Tamar Report Shows Tom Daley and Jess Ennis are TeamGB's 'Hottest' Athletes
LONDON, June 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --
Tamar, the UK's award-winning social and search agency, today announced the release of the latest edition of their "Tamar Sports Index". Volume 4 takes a look at the popularity of Google searches for currently selected Team GB athletes.
With just one month to go until the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics, the report looks at each Team GB athlete name, by search volumes in the UK and ranks the athletes in order of 'popularity' based on a number of factors, including overall popularity, sentiment and passion.
In terms of overall volumes, globally-recognised athletes like Andy Murray and David Beckham (not yet part of Team GB but heavily tipped to be selected) rank at the top of the table. However, diver Tom Daley and pentathlete Jess Ennis ranked 3rd and 4th in the overall popularity table.
Name Sport Local Monthly Searches
Andy Murray Tennis 75,600
David Beckham Football 74,000
Jessica Ennis Athletics 43,400
Tom Daley Diving 40,500
Mark Cavendish Cycling - Road 27,100
Source: Google Keyword tool, results correct as of June 26th 2012
A look a 'suggested searches' for the most popular athletes' names gives a clue why - 'Tom Daley bulge' is the most popular suggested search with 'Jess Ennis bum' or 'Jess Ennis hot' a close second.
Top List
Tom Daley "Tom Daley bulge" - 5,400
Jessica Ennis "Jessica Ennis Bum" - 5,400
David Beckham "David Beckham Tattoos" - 4,400
Jessica Ennis "Jessica Ennis Hot" - 2,400
Victoria Pendleton Victoria Pendleton FHM - 1,300
Source: Google Keyword tool, results correct as of June 26th 2012
When it comes to sentiment, Tamar utilised online social sentiment tools to rank the athletes by the ratio of positive to negative comments. The Top 5 in this metric looked very different, with equestrian event rider William Fox-Pitt scoring highest for 'positive sentiment', with Mo Farah, Geraint Thomas and Victoria Pendleton all scoring highly.
Name Sentiment
William Fox-Pitt 32 to 1
Mo Farah 24 to 1
Geraint Thomas 23 to 1
Victoria Pendleton 22 to 1
Mark Cavendish 20 to 1
Source: socialmention.com, June 21st 2012
The third major factor Tamar looked at was 'Passion' - defined as the "likelihood that a person mentioning the keyword will do so repeatedly". Once again, the top 5 looked very different, with very few of the globally-popular athletes scoring highly. The top positions for 'passion' went to Mo Farah and Tom Daley, with experienced long-distance favourite Paula Radcliffe also scoring highly.
Name Passion
Mo Farah 63%
Tom Daley 60%
Paula Radcliffe 56%
Alistair Brownlee 51%
Peter Wilson 45%
Source: socialmention.com, June 21st 2012
From the results Tamar discovered, it is clear that the more "globally recognized" sports men and women - Andy Murray, David Beckham etc -- aren't the ones who inspire the most passion and debate in British sports fans.
The range and breadth of Olympic disciplines represented by the top-ranking athletes also showed a clear lack of favorites with the searching British public. Whilst the common consensus is that Britain is a land of football fans, when it comes to the Olympics, British consumers' tastes are both broad and varied.
About Tamar
Tamar, the UK's award-winning social and search agency, combines extensive expertise in natural search engine optimisation combined with social media to generate more online sales for businesses. This results-focused delivery of campaigns is achieved through expertise in social media, search and mobile. Tamar specialises in working with major retail, non-profit and financial services brands. Its extensive, high-profile client base includes Peugeot, Halfords, The Arcadia Group, The Prince's Trust, Sk:n , Boohoo.com, and Citi Group.
Contact: Helen Booth, T: +44(0)208-827-0751 - helen.booth@tamar.com
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