Global sports brand Adidas was selected by 41 per cent of Mena residents as their favourite sports footwear in a recent survey.

Nike came in at second place in the region with 27 per cent of total votes in the poll run by Netlog, a social media site.

The sample consisted of 3,278 respondents and was run for 24 hours from July 24 and 25. The results of the poll are split by key countries – UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt – are provided for at the end of this release.

“Two-thirds of our audience at Netlog are locals, so these polls reflect the tastes and habits of the indigenous and non-transient population in the region,” said Timothy Bataillie, managing director for the Mena region at Massive//Media, the media group behind Netlog.

“It is one of the very few social platforms available where ‘locals’ can be engaged effectively through their mother tongue.”

Adidas outperformed Nike by 19 points in Egypt, 11 points in the UAE, 8 points in Saudi Arabia and by 24 points in the remainder of Mena countries, reflecting an average lead of 14 points in the region as a whole.

Puma proved to have a steady following in Egypt with 15 per cent of the votes, 14 per cent in the remainder of Mena countries, while it wavers in affection in the UAE with 6 per cent (on par with Reebok at 6 per cent) and 10 per cent in Saudi Arabia.

“The Saudi and UAE are understandably two markets where competition proves to be a tighter race for the hearts and ‘soles’ of residents,” said Amir-Esmaeil Bozorgzadeh, special projects manager at Massive//Media.

“How these brands project themselves over the digital landscape will play a crucial role in tipping the scales in favour of one or the other,” he added. – TradeArabia News Service