Olympic-themed marketing initiatives, even for non-sponsors, are getting a comparatively better strike rate, according to a recent report from global market researcher Ipsos.

The report tracks the performance of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games sponsors in China.

The Ipsos survey, the third since October 2007, used computer-assisted phone interviews. It covered 3,215 Chinese aged between 15 and 60 across 10 cities including Beijing, Qingdao, Qinhuangdao and Tianjin.

Of the 29 Beijing Games sponsors and partners included in the study, China Mobile ranked No 1, with its composite index of sponsorship performance at 51.8, followed by Coca-Cola, Air China, Lenovo and Yili. Ipsos' Olympic 2008 Sponsorship Performance Indexes (SPIs) include sponsor identity recognition, sponsor voice, wrong recognition, sponsorship fitness, brand image and enhanced willingness to purchase.

Netizens and ordinary consumers differ in brand recognition of Olympic sponsors, according to the survey.

The study found that netizens were more willing to purchase from Olympic sponsors than ordinary consumers.

Netizens and other consumers respond differently to Olympic sponsors because of cultural factors and their use of information resources, said Jia Yanli, deputy director of Ipsos' public affairs research department.

Netizens are generally more educated and have better access to business information. They get the latest news on Olympic sponsors fast and it tends to have a stronger impact on them, according to the study.

"We suggest that businesses take note of these differences in initiating Olympic marketing campaigns and conducting online and offline marketing activities," said Jia.

The Ipsos report found that the majority of Olympic sponsors have improved their brand recognition in China. Of the sponsors included in the latest study, China Mobile, Coca-Cola, Haier, Yili and Lenovo were the top five for brand recognition with 18.3 percent, 13.4 percent, 11.2 percent, 9.4 percent and 9.3 percent recognized on the first reference without prompting - much higher rates than the two previous surveys.

Of the non-Olympic sponsors, Mengniu, Pepsi, Li Ning, China Unicom and Nokia ranked the top five with 8 percent, 4.2 percent, 3.5 percent, 3.1 percent and 2.4 percent respectively in terms of incorrect recognition.

But in the sports clothing industry, Olympic sponsor Adidas has lagged behind non-sponsor Li Ning in terms of brand recognition in all three surveys.

Li Ning is often mistakenly thought of as an Olympic sponsor. In the latest survey, 70.9 percent of respondents still believed Li Ning was an Olympic sponsor, while only 65.7 percent thought Adidas was.

In the food and beverage industry, there has been nearly 70 years of rivalry between Pepsi and Coca-Cola. Here, it's Mengniu versus Yili. In terms of brand recognition, sponsorship fitness, social responsibility and brand trustworthiness, Mengniu has beaten Yili in the past two surveys, but the latest data shows the margins have narrowed.

In the financial and insurance industry, PICC has also met Ping An Insurance's ambush marketing using Olympic sponsorship as its platform. In all the survey indexes, Olympic sponsor Ping An Insurance has performed as well as PICC.

"All the Olympic sponsors should pay more attention to the high percentage of incorrect recognition of non-Olympic sponsors and the situation that non-Olympic sponsors are performing equally well or even better," said Jia, adding that this not only damaged sponsors' interests, but could also hurt their brand image.