Following IOC Visit, the Sport Industry Celebrates UK's Sport BrandLeaders

LONDON, February 23 /PRNewswire/ --

Despite the IOC's departure and Olympic fever calming slightly, sport icons (and not just the Beckhams and Chelseas) continue impacting on our daily lives.

In recognition of their influence 40 brands will tonight receive the inaugural UK Sport BrandLeaders award, a status conferring excellence. Sportswear brands dominated the list, but other categories strongly represented included tournaments, in the shape of the Heineken Cup, the 20Twenty Cup and MotoGP, as well as venues where the home of tennis (Wimbledon), rugby (Twickenham) and cricket (Lords) were recognised alongside the magnificent Millennium Stadium. Niche brands featured ranged from Harrows Darts to Kookaburra, the makers of the traditional cricket ball.

The top three highest ranked brands amongst the 40 were Nike, adidas and Wimbledon respectively.

The awards were organised by the Superbrands organisation, the authority on branding. All 40 were rated highly on a short list of over 600 brands scored by the independent and voluntary Sport BrandLeaders Council. The council includes Gabby Logan, presenter of ITV's Champions league coverage, together with the Director of Marketing at the British Olympic Association, the Chief Executive of Sport England and the Managing Director of the Sport Industry awards.

Stephen Cheliotis, Chairman of the Sport BrandLeaders Council recognised that "whilst teams and personalities dominate the lime light, tonight's celebration is reserved for the products, venues and tournaments making a significant impact in the UK recently." He added "whilst we acknowledge the strength in the Beckhams, Manchester Utds and Chelseas of the world, it is equally important to praise the likes of TaylorMade and Speedo that have helped both stars and ordinary people enjoy their favourite sports."

A Sport BrandLeader provides users with emotional and tangible advantages over other brands. Council member Gabby Logan said: "If I was setting out to create the next big Sport BrandLeader my main focus would be on credibility. Sport fans are a particularly critical and knowledgeable group of consumers...they can spot a fake at a hundred paces."

To give a further insight into these brands, their stories feature in a new publication, Sport BrandLeaders, which was launched at the awards.

Web: www.superbrands.org/uk

Notes to the Editor:

1. Council members score each brand on the shortlist based on their opinion of the brand strength. Council members do not vote for any brand they have an association with.

2. Full list of Sport BrandLeaders 2005 follows:

    
    Heineken Cup                      Tournaments
    MotoGP                            Tournaments
    Twenty20 Cup                      Tournaments

    adidas                            Sports wear and accessories
    Animal                            Sports wear and accessories
    Berghaus(R)                       Sports wear and accessories
    Bloc                              Sports wear and accessories
    Eastpak                           Sports wear and accessories
    FALKE                             Sports wear and accessories
    Fila                              Sports wear and accessories
    howies                            Sports wear and accessories
    Nike                              Sports wear and accessories
    Reebok                            Sports wear and accessories
    Russell Athletic                  Sports wear and accessories
    Speedo                            Sports wear and accessories
    Triumph                           Sports wear and accessories
    UMBRO                             Sports wear and accessories

    Lord's                            Sports venue
    Millennium Stadium                Sports venue
    Twickenham                        Sports venue
    Wimbeldon                         Sports venue & tournament

    Science in Sport (SIS)            Sports nutrition

    Prince                            Sport equipment
    Wilson                            Sport equipment
    Crewsaver                         Sport equipment
    Grays                             Sport equipment
    Harrows                           Sport equipment
    Kookaburra                        Sport equipment
    Mitre                             Sport equipment
    Mizuno                            Sport equipment
    Shimano                           Sport equipment
    TaylorMade                        Sport equipment

    England Rugby                     Organisations & associations
    LTA (Lawn Tennis Association)     Organisations & associations
    MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club)     Organisations & associations
    PGA                               Organisations & associations
    Scottish Rugby                    Organisations & associations

    Athletics Weekly                  Media
    Eurosport                         Media

    Next Generation Clubs             Health clubs

Above the Sport BrandLeaders are divided by category - some brands cross over categories but we have listed only in the category deemed strongest by the council.

3. Sport BrandLeaders Council

    
    Alistair Phillips, Group Editor, SGB publications.
    Andy Rubin, Chief Executive, Pentland Brands plc.
    Gaby Logan, Presenter of ITV 1's Champions League Coverage.
    Graham Walpole, Head of Consulting Europe, IMG.
    Hugh Birley, Chief Executive, Lexis Public Relations.
    Karen Earl, Managing Director, Karen Earl Sponsorship.
    Marzena Bogdanowicz, Director of Marketing, British Olympic
    Association.
    Nick Keller, Managing Director, Benchmark Sport and the Sport
    Industry awards.
    Peter Brooking, Marketing Managing, Ducati UK Ltd.
    Richard Sutton, Editor, Sports Industry magazine.
    Roger Draper, Chief Executive, Sport England.
    Sabin Brooks, Sports Marketing Controller for Sky/Sky Sports,
    British Sky Broadcasting Group.
    Steve Madincea, Founder & Group Managing Director, PRISM.
    Tony Allen, Managing Director, Fortune Street.
    Richard Gillis, Freelance Journalist.

4. Superbrands Ltd is the independent authority and arbiter on branding. The organisation promotes the discipline of branding and pays tribute to exceptional brands. Superbrands programmes operate in over 43 countries across four continents.

SOURCE Superbrands Ltd