Experian Hitwise Identifies the Brands Topping the World Cup Sponsorship League

Update: Experian Hitwise identifies the brands topping the World Cup sponsorship league

Drinks brands occupy top three positions

 Italy and England sponsors attract most online attention

Telecoms businesses complete the top five

1 in every 93 UK Internet searches currently World Cup related

London, 30 June 2010 - Experian Hitwise, the leading online competitive intelligence service, today reveals that drinks brands sponsoring World Cup teams continue to benefit most from increased online traffic.

Peroni, sponsors of the Italian team, and England sponsors, Carlsberg, saw the greatest number of UK Internet searches of all World Cup sponsors last week. Searches for Peroni, increased by 50% between the week ending June 19^th and the week ending June 26^th, although the Italian team were on their way home from South Africa by June 24^th. Peroni’s Experian Hitwise World Cup Index score increased from 100 to 150 based upon the volume of searches for the brand.

The promise of a last-16 tie against Germany saw UK Internet searches for Carlsberg increase by a third over the week, while searches for Pepsi, sponsors of the USA, increased by the same amount. Telecoms businesses T-Mobile and Vodafone (down from fourth place in last week’s index) completed the top five, but with a much lower increase in the volume of searches.

The top five performing brands in the Experian Hitwise World Cup Brands Index last week (w/e June 26^th) were as follows.

Brand Index Week 3 – top five performers

The results highlight the relative dominance of drinks brands in generating online buzz in the 2010 World Cup.  Budweiser topped the brand index last week with a 25% increase in online searches, while in the first week of the tournament, beer companies made up four of the top five performers.    

Overall the best performing sector was food and drink, with a 4.8% increase in searches, followed by technology and telecoms with a 2.8% increase.

“Last week it was those brands sponsoring relative underdogs that did well in terms of online buzz – Westfield with Australia and Kia with Slovakia to name but two.  This week, as the group stage of the tournament drew to a close, it was the so called big guns that started to draw more attention: those sponsoring Italy, England and Germany,” commented Robin Goad, Research Director for Experian Hitwise.

“Our analysis shows just how fast things are changing, with drinks brands now back up in the top five. Now the World Cup is in full swing, brands need to be quick off the mark if they are to build on the global interest the games are attracting. The brands that will fare well for the remainder of the tournament will be those that can respond quickly to what’s happening, adapting campaigns and targeting people with eye-catching and engaging content that makes them stand out from the crowd.”

Overall Brand Index Week 3

The next Experian Hitwise Brand Index will be available on 6 July 2010.

ENDS

Contact:

Jannie Cahill

Experian Hitwise.”

+44 20 3042 4773

press.uk@hitwise.com

* About the Experian Hitwise Brand Search Index

The Index is based upon the volume of UK Internet searches for multiple variations of each brand. All of the brands selected are either official FIFA World Cup sponsors, or sponsors of national teams with products that have strong brand recognition in the UK. The base for the index was set at 100 using the average weekly search volume for each brand during May 2010.

About Experian Hitwise

Experian Hitwise is the leading online competitive intelligence service. Experian Hitwise gives marketers a competitive advantage by providing daily insights on how 25 million Internet users around the world interact with more than 1 million Web sites. This external view helps companies grow and protect their businesses by identifying threats and opportunities as they develop. Experian Hitwise has more than 1,500 clients across numerous sectors, including financial services, media, travel and retail.

Experian Hitwise (FTS:EXPN), www.experianplc.com, operates in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Canada and Brazil. More information about Experian Hitwise is available at www.hitwise.co.uk.

For up-to-date analysis of online trends, please visit the Experian Hitwise research blog at www.ilovedata.com and the Experian Hitwise Data Centre at www.hitwise.com/datacentre

About Experian
Experian is the leading global information services company, providing data and analytical tools to clients in more than 90 countries. The company helps businesses to manage credit risk, prevent fraud, target marketing offers and automate decision making. Experian also helps individuals to check their credit report and credit score, and protect against identity theft.

Experian plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index. Total revenue for the year ended 31 March 2010 was $3.9 billion. Experian employs approximately 15,000 people in 40 countries and has its corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, with operational headquarters in Nottingham, UK; Costa Mesa, California; and São Paulo, Brazil. 

For more information, visit http://www.experianplc.com.