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London 2012 sponsors have been warned they need to work hard to make the most of their involvement in the Games after new research suggested that backers of this summer’s World Cup failed to make much of an impact on the British public.

Echo Research polled 1,002 adults across Britain and found that respondents struggled to identify eight World Cup sponsors from a list of well-known brands.

No sponsor was correctly identified by more than half of those polled, with recognition highest for Coca-Cola (48 per cent) and McDonald’s (40 per cent). Only 15 per cent picked out Hyundai.

Meanwhile, Nike was wrongly identified as being a World Cup sponsor by 20 per cent of people polled. Respondents believed sponsors were motivated less by concern for football, South Africa and its people, and more by commercial goals.

Threepipe Sport director Eddie May told PR Week: “The issue facing sponsors is that so many other brands use the event as a platform for major marketing activity, so in many cases their direct competitors will be just as visible as the sponsor.

“It’s interesting that sponsors with the highest recall – Coca-Cola and McDonald’s – are arguably those with the most long-term, consistent approach and are very visible elsewhere in football.”

Hill & Knowlton sports marketing and sponsorship managing director Andy Sutherden added: “Interest in London 2012 will increase, making sponsorship more relevant to the customers of commercial brands. But members of the public will expect deeper, more relevant dialogue than we have seen. The successful Olympic sponsors are likely to be those that find a meaningful way to link their brand to the Games and offer something genuinely of interest to their customers.”