Heineken and Lidl have emerged as the top two brands in the latest published survey of sponsorship effectiveness and reputation.

The Reputations Agency had added this Sponsorship effectiveness strand to their ten year old Reputation survey which was publsihed on Friday.

Based on the perceptions of 7,094 members of the public who completed the survey between 5th January and 5th March 2018, the survey measures the consumer perceptions of the sponsorship activities and whether they impact on the corporate reputation for 80 of the largest, most familiar, and most important organisations in Ireland.

The top 10 companies in the Ireland Sponsorship RepTrak® 2018 study are as follows:

Heineken – 82.2
Lidl – 81.7
Samsung – 80.4
SuperValu – 79.9
The Coca-Cola Company – 79.1
Tesco – 78.8
Credit Unions – 78.1
Toyota – 77.4
Kerry Group – 77.1
Aldi – 77.0

The Ireland Sponsorship Reptrak 2018 results and trends were revealed at a breakfast briefing held at The Merrion Hotel on Friday morning where Hans Erik Tuijt, Global Sponsorship Director for Heineken International flew in from Amsterdam to acknowledge the accolade and address some of Ireland’s most influential marketing, sponsorship and communications industry figures.

“It is an exciting time for Heineken to return as the main partner to the European Rugby Champions Cup, the pinnacle of European club rugby,” said Tuijt.

“The expansion of the tournament to emerging rugby territories and new cities in traditional strongholds provides Heineken with the opportunity to create engaging fan experiences and bring our association with rugby to new audiences throughout Europe. Heineken is proud to have had a close association with rugby for over 20 years and we look forward to watching the competition unfold across the course of the season.”

The reputational study also reveals what kind of sponsorships are likely to be perceived by the Irish public as having the most positive impact on a sponsor’s corporate reputation.

Although sport dominates the Irish sponsorship landscape, with the sponsorship industry reported to be worth more than €200 million, the study revealed that sponsorship properties that are either cause-related or linked to a charitable drive are most likely to improve an organisation’s reputation, according to 59% of the respondents.

However, this was followed closely by brands establishing strategic partnerships with either national sporting teams/bodies or directly sponsoring local sports clubs. Both kinds of sponsorships were considered by over half of the respondents (each received 52%) as being likely to have a positive effect on an organisation’s reputation.

Unsurprisingly, sport featured predominantly amongst male participants but the younger cohort, those aged 18-24, involved in the study go against the grain.

They highlighted venue sponsorships such as 3Arena or the Aviva Stadium; arts and culture such as music festivals, comedy festivals and art exhibitions; as well as awards initiatives such as the Irish Book of the Year or People of the Year initiatives as their top three forms of sponsorship that are most likely to enhance an organisation’s reputation.

Venue sponsorships also featured prominently among the 25-34 age category.

“The Ireland Sponsorship Reptrak study set out to analyse how sponsorship activities link into the overall reputation for an organisation,” said Gareth Field, Head of Sponsorship at The Reputations Agency.

“The results confirm that organisations aligning their brands with the right sponsorship property can enhance an organisation’s overall reputation.”

“Organisations who are combining national sponsorship properties, communicated through local touch points, with activities which enable them to have a positive influence on society, are those most likely to resonate with their customers and the Irish public in general.”

Somewhat strangely neither Electric Ireland nor Bord Gais Energy, who featured strongly in last week’s Core Media National Sponsorship Index feature in the Top 30 of The Reputations Agency survey.  It will be interesting to track as Onside Sponsorship reveal their ‘Summer of Sport report next week and Teneo PSG go to the national population with their Sentiment Index in early December.


 

Image Credit: Marc O’Sullivan