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Update: Experian Hitwise identifies the brands topping the World Cup sponsorship league
Qantas outperforms all World Cup brands since Index beganTravel brands boom with four in the top five fast movers last week
World Cup-related searches up 51% since start of the competition
London, 07 July 2010 - Experian Hitwise, the leading online competitive intelligence service, today reveals that travel and fashion brands have surged into the top five performers in our World Cup Brand Search Index.
By far the biggest winner of the week was Australian flag carrier Qantas, which saw UK internet searches increase by over 150% between the week ending June 26th and the week ending July 3rd. The increase in traffic made Qantas the 18th most popular website in the aviation sector, up from the 21st position in the previous week.
Qantas's success this week in online searches eclipses everything that has come before since Experian Hitwise started the World Cup Index. Previous chart-toppers South African Airways (129.2% increase in UK Internet searches during the first week of the tournament), Budweiser (25% increase during week 2) and Peroni (50% increase during week 3) led the field in their respective weeks, but were no match for Qantas's achievements this week.
Other big-name travel brands Hertz, Virgin Atlantic and Lufthansa also had a good week with search increases of between 6.5% and 11.1%. Meanwhile, fashion brands Gillette and Marks & Spencer also broke into the top five for the first time.
Gillette saw UK internet searches increase by 20%, making it the second highest climber in the Index. Marks & Spencer was joint fifth in the top five performers this week, along with German airline Lufthansa: both saw searches increase by 6.5% over the week.
In the aftermath of England's dismal performance against Germany in the last-16 tie, it is interesting to note that two of the top five improved performers were brands linked with the England team. Marks & Spencer provided the team's tailored suits, while Virgin Atlantic was the official airline supplier for the England squad. Both companies received a lot of media coverage as the England team returned from South Africa, which could be responsible for the surge in internet searches.
This week's best performing sector was travel, increasing 5.6% overall. This increase could be attributed in part to England's exit from the competition, with many England fans holding back on booking holidays whilst the team remained in contention to win the World Cup. Food and Drink was the best sector last week and managed to maintain an impressive 3.0% increase as a sector, despite significant drops in searches for Budweiser, Carlsberg and Peroni.
"We've seen an awful lot of change in the performance of key World Cup brands over the last few weeks," commented Experian Hitwise's Director of Research, Robin Goad. "Much like the competition itself, no one brand has asserted itself as a clear favourite, with our top five performing brands going through wholesale changes in most weeks."
"Just like with the football, big names have failed to deliver. The major sportswear brands have been the Italy of our Index and have not experienced the expected increase in searches. On the other hand, smaller brands like Westfield and Kia have performed above expectations, making them the Ghana of the Index. This just goes to prove that whether it's football or marketing, success can never be guaranteed."
Other World Cup influences on UK online search behaviour include:
- Searches for World Cup-related terms increased 4.6% between the week ending June 26th and the week ending July 3rd. In the last four weeks, World Cup-related searches have increased by 51%.
- With the group stages over, it was almost inevitable that some of the remaining knockout matches would result in penalty shootouts. Searches for 'penalty' increased last week, and 60% of the top 20 related searches for the term 'penalty' concerned online flash games. Only two of the top 20 penalty-related search terms were actually to do with football matches, including 'longest penalty shootout' and 'penalty shootout alternatives'.
- In the last week searches relating to 'goal line technology' increased in the UK by 5.1% after Frank Lampard's goal against Germany was disallowed. FIFA President Sepp Blatter had insisted that such technology would not become a part of football, leading to an unsurprising increase in searches of a disparaging nature, perhaps the kindest of which was: 'sepp blatter idiot'.
The next Experian Hitwise Brand Index will be available on 13 July 2010.
ENDS
Contact:
Jannie Cahill
Experian Hitwise."
+44 20 3042 4773
press.uk@hitwise.com
* About the Experian Hitwise Brand Search Index
The Index is based upon the volume of UK Internet searches for multiple variations of each brand. All of the brands selected are either official FIFA World Cup sponsors, or sponsors of national teams with products that have strong brand recognition in the UK. The base for the index was set at 100 using the average weekly search volume for each brand during May 2010.
About Experian Hitwise
Experian Hitwise is the leading online competitive intelligence service. Experian Hitwise gives marketers a competitive advantage by providing daily insights on how 25 million Internet users around the world interact with more than 1 million Web sites. This external view helps companies grow and protect their businesses by identifying threats and opportunities as they develop. Experian Hitwise has more than 1,500 clients across numerous sectors, including financial services, media, travel and retail.
Experian Hitwise (FTS:EXPN), www.experianplc.com, operates in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Canada and Brazil. More information about Experian Hitwise is available at www.hitwise.co.uk.
For up-to-date analysis of online trends, please visit the Experian Hitwise research blog at www.ilovedata.com and the Experian Hitwise Data Centre at www.hitwise.com/datacentre
About Experian
Experian is the leading global information services company, providing data and analytical tools to clients in more than 90 countries. The company helps businesses to manage credit risk, prevent fraud, target marketing offers and automate decision making. Experian also helps individuals to check their credit report and credit score, and protect against identity theft.
Experian plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index. Total revenue for the year ended 31 March 2010 was $3.9 billion. Experian employs approximately 15,000 people in 40 countries and has its corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, with operational headquarters in Nottingham, UK; Costa Mesa, California; and São Paulo, Brazil.
For more information, visit http://www.experianplc.com.