Nearly 24% of all sports fans and 34.5% of those that consider themselves college basketball fans were able to recall a sponsor of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament unaided, according to a survey by research firm Repucom. Unaided by any list, the top recalled brand associated with the tournament, among both sports fans and college basketball fans, was Coca-Cola, followed by Nike. When then provided a list -- which included AT&T, Capital One, Coca-Cola, Verizon, LG, Enterprise, Powerade, Gatorade, Hertz, Reese’s and Lowe’s – Coke was again the top recalled brand, followed by Gatorade, which is not a sponsor of the tournament. For both aided and unaided recall, there was a slight lift in recall among college basketball fans when compared to all sports fans.
DRINK IT UP: When asked about sports drinks in particular, 21% of sports fans and 27% of college basketball fans recalled seeing sports drinks on the sidelines during the tournament. Of those respondents, 40% of both sports fans and college basketball fans recalled seeing Powerade on the sidelines. However, 80% incorrectly recalled seeing Gatorade (Repucom).
| TOP RECALLED BRANDS (UNAIDED) ASSOCIATED
WITH THE MEN'S NCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT |
| BRAND | ALL SPORTS FANS | COLLEGE BASKETBALL FANS |
| Coca-Cola | 5.1% | 7.2% |
| Nike | 5.4% | 7.0% |
| AT&T | 2.5% | 3.7% |
| Pepsi | 1.8% | 2.7% |
| Allstate | 1.6% | 2.4% |
| | | |
| TOP RECALLED BRANDS (AIDED) ASSOCIATED
WITH THE MEN'S NCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT |
| BRAND | ALL SPORTS FANS | COLLEGE BASKETBALL FANS |
| Coca-Cola | 43.9% | 50.1% |
| Gatorade (not a sponsor) | 37.8% | 43.2% |
| AT&T | 29.2% | 33.9% |
| Verizon (not a sponsor) | 26.5% | 30.7% |
| Capital One | 25.0% | 29.0% |
| Powerade | 21.3% | 24.0% |
