The SportsOneSource Group Releases 2009 Brand Strength Index

The SportsOneSource Group has released its 2009 Brand Strength Index, indicating that Nike, adidas, New Balance, Reebok and Under Armour have the strongest connection with consumers going into the new year.  The Index, developed by SportsOneSource to more accurately measure a brand’s strength in the eyes of the consumer, is based on a formula that measures unaided brand awareness, aided brand awareness, consumer brand purchases, the consumer’s intent to re-purchase a brand, and the consumer’s unwillingness to compromise on the purchase of a particular brand.

The Nike brand took the top spot, driven in large part by its broad brand awareness levels, but also by the number of purchases and the consumer’s intent to re-purchase the brand in the future.  The Nike brand had been purchased by nearly 64% of the study’s 8,001 survey respondents.

While the position of Nike and the others at the top of the Index is perhaps unremarkable given the dollars spent each year on marketing and product development, the market must certainly take notice as the U.S. heads deeper into a recession and consumers drift toward the brands where they have the strongest connection.  The top brands in this report are positioned to maintain or take share in a troubled economy.

Under Armour jumped from the bottom of a much smaller list in 2006 to fifth overall as the brand has grown exponentially over the last two years.  But the brand also benefited from the loyalty of its consumers, particularly those under 25 years of age.

The Brand Strength Index is just one component of the SportsOneSource 2009 Brand Strength Report.  The Brand Strength Report will be available in late December and will be made available in various formats, including report segments based on sports or activity participation, age, race, gender and household income.  Specific Brand Strength Index reports will be developed for the top 50 brands.

The SportsOneSource Brand Strength survey was conducted in late September utilizing a third-party Internet panel provider.  A total of 8,001 responses were collected providing information on over 300 brands.  Respondents were age 12 and up.

SportsOneSource Brand Strength Index Top 25 Brands
OVERALL RESPONDENTS				TEEN RESPONDENTS
Rank	Brand	Score*		Rank	Brand	Score*
1	Nike	732.9		1	Nike	810.9
2	adidas	602.7		2	adidas	671.1
3	New Balance	565.5		3	Under Armour	587.4
4	Reebok/RBK	533.7		4	Speedo	551.5
5	Under Armour	508.3		5	Reebok/RBK	532.0
6	Coleman	496.6		6	Puma	526.3
7	Columbia	480.0		7	New Balance	509.4
8	Remington	475.1		8	Converse	495.1
9	FootJoy	471.1		9	Coleman	480.9
10	Callaway Golf	470.0		10	Jordan	480.8
11	Titleist	469.6		11	Wilson	461.6
12	Timberland	465.0		12	Timberland	458.6
13	Carhartt	457.6		13	Vans	453.7
14	Winchester	457.6		14	Oakley	446.4
15	Gore-Tex	456.5		15	Spalding	445.8
16	Glock	455.0		16	North Face	443.7
17	Thinsulate	451.9		17	Champion	433.4
18	Spalding	451.6		18	Carhartt	433.3
19	TaylorMade	448.6		19	Thinsulate	432.5
20	North Face	447.5		20	Rawlings	431.8
21	Speedo	442.1		21	Columbia	425.9
22	Puma	441.1		22	Swiss Army	423.4
23	Rocky	439.9		23	Skechers	416.2
24	Skechers	436.8		24	Dickies	413.2
25	Champion	434.3		25	Gore-Tex	398.7
* Out of a perfect score of 1,000 A perfect score would be achieved if all respondents had been aware of and had purchased the brand and would not compromise on intention to purchase the brand again.