Interest in following LaLiga on the rise in India

New Delhi, April 10 (IANS) Interest in football and the number of fans following the sport are registering significant growth in China, India and Indonesia, with further evidence of consolidation of LaLiga's brand image. This demonstrates the degree to which the sport and the Spanish competition are making significant inroads in major Asian markets.

The above results comprise some of the findings of the market research firm GfK in a study conducted for LaLiga analysing the evolution of football and LaLiga in 10 countries, including China, India and Indonesia - all markets of strategic relevance for the expansion of football and the Spanish competition.

The project in Asia consisted of 5,000 online interviews, lasting 15 minutes each, with Internet users between 16 and 69 years of age, who were representative of the population of Internet users in each country, during November 2017 and November 2018.

Over half of the respondents in the three countries stated that they are "very interested" in football. The level of interest has grown by 7 percentage points in the period analysed, rising from 45% to 52%. Particularly notable was the growth in Indonesia, with an increase of over nine percentage points to reach 59%, as well as in China, where the seven percentage point increase put it at 43%. Although more moderate in India, interest also rose by four percentage points to 53%.

Just as a commercial brand needs to be remembered by its potential customers, as a sports brand LaLiga needs to remain in the minds of the public as the first step towards earning their preference. As a result, measuring the degree to which people remember it is key to winning over fans in China, Indonesia and India. When measured professionally, this is termed "awareness" and it is described as unaided because respondents are not prompted in any way in order to "jog" their memory.

Unaided awareness of LaLiga has increased by four percentage points in the three countries analysed during the year under study. According to Javier Gomez, GfK's Brand and Customer Experience Director, "In our experience with regard to brand tracking studies, growth in brand awareness of one percentage point in one year is a very good figure. The result obtained by LaLiga, with a rise of four percentage points in a single year, is extraordinary."

Additionally, the number of viewers who watched at least one LaLiga match per month last season increased by three percentage points. In the 12 months analysed, this figure rose from 59% to 62% of the Internet users interviewed.

Another important figure is the high opinion which the fans interviewed have of the Spanish competition. Around 80% of them rate it positively or very positively and offer unprompted praise when asked about the values, ideas and feelings which they associate with LaLiga.