Nike Brand Awareness Pushing 99% for Athletic Footwear Buyers

Even before the most recent Olympic Winter Games gave it yet more lift in the market place, the Nike brand was recognized by nearly 99% of all respondents to a recent survey conducted by The SportsOneSource Group as a component of its annual Brand Strength Report. 

Brand awareness was 98.8% among the consolidated respondent pool aged 13 years old and up that had purchased athletic footwear or apparel over the past year.  Somewhat surprisingly, the awareness level for female respondents was slightly higher than the male group, topping out at 99.1% awareness.  Adidas was second in brand awareness at 95.2% and Reebok/RBK brand awareness stood at 93.2%.  Converse (87.6%) and Puma (86.1%) rounded out the top 5.

The brand awareness responses in the survey, which was conducted in late 2009, are a key component in the firm’s annual Brand Strength Report and the formulation of the Brand Strength Index.  The Brand Strength Index was formulated in early 2009 by The SportsOneSource Group in an effort to more effectively measure the overall consumer perception of a specific brand.  Each brand measured was tested across four main criteria, with those criteria each individually weighted to reflect their importance in the overall indexing formula. 

Two key factors influencing the Brand Strength Index focused on awareness, both unaided awareness and aided awareness.  In an effort to measure a brand’s mindshare, the survey respondents were first asked an open-ended question to identify sporting goods, including footwear and apparel brands that come to mind to determine the unaided level of awareness.  The respondents were later asked to select from a randomized list of 72 brands to determine their recognition of each brand. 

Respondents that mentioned a specific brand in the unaided awareness portion of the survey automatically selected those certain brands during the aided portion of the survey. 

The Brand Strength Report is an annual study conducted by The SportsOneSource Group to measure consumers impressions of sporting goods brands, including footwear and apparel.  The report is available in a number of versions, including a Top Line Report, a Full Report, a Base Report, a Summary Report and a Young Consumer Report, which measures responses exclusively for consumers aged 13 to 24 years of age. 

The Top Line Report is now available and the Summary, Base and Full Reports will begin delivery next week.  The Young Consumer Report will be available in April. 

For more information on these reports and other research conducted by The SportsOneSource Group, please call for more information at 704.987.3450.