Nowitzki Reduces Anonymity Among U.S. Consumers Following NBA Championship

Mavericks F Dirk Nowitzki has “reduced his anonymity among consumers to just slightly more than half,” according to a survey by The Marketing Arm cited by Cheryl Hall of the DALLAS MORNING NEWS. Nearly “two-thirds of Americans didn’t know who Nowitzki was” when the NBA Finals began last month. But The Marketing Arm, which monitors public opinion through its Davie Brown Index, last Sunday “polled consumers about Nowitzki” and found that he “moved up in every attribute" the DBI tracks. Hall noted while it is “surprising that 51 percent of American consumers still don’t know who Nowitzki is, of those who do, seven out of 10 want to be like him," ranking him with MLS Galaxy MF David Beckham and actress Angelina Jolie in the aspiration category and “similar to Lady Gaga as a possible product endorser.” Nowitzki now has “more appeal than LeBron James, Chris Bosh or Dwyane Wade." In terms of “likeability, Nowitzki outscores James by a whopping 20 percentage points.” The survey also showed consumers liked “all the other Mavericks players -- Jason Kidd, Jason Terry, Shawn Marion, Tyson Chandler and J.J. Barea -- better than any of the Heat’s Big Three.” Additionally, consumers now think Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban is “a worthy role model.” Cuban rose from a ranking of 1,679 last August to 588 as of Sunday, and in "terms of influence, he rose from 1,729 to No. 608” (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 6/22).

GERMAN PRECISION: According to N-Score data from Nielsen Media/E-Poll, which aims to evaluate potential endorsement effectiveness, Nowitzki’s score measured comparably to retired tennis player Pete Sampras, Baseball HOFer Joe Morgan and Yankees 3B Alex Rodriguez. Nowitzki had an awareness level of 16% among respondents, which puts him right at the average for most athletes, but below the 19% level for the average NBA player. Nowitzki’s highest marks were in confidence and experience. While Nowitzki had his highest overall level of awareness among the 25-54 demo, it was the 13-17 year-old demo which was most able to recognize his face when asked. Looking at active NBA players, Nowitzki’s awareness level ranked 13th overall among players measured during the last 12 months. Listed below is an N-Score comparison of athletes/personalities in Nowitzki’s range alongside how each respective score in select attributes. Also listed is a ranking of current NBA players with N-Scores similar to Nowitzki (THE DAILY).