• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, November 21, 2012

Is the UK really a “better place” for hosting the 2012 Summer Olympics, in London? A majority of Brits -- 51% -- think so, according to new research from Havas Sports & Entertainment.

The study also concludes that Olympic sponsors continue to benefit from public awareness of their participation in the games, well after their conclusion on Aug. 12.

That positive sentiment helped boost awareness for brands that sponsored the games, per the study. The research shows that between April and September, public awareness on average doubled across 27 sponsors measured.

The two most recognized sponsors were McDonald's and Coca-Cola.

That said, other studies have pointed out that both brands have been the subject of public criticism for heavily promoting what some consider to be unhealthy products that are not on the training menus of competitive sports programs.  

One example: An earlier study by MediaCom Sport that covered the first week of Twitter comments about the games found that McDonald’s ranked last in sentiment among the 25 brands it covered.

The latest HS&E findings are part of a broader two-and-a-half-year study that began in March 2011. It is designed to track interest in and attitudes toward the games. Several more waves of research will be conducted through August 2013 to glean further insights into the halo effect of sponsorships and to what extent they translate to an uplift in sales.

For each wave of research, HS&E is polling a nationally representative sample of 1,000 UK adults online.

Lucien Boyer, president/global CEO HS&E, stated that the boost in public sentiment “demonstrates that London 2012 went way beyond people’s expectations. Sponsors have benefited from this across the board, but the brands that benefited the most up-weighted their activations during the games.”