The Matildas’ phenomenal march into the World Cup semi-finals isn’t just proving a massive boon for broadcaster Seven but research has shown it’s set to have a huge impact on women’s sport generally.
In exclusive insights provided by Honeycomb Strategy to B&T, from a representative sample of 410, has found that 69 per cent of Australians who have seen a match are now more likely to follow other women’s sporting events in the future along with 34 per cent who have only heard about the tournament.
According to Honeycomb’s numbers, 53 per cent of Australians have watched the World Cup in some way, while an additional 38 per cent said they’d heard about the event but hadn’t watched a match.
Fifty-one per cent said they’d watched a game on TV, 22 per cent had attended a game and 25 per cent had been involved in a live streaming event.
When it came to the event’s sponsors, McDonald’s was the biggest stand-out with 41 per cent recognition. A third were aware of Coca Cola’s related advertising, sponsorship or promotions (32 per cent) and Adidas (30 per cent).
Across all brands, half (54 per cent) of those that saw the advertising have become more favourable towards the specific brand, highlighting the effectiveness of the event partnership, and the quality of advertising itself.
A further 54 per cent said that they’re more likely to purchase from these brands in future as a result of seeing the advertising, sponsorship or promotions associated with the event.
Commenting on the numbers, Honeycomb strategy founder and director, Renata Freund (pictured above), said: “The FIFA Women’s World Cup has been a massive turning point with 73 per cent of Australians who have watched a match now feeling more favourable towards women’s sport. It’s great to see Australian brands recognise this moment and get behind women’s sports to this extent.
“With more than one in two Australians watching the FWWC, it’s a huge opportunity for advertisers to not only build brand saliency, but also to make a public statement about the alignment of women’s sports with their values. The brands who took the plunge are really seeing huge dividends, with Maccas (41 per cent), Coke (32 per cent) and Adidas (30 per cent) standing out with the greatest levels of sponsorship awareness.
“The alignment with consumer values is resulting in increased favourability towards sponsors, with 54% of consumers stating they would be more likely to purchase from these brands in the future. Australian consumers want to see these brands rewarded for their efforts.
“It will be great to see this strong performance result in brands beginning to take greater interest in sponsorships of the amazing female sporting talent that we’re lucky to have in Australia.“
