Research
There is a substantial amount of research compiled on the Canadian sponsorship industry. With the objective of becoming the “go to” organization for Canadian sponsorship professionals, the SMCC places a high level of importance on providing the most up to date and meaningful sponsorship research to its members.
Click the links below to access Canadian-based sponsorship insights and research content provided by SMCC’s Foundational Partners, Nielsen and YouGov Canada.
| Research Title | Research Description | Contributor | Date of Publication | Topic/Theme |
| Canadian Advertisers of the Month (August) | Canada Advertisers of the Month for August: TD Canada Trust, Old Navy, and Coca-Cola. Advertisers of the Month are brands that show the largest monthly increases in Ad Awareness, a measure of how many consumers have seen an ad for a brand in the past two weeks. | Clifton Mark, YouGov | 2026-09-10 | Agencies, FMCG, Tech, Telco, Measurement, Advertisement |
| Canadian Advertisers of the Month (July) | Canada Advertisers of the Month for July: The Brick, Tylenol, and Walmart. Advertisers of the Month are brands that show the largest monthly increases in Ad Awareness, a measure of how many consumers have seen an ad for a brand in the past two weeks. | Clifton Mark, YouGov | 2026-08-13 | Agencies, FMCG, Tech, Telco, Measurement, Advertisement |
| Canadian Advertisers of the Month (June) | Canada Advertisers of the Month for June: Lays, LG, and Meta. Advertisers of the Month are brands that show the largest monthly increases in Ad Awareness, a measure of how many consumers have seen an ad for a brand in the past two weeks. | Clifton Mark, YouGov | 2026-07-20 | Agencies, FMCG, Tech, Telco, Measurement, Advertisement |
| Canadian Advertisers of the Month (April) | Canada Advertisers of the Month for April: Nike Running Club, Rogers / Rogers Wireless, and Amazon. Advertisers of the Month are brands that show the largest monthly increases in Ad Awareness, a measure of how many consumers have seen an ad for a brand in the past two weeks. | Clifton Mark, YouGov | 2026-05-11 | Agencies, FMCG, Tech, Telco, Measurement, Advertisement |
| FIFA World Cup 2026 Global Brand Handbook | How brands can capitalize on fan engagement, maximize success, and measure impact. | Clifton Mark, YouGov | 2026-04-20 | FIFA World Cup |
| Canadian Advertisers of the Month (March) | Canada Advertisers of the Month for March: Uber Eats, YouTube Music, and Amazon. Advertisers of the Month are brands that show the largest monthly increases in Ad Awareness, a measure of how many consumers have seen an ad for a brand in the past two weeks. | Clifton Mark, YouGov | 2026-04-14 | Agencies, FMCG, Tech, Telco, Measurement, Advertisement |
| Canadian Advertisers of the Month (February) | Canada Advertisers of the Month for February: Pepsi, Lays, and Tim Hortons. Advertisers of the Month are brands that show the largest monthly increases in Ad Awareness, a measure of how many consumers have seen an ad for a brand in the past two weeks. | Clifton Mark, YouGov | 2026-03-10 | Agencies, FMCG, Tech, Telco, Measurement, Advertisement |
| Canadian Advertisers of the Month (November) | Canada Advertisers of the Month for November: Air Canada, Telus, and Nescafé. Advertisers of the Month are brands that show the largest monthly increases in Ad Awareness, a measure of how many consumers have seen an ad for a brand in the past two weeks. | Clifton Mark, YouGov | 2025-12-04 | Agencies, FMCG, Tech, Telco, Measurement, Advertisement |
| Advertisers of the Month (October) | Canada Advertisers of the Month for October: Smirnoff, TD Canada Trust, and A&W. Advertisers of the Month are brands that show the largest monthly increases in Ad Awareness, a measure of how many consumers have seen an ad for a brand in the past two weeks. | Clifton Mark, YouGov | 2025-11-10 | Agencies, FMCG, Tech, Telco, Measurement, Advertisement |
| Advertisers of the Month (September) | Canada Advertisers of the Month for September: Visa, Apple, and BMO. Advertisers of the Month are brands that show the largest monthly increases in Ad Awareness, a measure of how many consumers have seen an ad for a brand in the past two weeks. | Clifton Mark, YouGov | 2025-10-21 | Agencies, FMCG, Tech, Telco, Measurement, Advertisement |
| Advertisers of the Month (June) | Canada Advertisers of the Month for June: Dairy Queen, DoorDash, and Trivago. Advertisers of the Month are brands that show the largest monthly increases in Ad Awareness, a measure of how many consumers have seen an ad for a brand in the past two weeks. | Clifton Mark, YouGov | 2025-07-04 | Agencies, FMCG, Tech, Telco, Measurement, Advertisement |
| Advertisers of the Month (March) | Oreo, Instagram and Volkswagon are Canada’s top advertisers for March 2025. Advertisers of the Month are brands that show the largest monthly increases in Ad Awareness, a measure of how many consumers have seen an ad for a brand in the past two weeks. | Clifton Mark, YouGov | 2025-04-02 | Agencies, FMCG, Tech, Telco, Measurement, Advertisement |
| Advertisers of the Month (February) | Scotiabank, Corona and Kit-Kat are Canada’s top advertisers for February 2025. Advertisers of the Month are brands that show the largest monthly increases in Ad Awareness, a measure of how many consumers have seen an ad for a brand in the past two weeks. | Clifton Mark, YouGov | 2025-03-11 | Agencies, FMCG, Tech, Telco, Measurement, Advertisement |
| Advertisers of the Month (January) | Trivago, A&W and Adidas are Canada’s top advertisers for January 2025. Advertisers of the Month are brands that show the largest monthly increases in Ad Awareness, a measure of how many consumers have seen an ad for a brand in the past two weeks. | Clifton Mark, YouGov | 2025-02-06 | Agencies, FMCG, Tech, Telco, Measurement, Advertisement |
| Advertisers of the Month (December) | McDonald’s, Ferrero and Baileys are Canada’s top advertisers for December 2024. Advertisers of the Month are brands that show the largest monthly increases in Ad Awareness, a measure of how many consumers have seen an ad for a brand in the past two weeks. | Clifton Mark, YouGov | 2025-01-09 | Agencies, FMCG, Tech, Telco, Measurement, Advertisement |
| Advertisers of the Month (November) | Canadian Tire, Uber Eats and Walmart are Canada’s top advertisers for November 2024. Advertisers of the Month are brands that show the largest monthly increases in Ad Awareness, a measure of how many consumers have seen an ad for a brand in the past two weeks. | Clifton Mark, YouGov | 2024-12-12 | Agencies, FMCG, Tech, Telco, Measurement, Advertisement |
| Advertisers of the Month (October) | LG, Kit Kat and YouTube are Canada’s top advertisers for October 2024. Advertisers of the Month are brands that show the largest monthly increases in Ad Awareness, a measure of how many consumers have seen an ad for a brand in the past two weeks. | Clifton Mark, YouGov | 2024-11-11 | Agencies, FMCG, Tech, Telco, Measurement, Advertisement |
| Advertisers of the Month (September) | SkipTheDishes, Wayfair.ca and HelloFresh are Canada’s top advertisers for September 2024. Advertisers of the Month are brands that show the largest monthly increases in Ad Awareness, a measure of how many consumers have seen an ad for a brand in the past two weeks. | Clifton Mark, YouGov | 2024-10-11 | Agencies, FMCG, Tech, Telco, Measurement, Advertisement |
| Advertisers of the Month (August) | BMW, Airbnb and Air Canada are Canada’s top advertisers for August 2024. Advertisers of the Month are brands that show the largest monthly increases in Ad Awareness, a measure of how many consumers have seen an ad for a brand in the past two weeks. | Clifton Mark, YouGov | 2024-09-03 | Agencies, FMCG, Tech, Telco, Measurement, Advertisement |
| Advertisers of the Month (July) | Coca-Cola, Amazon and Koodo are Canada’s top advertisers for July 2024. Advertisers of the Month are brands that show the largest monthly increases in Ad Awareness, a measure of how many consumers have seen an ad for a brand in the past two weeks. | Clifton Mark, YouGov | 2024-08-08 | Agencies, FMCG, Tech, Telco, Measurement, Advertisement |
| Advertisers of the Month (June) | Rogers, Uber and Colgate are Canada’s top advertisers for June 2024. Advertisers of the Month are brands that show the largest monthly increases in Ad Awareness, a measure of how many consumers have seen an ad for a brand in the past two weeks. | Clifton Mark, YouGov | 2024-07-10 | Agencies, FMCG, Tech, Telco, Measurement, Advertisement |
| Olympic Games Insights Hub | The Olympic Games are just around the corner! We’ve pulled together key data and insights to uncover how fans are engaging, which athletes are turning into influencers and the sponsorship trends impacting brands. Discover who’s tuning into the Games, how sponsorship shifts around the world, and the social media value generated by some of the biggest Olympic athletes. | Nielsen Canada | 2024-06-28 | Sports, Olympics, Athletes, Brands, Marketing, Sponsorship |
| Advertisers of the Month (April) | Canadian Tire, Uber Eats and Amazon are Canada’s top advertisers for April 2024. Advertisers of the Month are brands that show the largest monthly increases in Ad Awareness, a measure of how many consumers have seen an ad for a brand in the past two weeks. | Clifton Mark, YouGov | 2024-05-06 | Agencies, FMCG, Tech, Retail, Brand Index, Measurement, Advertisement |
| Advertisers of the Month (March) | McDonald’s, Koodo and Skip The Dishes are Canada’s top advertisers for March 2024. Advertisers of the Month are brands that show the largest monthly increases in Ad Awareness, a measure of how many consumers have seen an ad for a brand in the past two weeks. | Clifton Mark, YouGov | 2024-04-08 | Agencies, FMCG, Tech, Telco, Measurement, Advertisement |
| Exploring the Canadian Women’s Sports Landscape | YouGov surveyed 962 Canadians 18+ from February 29th – March 7th, to help explore the women’s sports landscape in Canada. Women’s sports are more popular than ever, with 64% of Canadians agreeing that “women’s sports are more popular than they were five years ago”. This report explores topics such as the different ways fans engage with various women’s sports leagues, and the pros of investing in women’s sports as a sponsor. | YouGov | 2024-03-27 | Women’s Sports, Sports, Measurement |
| Case Study: Evolving Measurement of Sports Events: How World Athletics and Nielsen are setting up host cities for success | Nielsen has worked with World Athletics, the sport’s international governing body, on new measurements that provide deeper insights into hosting the 2022 and 2023 World Athletics Championships. These enabled the host cities Oregon and Budapest to demonstrate the holistic value of staging the events, while also providing a blueprint for future bidders to assess the impact of hosting World Athletics competitions. | Nielsen Canada | February 2024 | Sports Events, Measurement, Case Study |
| Advertisers of the Month (February) | Lays, Bud Light and Bell/Bell Mobility are Canada’s top advertisers for February 2024. Advertisers of the Month are brands that show the largest monthly increases in Ad Awareness, a measure of how many consumers have seen an ad for a brand in the past two weeks. | Clifton Mark, YouGov | 2024-03-06 | Agencies, FMCG, Tech, Telco, Measurement, Advertisement |
| Global Gambling Report 2023 | As the world deals with higher inflation and interest rates amid the continued recovery from COVID-19’s impact, YouGov has examined the current state of gambling attitudes and activities across the globe. Set against the backdrop of an ever-changing landscape of gambling legislation, this report focuses on the North American market but benchmarks gambling behaviors from 23 countries. The report also notes the widespread public concern surrounding the industry which must be carefully considered, especially in North America as online markets move into their next stages of development. | YouGov | 2023 | Gambling, Sports Betting |
| CPG Retail Whitepaper | Amid the cost-of-living crisis, how are shopping habits changing? What trends are emerging? And, how can brands successfully support consumer needs? In YouGov’s latest report, changing purchasing habits in a cost-of-living crisis, they explore changing shopping behavior to reveal the categories consumers are cutting back, the ones commanding more of their budgets, and the outlook for the coming year. | YouGov | 2023 | Retail, Finance, Measurement |
| Advertisers of the Month (January 2024) | As holiday excess gives way to new year resolutions, Canada’s advertising focus has shifted. While December’s Advertisers of the Month were vendors of sweet treats (Bailey’s, Ferrero and Merci), January sees two diet companies make the top three along with Trivago, a hotel search site. | Clifton Mark, YouGov | 2024-02-08 | Agencies, Health & Pharma, Tech, Travel & Tourism, Measurement, Advertisement |
| Advertisers of the Month (December 2023) | Christmas treats rule the Advertiser of the Month top three for December. Baileys, Ferrero and Merci showed the largest monthly increases in Ad Awareness of all the brands tracked in BrandIndex, and they all peaked near Christmas. | Clifton Mark, YouGov | 2024-01-19 | Agencies, FMCG, Retail, Measurement, Advertisement |
| Advertisers of the Month (November 2023) | Canadian Tire, Hello Fresh and Walmart are Canada’s Advertisers of the Month for November 2023. This means that these brands showed the largest increases in Ad Awareness for the month of all the brands tracked in BrandIndex. | Clifton Mark, YouGov | 2023-12-18 | Agencies, Auto, FMCG, Retail, Measurement, Advertisement |
| Nielsen’s State of Play Report – Data-Driven Personalization: The Future of Streaming Content Discovery | Nielsen’s State of Play report outlines new findings on the fast-evolving streaming video landscape highlighting data and insights from Gracenote, Nielsen’s content solutions business unit. The new report illuminates the surging number of program titles and streaming video services, as well as the resulting challenges for viewers who now spend 10.5 minutes per session deciding what to watch. Note: If you require access to a French version of this report, please contact the SMCC office. | Nielsen Canada | 2023 | Streaming Video, Consumer Insights |
| Advertisers of the Month (October 2023) | Nespresso, Desjardins and Winners are Canada’s Advertisers of the Month for October 2023, meaning that these brands showed the largest increases in Ad Awareness for the month of all the brands tracked in BrandIndex. | Clifton Mark, YouGov | 2023-11-17 | FMCG, Agencies, Banking & Insurance, Retail, Measurement, Advertisement |
| Advertisers of the Month (September 2023) | Canada’s Advertisers of the Month for September are Noom, Apple and WW (WeightWatchers). Weight-loss brands have captured Canadians’ attention this September, with Noom and WW making big gains in Ad Awareness. Along with Apple, these brands saw the greatest increase in the proportion of consumers that have seen one of its ads. | Clifton Mark, YouGov | 2023-10-10 | Tech, Health & Pharma, FMCG, Agencies, Measurement, Advertisement |
| The Global Sports Media Landscape | How is the consumption of sports content changing? And what should sports organizations do to adapt to changing media behavior? In YouGov’s latest report, The Global Sports Media Landscape, we explore the demand for live programming, the appetite for sports lifestyle focused content, and the opportunities for brands and rights holders to attract wider fan bases. Our insights combine syndicated YouGov data with deep-dive custom research covering 18 international markets. | YouGov | 2023 | Sports, Media, Global Landscape, Sports Fans |
| Advertisers of the Month (May 2023) | Canada’s Advertisers of the Month for May are Ford, Uber and Bud Light, meaning that these brands showed large increases in Ad Awareness for the month. | Clifton Mark, YouGov | 2023-06-09 | Auto, Agencies, FMCG, Tech, Measurement, Advertisement |
| Advertisers of the Month (April 2023) | Canada’s Advertisers of the Month for April are KFC, Voltaren and Burger King, meaning that these brands showed the largest increase in Ad Awareness of all of them that we monitor on YouGov BrandIndex across the month. | Clifton Mark, YouGov | 2023-05-12 | FMCG, Leisure & Entertainment, Health & Pharma, Agencies, Measurement, Advertisement |
| Finance Advertisers of the Month (March 2023) | Canada’s finance Advertisers of the Month for in March 2023 are Desjardins, BMO, and TD-Canada Trust. According to data from YouGov BrandIndex, they showed the largest increase in Ad Awareness for the month of all the finance brands that were tracked. | Clifton Mark, YouGov | 2023-04-05 | Agencies, Banking & Insurance, Measurement, Advertisement |
| Advertisers of the Month (February 2023) | Pepsi, Netflix and Burger King are Canada’s Advertisers of the Month for February, meaning that they showed the largest increase in Ad Awareness for the month of all the brands we follow. | Clifton Mark, YouGov | 2023-03-10 | FMCG, Media & Content, Tech, Measurement, Advertisement |
| How Canadians Engage with Esports | Nielsen Canada has revealed exclusively for SMCC members the most recent national esports marketing data, helping to better identify demographics and engagement in Canada. Using Nielsen’s Esports Fan Insights, which spans globally (Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, UK, and the US) in relation to local markets within Canada, they’ve shown that time spent with esports among esports Fans outpaced time spent with traditional sports. | Nielsen Canada | February 2023 | Esports |
| Advertisers of the Month (January 2023) | Canada’s Advertisers of the Month for January are HelloFresh, Red Bull, and TikTok, demonstrating a rise in the percentage of consumers who have seen an advertisement for these brands in the last month. Find out what led the meal-kit subscription brand HelloFresh, the energy drink Red Bull and the video-sharing platform TikTok demonstrate a sharp increase in their market visibility in Canada. | Clifton Mark YouGov | 2023-02-09 | Agencies, Media & Content, Retail, Tech, Measurement, Advertisement |
| Advertisers of the Month (December 2022) | Canada’s finance Advertisers of the Month for December 2022 are TD-Canada Trust, Capital One and PC Financial. According to data from YouGov BrandIndex, they showed the largest increase in Ad Awareness for the month of all the finance brands that were tracked. | Clifton Mark YouGov | 2023-01-09 | Agencies, Financial Services, Measurement, Advertisement |
| What do Sports Fans Expect from Sports Organizations? | With the impact of recent movements such as Black Lives Matter and #MeToo, the avid sports fan has never cared more about social issues. Equality and diversity & inclusion are two of the most important issues on their mind, and these fans value rights holders and athletes who also support these issues. Throughout the industry, fans are looking for sports organizations to lead the way regarding social responsibility and will hold them accountable if they fail to be authentic and transparent. | YouGov | 2022 | Sports Fans, Canadian Sports |
| Canada Insurance Rankings 2022 | YouGov recently published Financial Services Rankings 2022, an annual analysis of the most resonant banking and payment brands globally. This mini-report zooms in on the insurance industry in Canada, looking at the top considered brands before further segmenting by age. | YouGov | December | Banking & Insurance, Finance, Measurement |
| Advertisers of the Month (November) | Canada’s Advertisers of the Month for November are Old Navy, Nescafé and Mark’s. Affordable clothing brand Old Navy, Nestlé’s iconic coffee brand Nescafé and Canadian Tire’s leading apparel and footwear retailer Mark’s had the strongest uplift in their Ad Awareness last month. Discover how each of these retail and consumer brands identified the best campaigns that helped boost their brand awareness. | Clifton Mark YouGov | 2022-12-07 | Agencies, FMCG, Retail, Measurement, Advertisement |
| Advertisers of the Month (October) | In the last month, two of the top three Advertiser of the Month names were taken by consumer food delivery. Door Dash and Uber Eats, alongside with Canadian Tire, celebrate the biggest leap in ad awareness. Find out how Door Dash and Uber Eats each found the best-fitting partnership that helped them reach the awareness increase. | Clifton Mark YouGov | 2022-10-31 | Agencies, FMCG, Leisure & Entertainment, Retail, Tech, Measurement, Advertisement |
| Using Canadian Influencers to Grow Your Brand | Nielsen Canada has revealed exclusively for SMCC members the most recent national influencer marketing data, helping to better identify key influencer trends in Canada. Read in full the Using Influencers to Grow Your Brand report and learn more about Nielsen’s InfluenceScope solution. | Nielsen Canada | October 2022 | Influencer marketing |
| Canadian Gambling Market Overview | YouGov is providing SMCC members with exclusive access to game-changing intelligence on gambling audiences. YouGov Gambling Profiles is the first tool of its kind, delivering industry insights at a global and local level. Read more on the Canadian gambling market overview. | YouGov | October 2022 | Gambling, Sports Betting |
| Advertisers of the Month (September) | In September, tech companies Dell, HP and Skype scored the highest increase in Advertising Awareness of all the tech brands tracked by YouGov in Canada. Learn more about how HP’s “Work Happy” campaign helped HP reach its largest spike last month. | Clifton Mark YouGov | 2022-10-12 | Media & Content, Tech, Telco, Measurement, Advertisement |
| Advertisers of the Month (August): Which brands made it to the top? | Bell Canada, Rogers, and TikTok saw the most momentum in Ad Awareness increase in Canada for August 2022, according to the most recent YouGov BrandIndex tracker. The key campaigns that drove the upsurge included Canada Skateboard x Bell Canada, Rogers’s joining force with Tennis Canada, and TikTok’s exclusive OSHEAGA partnership. | Bhavika Bansal YouGov | 2022-09-07 | Agencies, Media & Content, Tech, Telco, Measurement, Advertisement |
| Advertisers of the Month (July): What’s the awareness level for consumer brands in Canada last month? | According to data from YouGov BrandIndex, which monitors consumer perceptions toward brands daily, Amazon, Winners, and Coca-Cola registered the highest spikes in Ad Awareness in Canada for the month of July 2022. | Kineree Shah YouGov | 2022-08-05 | CPG/Consumer Packaged Goods, Retail, Measurement, Advertisement |
| Advertisers of the Month (June): What’s the awareness level for brands in Canada? | According to data from YouGov BrandIndex, which monitors consumer perceptions toward brands daily, Expedia, Trivago, and IKEA registered the highest spikes in Ad Awareness in Canada for the month of June 2022. | Bhavika Bansal YouGov | 2022-07-15 | Agencies, Retail, Travel & Tourism, Measurement, Advertisement |
| Advertisers of the Quarter: What’s the awareness level for financial brands in Canada? | According to YouGov BrandIndex data, which tracks brand perception on a daily basis, Desjardins, PC Financial and HSBC brands saw the highest increase in Ad Awareness – a measure of whether the public have seen an advertisement for a brand in the past two weeks. | Kineree Shah YouGov | 2022-07-14 | Banking & Insurance, Finance, Measurement, Advertisement |