The energy drink giant topped a 21-strong list of global firms ordered according to their perceived association with the Winter Games in Russia, which was calculated by media tracking company Global Language Monitor using its Brand Affiliation Index (BAI).

Official worldwide Olympic partners followed in second and third place in the form of Proctor & Gamble and Samsung respectively, which had critically acclaimed marketing campaigns that were well received by international audiences.

Global Language Monitor has ranked international brands according to their perceived association with the Sochi 2014 Winter Games ©Global Language Monitor


Non-Olympic sponsor Subway takes fourth place ahead of Coca-Cola and Panasonic, before it jumps back to non-affiliated brands, including Rolex, Unilever and Siemens.

Meanwhile, the last three spots on the table are occupied by Olympic sponsors - namely Visa, Omega and Atos - who take the Terra Cotta medal, which is Global Language Monitor's new award for the least successful marketing campaigns by official partners.

The media company, which has been analysing the situation since before the Games, points out that "not all ambush marketers plan to steal the Olympic glow from their competitors, a cost estimated to be up to $1 billion (£598 million/€728 million), fully loaded, over a four-year Olympiad".

For example, Red Bull has strong links with extreme sports, particularly snowsports, thanks to its sponsorship of top athletes, including the likes of American world champion ski jumper Sarah Hendrickson and Sochi 2014 snowboard cross gold medallist Pierre Vaultier of France.

Red Bull's strong association with Sochi 2014 could be put down to its links with winter sport athletes, including Olympic champion Pierre Vaultier ©Getty Images


"The value of Olympic sponsorship continues to rise as evidenced by the bold attempts by the ambush marketers to associate their brands with the Sochi Winter Games," said Paul JJ Payack, Global Language Monitor's President and chief word analyst.

"The more stringent the legislation to outlaw any effort to 'ambush' the Games, the more marketers seem intent on circumventing the rule.

"And the more news related to 'ambushing' is highlighted by the media.

"An example is a Sochi official taping over Apple's logo in plain sight of the global media (#EpicFailure)."

The complete "Sochi Games Brand Marketing Report:  Post-Games Analysis" is available for download order here.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
February 2014: Exclusive - Subway leads P&G for Sochi 2014 marketing gold, says report
January 2014: Exclusive - Non-Olympic partners winning "ambush marketing" race to Sochi 2014, says report
September 2013: Ten of top 15 brands associated with Sochi 2014 are non-Olympic partners, says report