Andy Murray's promising start and the unseasonably good weather made Wimbledon 2009 a hot topic. For brands sponsoring the event this meant more eyeballs than ever before.
Headline sponsors HSBC went to town with elaborate outdoor displays, including turning the local tube station into a tennis court. However, it appears tennis fans were watching the players and not the surrounding greenery. Nike, kit suppliers to Serena Williams and Roger Federer, saw a significant increase in buzz during Wimbledon, while HSBC mentions did not change at all.
Total mentions of HSBC, Wimbledon and Nike (1st June - 14th July 2009)
Serena William's appearance in the Nike Women's Fall Athlete Court Dress saw buzz around Nike women's clothing peak. Clearly the Nike clothing sponsorship strategy relies on the players staying in the competition and it is appropriate for Nike to sponsor clothing - less so for HSBC. That said, clothing sponsorship appears to be the way to go for brands. UK favourite Andy Murray wore Fred Perry during the event and an impressive 88% of all Fred Perry posts associated the brand with the British number one (450 of 510 posts).
Wimbledon buzz is decidedly faddy with conversations around the topic appearing across a wide range of sources (64% of all buzz occurred outside of news sites) and dropping off almost immediately after the event.
This steep peak and quick decline suggests that Nike's approach in not paying specifically for Wimbledon sponsorship might be best as any peaks in conversations are short-lived - niche groups soon lose interest when the next sporting event comes around.
Mentions of Wimbledon Finalists (1 June - 14th July 2009)
Of the players, unsurprisingly, the men's and ladies' finalists topped buzz topics with Murray being the third most mentioned male player behind Roddick and Federer.
Although men and women now receive the same prize money, the boys still received the bulk of the buzz. This suggests that when it comes to tennis, it's better to sponsor a boy. Alternatively, with 207 mentions during the tournament, branded strawberries might be another option.
Methodology: Jam is the social media unit of i-level, digital communications agency. Jam uses data from various sources to track buzz and conversations across the web. To suggest a Buzz topic, email rich.sutcliffe@haymarket.com
www.spreadingjam.com / www.i-level.com
Author: Katie Edgar