London is the first choice of Global Brand Managers
London is the top choice for Global Brand Managers looking to partner with a city for a major event, according to a recent study from SMG Insight/YouGov.
Thirty Global Brand Managers from major companies ranging from BP to FedEx were asked a series of questions around the important factors in choosing a city to partner with for a sponsored event. London came out on top of a list of 12 global cities across all criteria, beating out New York, which came in second, and Paris, in third place.
Table 1: Companies of Global Brand Managers that were included in the study
| Company | |
|---|---|
Aflac | Ladbrokes Gaming and Betting Limited |
Barclays | Leo Burnett Worldwide (Macdonald's) |
BP | NFL UK |
BP Lubricants | Paddy Power |
British American Business | Ricoh Europe |
British Gas | Right Formula / Hilton Worldwide |
Carat | Royal Bank of Scotland |
Co-Operative | Standard Life |
Coutts UK | Synergy |
FedEx | Taylormade Adidas Golf |
GO2 (UK) Ltd | Tesco Bank |
Heineken UK | TRO Marketing |
Highland Spring | UBS |
HSBC | VTB Capital |
IMG Motorsport | William Hill |
Amongst the Global Brand Managers surveyed, Transport was seen as the most important factor in choosing a partner city, (with an average rating of 4.6 out of 5). Accommodation and Security were seen as the second and third most popular factors when choosing a city to partner with (both averaged scores of 4.4 out of 5).
London was ranked in the top three cities by 29 of the 30 total Brand Managers surveyed, with 20 of the 30 Brand Managers ranking it as the best city to partner with when considering Transport as a key factor. London was placed in top three cities by 27 of the 30 Brand Managers when considering Accommodation and 28 of the 30 brand managers for Security.
Amongst the Global Brand Managers surveyed, Transport was seen as the most important factor in choosing a partner city, (with an average rating of 4.6 out of 5). Accommodation and Security were seen as the second and third most popular factors when choosing a city to partner with (both averaged scores of 4.4 out of 5).
London was ranked in the top three cities by 29 of the 30 total Brand Managers surveyed, with 20 of the 30 Brand Managers ranking it as the best city to partner with when considering Transport as a key factor. London was placed in top three cities by 27 of the 30 Brand Managers when considering Accommodation and 28 of the 30 brand managers for Security.
Table 2: City ranking by Global Brand Managers by top three ranked categories.
The figure represents the position (out of 12) based on the number of times the city was selected in the top three for each category. #1 means that city received the most mentions, #12, the least.
| City | Transport | Accommodation | Security |
|---|---|---|---|
London | 1 | 1 | 1 |
New York | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Paris | 3 | 4 | 7 |
Sydney | 4 | 3 | 3 |
Beijing | 5 | 7 | 6 |
Barcelona | 6 | 5 | 4 |
Melbourne | 7 | 6 | 5 |
Berlin | 8 | 9 | 8 |
Moscow | 9 | 8 | 10 |
Rio de Janerio | 10 | 11 | 9 |
Doha | 11 | 12 | 11 |
Istanbul | 12 | 10 | 12 |
Rio de Janerio, (host of next year’s FIFA World Cup aswell as the 2016 Olympic Games) is quite a distance behind in 10th place, while Doha, host of the 2022 World Cup, was ranked 11th by Global Brand Managers.
Iain Edmondson (Head of Major Events for London & Partners) stated “London has an incredible calendar of major events in the diary over the rest of the decade, from sport and culture to corporate events and media spectaculars. Whether it’s Barclays for the ATP World Tour Finals or Prudential for the Mayor’s new RideLondon cycling festival, it’s clear that brands are prepared to put money where their mouths are, putting London as their first choice.”
