TORONTO – This is why big events like the Olympics are very important to mutliplatform media providers.
According to research conducted right after the Sochi Winter Olympics, 81% of Canadians who followed the Games were able to name at least one Olympic sponsor, with an average of 1.8 brands mentioned top-of-mind according to the independent survey of viewers by Solutions Research Group.
Among the key findings of the research:
- TV was the leading source of coverage reaching 79% of those who followed on any platform, but digital made a very big showing: Online, mobile and social media reached 59%, combined.
- 17% of all Sochi followers used a smartphone to follow the action, close to the same level of use as a laptop (19%) and far ahead of a tablet (9%)
- 13% followed an athlete or an organization related to the Olympics on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram
When it came to remembering the individual advertisers, worldwide Olympic sponsors McDonald’s and Coca Cola were the top two brands in recall for consumers overall. RBC, Canadian Tire, Visa, Bell, Tim Horton’s, Petro Canada, P&G and Air Canada rounded out the top 10 in the survey.
The research found significantly higher levels of ad and sponsor recall for all Olympic sponsors among those who followed the action on mobile or among those who followed via social media.
- Overall, 36% of Sochi followers could name three or more sponsors/advertisers for the games. Among those who followed the athletes or the Olympics via Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, 50% could name at least three sponsors or advertisers.
- 46% of those who followed Sochi on a smartphone and 53% of those using the CBC App were able to name at least three sponsors, much higher than the all-media average of 36%.
“In general, mobile consumption of Olympics is a measure of engagement with the content, and social media brings an added dimension of intimacy with direct connection to athletes and organizations. The results of the research show that such engagement also extends to sponsors and their brands,” reads the SRG report.
The results come from a survey of 806 Canadian consumers 12+ who followed the Sochi Olympics, completed just at the end of the Sochi Olympic games.
