Chicago-based Leo Burnett and its Starcom Media Services surveyed 512 consumers via phone last week and the results show that consumers "had a tough time picking the real Olympic sponsors from a list of big advertisers," according to Sally Goll Beatty of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. The results show that 73% incorrectly named Nike as an official sponsor and 55% incorrectly named Pepsi. Among the "bona fide top sponsors," only McDonald's scored better than Nike, getting recognition from 85%. Eleven of the 20 names "most readily identified" in the survey as official worldwide sponsors "don't truly qualify." Visa USA Exec VP/Brand Management Becky Saeger: "We struggle with this all the time, not only in choosing sponsorships but in leveraging them. ... How important is it that people know you're an official sponsor?" Saeger says Visa's Olympic sponsorship has "been worth it" because Visa is the only card accepted at the Games and the only one allowed to advertise on CBS (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 2/18). The following chart shows the top five Olympic sponsors and non-sponsors who received recognition from the survey. The percent is based on people who answered "yes" when asked if the company is an official sponsor (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 2/18).
TOP OFFICIAL
SPONSORS | % | | NON-SPONSOR
ADVERTISERS | % |
| McDonald's | 85% | Nike | 73% |
| Visa | 70% | AT&T | 63% |
| Coke | 68% | Pepsi | 55% |
| IBM | 65% | MasterCard | 49% |
| Kodak | 63% | Sony | 43% |
