AMBUSH MARKETING

Its all about finding LOOPHOLES…!!! A hidden peril…!!! Ethically unethical…!!! Game within
a Game…!!!
 By,

Sandeep Prasad.
Anish Abraham.
Kiran More.
Ashok Malgunde.
Niranjan Gawali.
Pritesh Patil.
 Introduction
Definition:

“Ambush marketing is unauthorized association of business with

the marketing of an event. i.e. without paying for marketing
rights.”

 Term first coined by marketing expert Jerry Welsh At American

express.

 It is “Parasitic Marketing”.

 Ride unofficially on popularity of event

 Objectives

 To recognize ambush marketing and its place in sponsorship.

 To understand the objectives and strategies of ambush
marketing.
 To understand how to prevent and protect your property
against ambush marketing.
 To explore the ethics of ambush marketing.
 To understand the role of brand management in controlling
ambush marketing.

4
 Why Ambush Marketing?
Difficult for marketer to spend for the high cost.
E.g Pepsi paid $22mn to become a global sponsor of the two
world cup and ICC Tournament.

 Hype environs of mega events.

E.g Olympic , FIFA world cup, ICC world cup

Sponsor has to spend huge amount for publicity on T.V,

print and Outdoor Adv,

 Ambush Marketing is cost effective.

Other than sponsor has best option, Ambush Marketing

 Ambush Marketing Strategies

Sponsor Media Coverage of the Event

Sponsor Subcategories

Make Sponsorship-Related Contribution to the Players’ Pool

Purchase Advertising Time During the Broadcast Replay

Engage in Advertising to Coincide with the Timing of the

Event
 How it is done?

There are two ways to hijack the credit of official sponsor and
steal the show

Association / Direct

Intrusion / Indirect
 Direct Ambush Marketing

 Property Infringement - This can be done by unauthorized,

illegal used of registered event logo on Merchandise.

 Self ambushing – Mmarketing activities by an official sponsor

above and beyond what has been agreed on in the sponsorship
contract.
Direct Ambush Marketing
• Engaging in better improvement
Direct Ambush Marketing
• Direct Ambushing between Pepsi and Coca-cola
Direct Ambush Marketing

Property Infringement:

E.g. During 1994 Football world

cup, Master card had exclusive
rights, but Sprints Communication
rival of the Master card used the
logo of World Cup without any
permission and even without
paying a penny of the sponsorship.
Direct Ambush Marketing
 Self Ambushing
• Distributing the T-shirts, flags which display brand name
 Indirect Ambush Marketing

 Sponsoring the broadcast of the event

 Sponsoring sub categories within the event.
 Purchasing Adv. Time around relay of event sponsored by the
competitors.
 Making the sponsorship related contribution to a player’s pool.
 Engaging in major non-sponsorship promotions
 Co-sponsorship.
 
Hence it looks more subtle and falls within a legal grey area.
Indirect Ambush Marketing
• Making a sponsor ship related contribution to a player’s pool
Indirect Ambush Marketing
•Associating the image of progressive player with brand
Indirect Ambush Marketing

During the 1984 Olympics in

Los Angeles, where Converse
was the official sponsor, Nike
built large walls close by the Los
Angeles Coliseum and
displayed the Nike logo with
several athletes wearing the
marks clothes; the ads could be
seen from inside the Coliseum
Indirect Ambush Marketing

At the Atlanta 1996

Olympics, the winner of the
100 meters race, Linford
Christie appeared at a press
conference wearing contact
lenses with the Puma logo in
the center of same, when
Reebok was the official
sponsor of the event.
Indirect Ambush Marketing

In the same Olympic

games, Nike handed the
public at the venue entrance,
paper flags bearing the Nike
logo, which were captured by
the TV cameras in despair of
Reebok, the official sponsor
Indirect Ambush Marketing

Pepsi flew a hot air

balloon over the Sharjah
on the day of the Coca
Cola Cup final.
Indirect Ambush Marketing
• Engaging in major non-sponsor promotions
Indirect Ambush Marketing
Co-sponsorship

Click icon to add picture

 Impacts
Positive Impact

 Maximum Return

 Effective In Hampering the Branding efforts of Sponsor

 Save Money

 More Effective
 Negative Impact

 Unhealthy competitive environment.

 Commercial value of the event decreases.

 Sponsor can’t get the return he expected.

 Degrade the ability of the organizer to attract future

sponsor.
 A Visionary

 Sports industry provide great opportunities for

sponsorships

 In India cricket enjoys maximum patronage so such laws

are required as early as possible.

 Question arise will sponsors protected from ambush

marketing in future
 Piracy Vs Ambushing

Piracy Is Illegal

Ambushing Represents an Ethical Dilemma for the

Marketer

Ambush Marketing Is Legal in Most Countries

 Protection from Ambushers

Sponsors Should Learn How to Ambush

Leverage with Collateral Support (Remember:

Sponsorship Is Not a Stand-alone Promotional Activity)

Clean Stadium (Devoid of Nonsponsor Signage)

Contd…

Protection from Ambushers

Establish More Control Over Advertising

Restrict Use of Virtual Advertising

Limit Ability of Players to Endorse Brands of

Nonsponsors

Educate Consumers
Contd…

Protection from Ambushers

Engage in Surveillance Programs

Limit Number of Sponsorships

Prohibit Pass-Along Strategy

Incorporate Sponsor’s Name

Lobby Governments to Enact Legal Restrictions

e.g. Direct Marketing is against the law, Trade Practices Act , Trade Mark
Act, The Copy Right Act
 Ethics
 Sponsors:
“Because such activities reduce the effectiveness of the
official sponsors’ promotional efforts while simultaneously
denying the activity owner potential revenue, there is reasons
to question the morality of this type of competitive practice.”

 Sponsees:
“Property rights that are acquired or contractually leased by
corporate sponsor must be exercised with due regard for the
right of others, even those of direct commercial competitors”.

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 Are Preventive Measures Effective?
No Event Is Immune to Ambushing

Sponsor Who Understands How to Ambush Is Better

Prepared to Assess Its Own Vulnerability

Many of the Techniques Are Effective

Many Events Now Require New Laws and Clean Stadia

as Conditions for Staging an Event
 Closing Capsule
Ambushing Is Cheaper Than Sponsorship

Ambushing Can Be Effective

Ambushing Reduces Sponsor’s Benefits

Sponsors Must Effectively Leverage

 Conclusion
Ambush Marketing should be understood as a marketing strategy
occupying the consumer mind space for an event. What Ambush
Marketing is not, is some underhanded attempt to take advantage of
sponsored properties without paying the associated fees. The
marketing decision around sponsorships is really a question of
whether or not the sponsorship, as currently offered, is really
commercially viable.

Successful ambush strategies feed on ill-conceived sponsorships and

inept sponsors; in that regard, Ambush Marketing is the natural result
of healthy competition and has the long-range effect of making
sponsored properties more valuable, not less, in that successful
ambushes, over time, help to weed out inferior sponsorship
propositions.
“ Ambushers [are like] thieves, knowingly stealing
something that does not belong to them. A form of
parasite, feeding off the goodwill and value of the
organization, they are trying to deceive the public
into believing they support. Like leeches, they suck
the lifeblood and goodwill out of the institution.”

Michael Payne,
(Former Marketing Director, IOC)

Is it ethical for a company to ambush an event?

Why do brands with excellent reputations get into
this & are they justified?
THANK YOU…!!!