MUMBAI: As sport continues to drive out of home (OOH) viewing across Asia, sponsors on ESPN Star Sports (ESS) are enjoying higher brand recall and brand recognition.

This has been achieved through the network’s strategy of creating 360-degree integrated solutions-based packages around key sports programming.

Earlier this year a survey was undertaken by Synovate to gauge OOH viewing in Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok. It was then expanded to include the cities of Shanghai and Beijing.

Among the brands that enjoyed higher recall and brand recognition were sponsors of the network’s English Premier League broadcasts – Tiger, Toshiba and Nokia. The integrations initiated by ESS have also become advertising entities in their own right with concepts such as 'Man of the Match' or 'Goal of the Week'.

Nokia, for example, used an approach that enabled viewers to participate in competitions using technologies found in Nokia cell phones such as MMS and Wap. The phone giant scored a hat-trick with a three-fold interactive solution – Nokia Man of the Match, Nokia Fantasy Football and Nokia Spot the Ball- all of which involved interactive participation by Nokia phone users.

Nokia Asia Pacific mobile phones marketing director Pasi Javenpaa said, "We are very pleased with this partnership with ESS so far. We were able to communicate the full benefits of mobile technology to bring the world of technotainment to diverse audiences in a fun and interactive way. We are looking forward to leveraging on other possibilities with ESS."

ESS ad sales and multimedia ventures senior VP Greg Hayes added, "It has been a success story after success story with creative executions built around the network’s integrated strategy encompassing on air, off air, on ground and multi-media marketing. When applied to the out of home viewing environment, these integrated campaigns engage, entertain and interact with viewers via our programming content and integrated offerings, and creates an experience that has sports fans wanting more.

"When viewers enjoy themselves in these out of home situations, they have tended to better recall the brands associated with our programming."

The OOH survey also revealed that 88 per cent of all those surveyed watched OOH. Nine out of 10 viewers watched OOH in cities such as Bangkok, Hong Kong and Shanghai. The spontaneous OOH choice of programming was sport at 73 per cent.

96 per cent of respondents who watched sport OOH had indicated that football was their sport of choice led by the English Premier League (84 per cent). The Uefa Champions League and the FA Cup showing healthy growth averaging at around 44 per cent and 30 per cent respectively.

The findings also suggest that over 60 per cent of viewers are missed out by traditional in-home meter systems across the six-city study. The figure climbes to 82 per cent in Bangkok.