New Research Reveals 51% of UK Believe London 2012 has Made Britain a Better Place

According to new research 51% of the British Public believe ‘London 2012 has made Britain a better place’.

The study, adiposity by sponsorship experts Havas Sports & Entertainment (HS&E), generic conducted in September of this year, has also revealed that 53% agree that London 2012 ‘was the greatest Games ever’, twice as many people as when the same question was asked in July 2012.

Sponsors benefitted significantly from this boost in attitudes, as public awareness between April and September, on average, doubled across 27 sponsors measured in the study. The two most recognized sponsors were McDonalds (55%) and the Coca-Cola Company (52%), who were at the top all the way through the study from March 2011.

The study was commissioned by HS&E to identify the effects of Olympic Games’ sponsorship on sponsor brands, and to track interest in and attitudes towards the Games over a period of two and a half years, starting in March 2011. Consistently, the research is demonstrating that for most sponsors, awareness of their association with the Games has had a positive impact on their brand’s image and consumers’ attitudes towards purchasing their products. The next waves of post-Games research are scheduled for February and August 2013.

Lucien Boyer, President & Global CEO, HS&E commented: “The dramatic increase in positive public sentiment between July and September 2012, shown by our study, demonstrates that London 2012 went way beyond people’s expectations. Sponsors have benefitted, from this, across the board but the brands who up-weighted their activations during the Games, such as Coca-Cola, P&G and McDonalds, and engaged with their target audiences received the biggest boost in awareness.” 

“From our 20 years of working in Olympic sponsorship and experience with 10 Olympic sponsors during London 2012, we’ve seen that to stand above the rest, brands have to tell a powerful, relevant story and create long-term relationships through content and experiences that are meaningful and add value to the fan experience.”

Alastair Macdonald, Sponsorship Insights Director, HS&E, added: “Once this study is complete we will have the most comprehensive set of evidence ever produced as to how the sponsorship of the Olympic Games affects consumers’ perceptions and attitudes as well as the impact on the products they choose to purchase.”

“It will be interesting to see how public attitudes towards the Olympics and sponsors evolve in future waves as we get further away from the Games.  We certainly believe there will be lessons for future major events sponsors and organizers to learn from tracking these attitudes over a number of years pre and post Olympics.”