LONDON: Procter & Gamble, General Electric and BMW are among the sponsors of the Olympic Games which have recently seen significant increases in their UK online buzz levels, a study has revealed.

MediaCom, a unit of WPP Group, tracked how many times Twitter users in the UK mentioned the Olympic sponsors. It then multiplied the number of positive remarks uploaded by the brand engagement rate of their authors, and the possible reach of these posts.

Procter & Gamble, the consumer goods giant, logged the best score for the week ending on 5th August, on 886,149. This compared with a rating of 570,950 for the week ending 29th July.

The firm has placed considerable resources behind the "Thanks, Mom" multibrand campaign, with social media playing a key role. Its relatively limited reach has also been offset by a generally favourable response among consumers.

"The consistently low level of negative sentiment around P&G has propelled the brand to the top spot in the rankings," Marcus John, head of MediaCom Sport, said.

General Electric, the conglomerate, generated a reading of 745,625 over the last seven days, up from 442,954. These totals stood at 548,157 and 342,224 in turn for Cadbury, the confectioner.

Visa, the financial services provider, more than doubled its returns to 399,365, with BMW, the automaker, tripling its figures to 382,119.

By contrast, Coca-Cola, the soft drinks group, saw a decline from 1.4m to just 116,365. It thus fell from first to 11th in MediaCom's rankings as a result.

Samsung, the electronics manufacturer, also witnessed a slide from 995,073 to 220,451, and therefore tumbled from second to eighth position.

"Both Coca-Cola and Samsung have a significant number of followers and a high level of reach, but with the Torch Relay finishing and the Games now underway, less activity around these brands has had a corresponding high impact on their overall scores," said John.

McDonald's, the fast food group, registered the worst totals, on –2.5m in the latest research round, and –1.5m a week earlier, despite the fact it has the largest amount of followers and potential reach.

"Negativity around the perceived contradiction of the brand's Olympic association ... continues to be the dominant trend in conversation, which, coupled with the extensive reach of the brand, ensures the McDonald's score remains significantly negative," John said.

Data sourced from MediaCom; additional content by Warc staff