Over time, Nike and adidas have been shown to be two of the strongest brands in the active sports lifestyle market. Though that statement is hardly earth shattering, what is surprising is their dominance across consumer groups, from action sports to fitness to golf. What isnt so much a surprise is the strong brand awareness and purchase levels that were evident in the team sports sector.
The SportsOneSource 2009 Brand Strength Report assesses the consumers view of sporting goods brands within key focus groups. The report looks at users within specific segments of the industry and asks them to rate the brands they know and use in addition to major brands that extend across the industrys many divisions.
The focus group approach, which surveys Team Sports, Fitness & Individual Sports, Outdoor Specialty, Sportsman, Action Sports and Golf & Tennis consumers, provides an opportunity to get a real feel for brand strength within the groups where brands target their marketing efforts. For instance, team sports participants were asked more questions about team sports brands and golfers rated the golf brands.
This week, Sports Executive Weekly delves into the results generated by the Team Sports Focus Grou.
The brand that sees the largest shift between its score for the overall survey population and for the Team Sports Focus Group is brand Jordan. The basketball-centric brand failed to even place in the top 25 highest scoring brands with the overall survey population, but sees its Team Sports Focus Group score jump over 85 points from the overall survey group. Adidas, Under Armour, Nike and Puma all saw their scores jump when looking at the Team Sports Focus Group, while New Balance and Spalding slipped. Interestingly, Reebok was nearly flat, increasing its score only 0.2 points for the Team Sports Focus Group versus the overall population.
And Team Brands Score Highest…
It should come as no real surprise that the many of the brands that had the highest Brand Strength Index in the Team Sports Focus Group are more widely distributed brands beyond the team sports sector.
It should also be no surprise that the participants in the Team Sports Focus Group — those respondents that indicated during the broader brand strength survey that they closely followed or participated in team sports have other interests outside of the team sports market.
In this years survey, The SportsOneSource Group developed a more robust measurement of brand strength. In earlier reports, brand strength was based on blanket awareness and a perception of quality rating that was asked of any and all respondents.
In this years survey, The SportsOneSource Group developed a more robust measurement of brand strength. In earlier reports, brand strength was based on blanket awareness and a perception of quality rating that was asked of any and all respondents.
The charts on page 2 show brand strength ratings based on results from survey respondents that are team sports participants or enthusiasts. The chart on the left includes all sports or outdoor brands, regardless of category, while the chart on the right only includes brands active in the team sports market.
