Samford University Sports Marketing program in the Brock School of Business and Affinio (www.affinio.com), a cutting edge social media analytics firm out of Canada, recently conducted an analysis of Alabama and Auburn sports fans on social media. Affinio combined the Twitter audiences of both @UA_Athletics and @AuburnTigers then analyzed them based on their interests and affinities. Combined the two accounts have just over 302,000 followers. The social media gurus at Affinio were able to identify which sporting good brands were most popular with Alabama and Auburn fans by analyzing millions of social media interactions these fans have online. Here is what they found:
Top Three Sporting Goods Brands for Alabama and Auburn Fans
- Duck Commander -- Alabama and Auburn fans are 58 times more likely to follow Duck Commander than the general Twitter population.
- Under Armour -- Alabama and Auburn fans are 48 times more likely to follow Under Armour than the general Twitter population. This is not surprising given that Under Armour is an official sponsor of Auburn Athletics. What is surprising is how much more likely the population studied is to follow Under Armour than Nike. The data seems to suggest that Auburn fans are demonstrating greater loyalty to their sporting goods sponsor than are Alabama fans.
- Nike -- Alabama and Auburn fans are 8 times more likely to follow Nike than the general Twitter population. This is not surprising given that Nike is an official sponsor of Alabama Athletics.
Stay tuned for additional insights about Alabama and Auburn fans from this fascinating study.
Written by: Darin W. White, Ph.D., Professor & Sports Marketing Program Coordinator in the Brock School of Business at Samford University, Alabama Sports Foundation Board of Directors
