lesson 8.4 – ambush marketing copyright © 2014 by sports career consulting, llc

Lesson 8.4 –

Ambush Marketing

Copyright © 2014 by Sports Career Consulting, LLC

"Ambush marketing is a transparent attempt to

cash in on the passion of our fans"

- NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy

LESSON 8.4

Sponsorship & Endorsements


Ambush MarketingLESSON 8.4


Ambush marketing occurs when one brand pays to become an official sponsor of an event and other competing brands attempt to connect itself with the same event, without paying direct sponsorship fees


Ambush Marketing It is a legal tactic

Often referred to as “guerilla” marketing

Has proven to be very successful

Presents many challenges for those hosting the event Results in the perception that companies are affiliated with an event when they actually are not

Allows for penetration into events in which a competitor may have exclusivity rights

LESSON 8.4



When Does Ambush Marketing Occur?

Ambush Marketing

Super Bowl

Olympic Games

FIFA Soccer World Cup

Boston Marathon

Tour de France

LESSON 8.4



Notable Sports Marketing Ambushes

Ambush Marketing

1992 Olympics

Michael Jordan (sponsored by Nike), covered the Reebok logo on his apparel with the American flag during the gold medal ceremonies

LESSON 8.4



Ambush Marketing

2000 Olympics

Adidas 'thorpedoed' Nike at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Nike was the official clothing supplier while Adidas sponsored the swimming super-hero, Ian Thorpe. At the medal presentation, Thorpe “accidentally” draped his Adidas towel over the Nike logo on his official team tracksuit. Thus Nike was nowhere in the famous photograph that was seen by millions of people in Australia and all over the world.

LESSON 8.4




Ambush Marketing

2002 Boston Marathon

As Adidas-sponsored runners crossed the finish line under full coverage of cameras, they were treated to spray painted Nike 'swooshes' honoring the day of the event without mentioning the race itself

LESSON 8.4




Ambush Marketing

2002 Boston Marathon

More than 300 college students sporting Reebok-branded tattoos on their foreheads were seeded into the crowd along the Marathon route. Reebok-endorsed “office linebacker” Terry Tate (featured in prominent Reebok television spots) led the charge along the running route. The ambush was effective, with Reebok forming a sea of red (via more than 2,500 consumers turned into walking billboards) along the route and creating its own “unofficial” sponsorship of the Marathon, much to the chagrin of Adidas.

LESSON 8.4




Ambush Marketing

2006 FIFA World Cup

Hundreds of Dutch fans had to watch their team's 2-1 win over the Ivory Coast in their underwear at the 2006 World Cup in Germany after security at entry points to the stadium caught wind of an ambush marketing ploy

LESSON 8.4




Ambush Marketing

2006 FIFA World Cup

The fans arrived at the game wearing orange lederhosen displaying the name of Dutch brewery Bavaria and were ordered to remove them by stewards before being allowed to stadium.

LESSON 8.4




Ambush Marketing

2006 FIFA World Cup

Anheuser Busch's Budweiser was the official beer for the tournament and FIFA has a reputation for fiercely protecting its sponsors from brands which are not event or organization partners

LESSON 8.4




Ambush Marketing

2008 Olympic Games

Chinese sportswear maker Li Ning signed an agreement with Olympic Sports Channel, affiliated with State-owned China Central Television (CCTV).

LESSON 8.4




Ambush Marketing

2008 Olympic Games

Under the deal, journalists, presenters and guests appearing in the studio would wear Ling Ning's clothes with visible logo throughout the Olympic coverage, despite adidas’ presence as official sponsor of the Games.

LESSON 8.4




Ambush marketing tactics

Ambush Marketing

Sponsorship of sub-categories in an event

Sponsorship of the broadcast of the event

Purchasing advertisements at a competitor’s event

Engaging in non-sponsorship promotions that coincide with the event

LESSON 8.4



Ambush Marketing

In the 1984 Olympic Games, Kodak sponsored the TV broadcast of the games as the USA track team’s sponsor despite Fuji being the official sponsor of the games

LESSON 8.4




Ambush Marketing

In 2012, a British company (Virgin Media whose interests include airlines and broadband service) launched a multimillion dollar ad campaign featuring Jamaican gold medal winner Usain Bolt sporting a silver goatee identical to that of company founder Richard Branson. The campaign was promoting Virgin's "super fast" broadband service, despite the fact that BT was the official broadband partner of the 2013 Olympic Games.

LESSON 8.4




Purchasing advertisements at a competitor’s event

Ambush Marketing

For the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Nike went to the extreme of purchasing all the outdoor poster sites in Atlanta in an effort to ambush Adidas, the official sponsor of the 1996 Games

LESSON 8.4



Engage in non-sponsorship promotions that coincide with the event




During broadcasts of the 2014 FIFA World Cup matches, Volkswagen aired commercials showing fans dressed in their country colors singing the traditional soccer chant “Olé, Olé, Olé” on their way to a soccer stadium while Hyundai spent millions as the official partner of FIFA World Cup Brazil.




Engage in non-sponsorship promotions that coincide with the event

According to ad-age.com, Coca-Cola stole Pepsi's thunder during the 2014 Oscars when Coke’s logos appeared on three pizza boxes delivered to host Ellen DeGeneres during a skit during the broadcast, despite the fact the Pepsi had just taken over the sponsorship rights as the exclusive soft-drink sponsor of the Academy Awards on ABC.

Create visibility without “official” affiliation with an event in non-traditional ways

Ambush Marketing

Geico once paid several lower-ranked men's and women's tennis players up to $5,000 to wear "ambush advertising patches during high-visibility matches" at Wimbledon. Because lower ranked players earn only minimal wages, many were willing to slap the Geico logo on their uniform, in part to help pay for travel expenses.

LESSON 8.4



Social media now affords guerilla marketers with another channel for which to deploy ambush tactics, like Hormel’s “Sir Can A Lot” video posted on YouTube, tying the Spam brand to the “madness of March” despite the fact that Hormel was in no way financially supporting or sponsoring the event

LESSON 8.4



Ambush Marketing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyvFMngd09U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1x5DwMA6AM

Is Ambush Marketing an Effective Strategy?

Ambush Marketing

Ambush marketing has proven to be particularly successful in the shoe and apparel market. The official footwear and apparel of the NBA is Adidas. However, many of their competitors have individual NBA stars contracted to promote their respective brands (it should be noted that Adidas has several individual players under contract as well, such as Derrick Rose, John Wall, Dwight Howard, and this year’s number one NBA draft pick, Andrew Wiggins).

LESSON 8.4



Is Ambush Marketing an Effective Strategy?




The brand most recognized by consumers according to a as a partner of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi was Red Bull according to Global Language Monitor (a company that tracks brand perceptions), yet the brand was in no way affiliated as an official Olympics sponsor.

http://www.insidethegames.biz/olympics/winter-olympics/2014/1018733-exclusive-red-bull-wins-sochi-2014-ambush-marketing-gold-says-report

VIDEO: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/blake-griffin-endorser-turns-irony-sincerity-video-123522018.html

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/blake-griffin-endorser-turns-irony-sincerity-video-123522018.html

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/blake-griffin-endorser-turns-irony-sincerity-video-123522018.html

In 2009, Wade decided to part ways with Converse and signed a new deal with Jordan Brand (Nike is the parent company to both shoe brands) and in 2013, Wade signed with Chinese footwear brand, Li Ning

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-03/li-ning-seeks-to-revive-brand-with-nba-superstar-dwyane-wade.html

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-03/li-ning-seeks-to-revive-brand-with-nba-superstar-dwyane-wade.html

How does Ambush Marketing Affect the Hosting Organization?

Ambush Marketing

Ambush marketing threatens the ability to sell event sponsorships, ultimately cutting into profitability

The Sydney Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG) had a staff of 60 individuals with legal backgrounds to protect themselves against ambush marketing

LESSON 8.4



How do companies and/or governing bodies combat ambush marketing?

Ambush Marketing

By early 2013, FIFA had already taken action against 100 ambush marketers as a means for letting those considering ambush tactics that the practice would not be permitted leading up to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil (at which time they had already inked deals with more than 20 official partners, generating more than $1.4 billion in sponsorship revenue)

LESSON 8.4







Just prior to the start of the 2014 World Cup, FIFA banned players from wearing any headphones that did not feature the Sony name while at the tournament because Sony was an official tournament sponsor (according to Reuters, Sony sent every player a free pair of headphones to wear).


Ambush Marketing

Click here to learn more about how FIFA attempted to thwart ambush attempts in Brazil

LESSON 8.4






How do companies combat ambush marketing?

Following the tournament, Global Language Monitor published an “Ambush Marketing Rankings World Cup 2014” study, polling consumers to determine which brands were recognized as partners of the 2014 World CupAccording to the study, Beats was a clear cut

winner as the most successful ambusher even though FIFA banned players from using the brand at the tournament.




How do companies combat ambush marketing?

Johnson & Johnson (owner of brands like Tylenol, Listerine, Band-Aid and Rogaine) was crushed by Procter & Gamble (Scope, Gillette, Pepto-Bismol and Vicks), scoring five times higher in the brand recognition scorecard among health care product brands.

Blank Slide Available

for Teacher Edits

LESSON 8.4




1) Illustrate the concept of ambush marketing

Ambush marketing occurs when one brand pays to become an official sponsor

of an event and other competing brands attempt to connect with the same event, without paying direct sponsorship fees.

It is a legal strategy used frequently when the event is on a grand stage, such as the Super Bowl or Olympic Games.


LESSON 8.4 REVIEW (ANSWERS)LESSON 8.4 REVIEW (ANSWERS)

lesson 8.4 – ambush marketing copyright © 2014 by sports career consulting, llc

Documents

ambush marketing copyright

ambush marketing lesson

sports career consulting

guerilla marketing

unofficial sponsorship

france lesson

nike logo

marathon route