Brand winners and losers of Oasis’ Live ’25 tour revealed in ‘Swagger Index’
With the UK arm of Oasis’ Live ’25 reunion tour wrapped up – and now heading to Australia and then Brazil – new data from social-first agency SAMY has revealed the brand winners and losers so far, in what it calls the ‘Swagger Index’.
It’s a “social media audit ranking” looking at which brands made the biggest cultural impact during the UK leg of the tour, which kicked off in Cardiff on 4 July and culminated at Wembley Stadium in London on 28 September.
To measure a brand’s ‘Big Swagger Energy’ – in reference to Liam Gallagher’s bowl of a walk and overly confident manner – SAMY analysed social posts and media coverage from Oasis’ reunion announcement in August 2024 through to the final Wembley gigs.
Brands were ranked out of 100 based on a combination of ‘Cultural Swagger’ (how much a brand featured in Oasis-linked conversation) and ‘Emotional Swagger’ (how fans reacted through engagement and sentiment).
Brands were selected over three categories: ‘official partners’, ‘90s Britpop staples’, and ‘reactive bandwagon jumpers’ – of which there were plenty.
Aldi shocked the field, topping the Swagger Index with a ‘swagger score’ of 63.9. Its cheeky ‘Aldeh’ wordplay campaign and rebranding of its main store in Manchester – Oasis’ home city – was “quick, funny and unmistakably Oasis”.
In second place was Adidas Originals with a score of 60.5, though the German sports brand did have an official collaboration with Oasis – backed by its football terrace roots. Aside from their 'stadium rock', Oasis are also well known for being big Manchester ‘Citeh’ fans.
Surprisingly, a third German company, and another supermarket in Lidl, also made the top three with a swagger score of 53.4. That was down to its reactive social posts and its tongue-in-cheek ‘Lidl by Lidl’ parka.
Coming in fourth was terrace lads’ favourite Stone Island on 50 solid swagger points. Both Liam and Noel Gallagher have been spotted sporting the instantly recognisable yellow compass badge on their sleeves for many years.
Burberry, which officially rejoined the FTSE 100 last month, marking a major step in its ongoing turnaround, was ranked 32.7 - beaten to fifth spot by Premier Inn on 36.8, presumably because so many Oasis fans were looking for somewhere cheap to stay (especially if they couldn’t get a concert ticket for a venue near to them).
Barbour joined Burberry on 32.7, and the other fashion and sports brands loved by at least one of Gallagher brothers to make the top 10 were Berghaus (30.4), that reissued a jacket worn by Liam in the 90s and built a huge advertising campaign around it, and Kappa (12.4) – makers of a bucket hat famously worn by Liam again. The Italian brand did, however, somehow get pipped to ninth spot in the Swagger Index by Asda (13.4).
At the opposite end, other “nostalgia brands” struggled. French Connection came in at 0.35, Sergio Tacchini at 0.7 and Ellesse at a flat ranking of 1 - all familiar names from Oasis’ golden era which failed to capitalise. Perhaps a further sign that heritage alone doesn’t guarantee "cultural cut-through".
Sayan Khastagir, Head of Research and Insights at SAMY, said: “The Swagger Index shows us that cultural relevance can’t be bought or borrowed - it has to be earned in the way brands engage with fans or vice versa.
“The Oasis reunion turned into a live test of that, and Aldi’s win proves swagger is no longer the preserve of the likes of Burberry and Ellesse. Any brand can cut through if it connects with a community’s humour, energy and language at the right moment.
“Social listening lets us track these shifts in real time - it's the pub chatter of the digital age. It shows us exactly who and which brands the community embraces and who’s left outside looking in. That clarity is what brands need if they want to earn their place next time a cultural moment like this comes around.”
