Experian Hitwise identifies the brands topping the World Cup sponsorship league

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Beer brands Corona and Heineken make a last minute comeback
Experian Hitwise World Cup Brand Index Awards announced
Qantas enjoys second week as highest scoring brand in Index
Travel most successful sector for World Cup branding overal

Experian Hitwise, the online competitive intelligence service, has revealed that drinks brands Corona and Heineken have broken back into the top five performers of the Experian Hitwise World Cup Brand Search Index* after three weeks outside of the fastest-movers' list.
 
In the final week of the competition, both brands had a strong finish, claiming the top two spots on the best performing brands list. Corona jumped 44 Index points, increasing its searches from last week by 50%. Meanwhile Heineken was the second most improved brand with a 25% increase in searches between the week ending July 3rd and the week ending July 10th.
 
Lufthansa, which also featured in last week's top five, took the third spot this week with a 24.2% increase in search traffic. Automotive brand Chevrolet was featured in the top five for the first time since the tournament began, and sports brand Westfield rounded off the top five.
 
It's perhaps no surprise that three of the top five brands to improve this week were sponsors of the teams which remained in the competition until the final weekend. Heineken (Netherlands) and Chevrolet (Spain) were both represented in the final, whilst Lufthansa (Germany) was represented in the 3rd place play-off. 

 
 
Despite the impressive improvements of Corona and Heineken, the Food & Drink category was the worst performing sector in the Index. Food & Drink as a sector was down 4.7% from last week as a result of search traffic decreases for Carlsberg, Coca-Cola, Tesco and McDonald's.
 
Experian Hitwise Director of Research, Robin Goad commented: "In the last week of the World Cup the beer brands stormed back to prominence as they did in the opening week of the competition. With the Netherlands reaching the final, Dutch brewers Heineken have clearly capitalised on thesuccess of their sponsored team. Interestingly, in our analysis of top Spanish beer brands, including San Miguel, Damm and Mahou, none of these brands received additional traffic as a result of Spain reaching the final, perhaps indicating a missed marketing opportunity on behalf of those brands".  
 
The only category to report an overall improvement in searches was Automotive with an increase of 2.7%. Chevrolet, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz andPeugeot all contributed positively to the performance of the category; only Fiat and Kia saw dips in traffic in the sector.
 
Over the course of the World Cup, Travel was the most successful category in the Experian Hitwise World Cup Brand Search Index. The travel brands had the highest average Index score, and the two highest scoring brands in the Index over the five weeks both came from the Travel sector.
 
 
 
The Experian Hitwise World Cup Awards
At the end of each World Cup, governing body FIFA awards accolades to the outstanding individuals of the tournament. In keeping with that tradition, Experian Hitwise would like to award its own trophies to commend top brands with special recognition for their achievements during the World Cup.
 
The Golden Boot Award: South Africa Airways
When we added the aggregate Index scores over the five weeks, South Africa Airways came out on top with a cumulative Index score of 1,032. South Africa Airways had a brilliant World Cup as the most searched-for brand in the first week of the competition and continued to perform ahead of its competitors in the following weeks.
 
The Golden Ball Award: Qantas
Qantas was our chosen brand of the World Cup; although it had a slow start, it finished to have the highest Index score at the close of the tournament. Qantas made the biggest leap of Index score of any brand last week, and over the course of the competition achieved the second highest cumulative Index score after a very strong final fortnight.
 
Young Player Award: Peroni
Peroni is not a brand normally associated with sports and is a relative newcomer next to the established big boys such as Heineken, Carlsberg and Budweiser. However, Peroni scored the highest in the Index of all the Food & Drink brands in terms of cumulative Index score, pushing it past old favourites such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi and McDonald's.
 
Fair Play Award: Nivea for Men
Despite not making any headlines in the World Cup brand wars, Nivea For Men was the most consistent performer across the whole competition. Other brands had their ups and downs but Nivea For Men maintained an Index score of 100 for the entire five weeks, making it one of just seven brands that never dipped below 100 in the Index score. The other six brands that managed to maintain an Index score of above 100 for the duration of the competition included: Tesco, Peroni, Adidas, Marks & Spencer, South Africa Airways and T-Mobile.