenal FC while they’re at it. Liverpool FC’s industry-leading NPS of 83.3 secures their position, despite relatively low recall (1.2%). Being well-thought-of by just a handful of dedicated consumers serves them well, though they’ll need to nudge up their Unprompted Brand Recall score to ensure they can recur in the top 10 next quarter.

The Full Report

The report includes:

  • The UK’s leading Sports brands for Awareness, Purchase Intent and Net Promoter Score
  • Overall Brand Strength and Total Brand Equity index
  • Industry averages and market dynamics
  • Key takeaways for the UK Sports industry

The report is based on a nationally representative survey of 1000 people in the UK (aged 18+), surveyed in January 2019. 

Attest

Content Team 

Our in-house marketing team is always scouring the market for the next big thing. This piece has been lovingly crafted by one of our team members. Attest's platform makes gathering consumer data as simple and actionable as possible.

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