Ambush marketing is a marketing strategy by which a rival company attempts to associate its products with an event that already has official sponsors. This tactic is used by small companies who cannot afford to contribute to the funding of an event; then they try to create awareness of their brand covertly. It helps them to align the brand with the event without sponsoring the event. More prominent companies also engage in ambush marketing when they want to undermine official event sponsors.
Example: Suppose you are at home, watching your favorite sports team when you notice something: Every time the camera zooms in on the coach for his reaction to a play, there is always the same group of people wearing the same t-shirts sitting directly behind the bench. Then it hits you—they are promoting a brand — one that has not officially sponsored the game.
Features of Ambush Marketing
Ambush marketing campaigns are often a lot more memorable than a typical ad precisely because they are unusually entertaining or thoughtful. Subtle references and sly jokes are often integral to the success of ambush marketing campaigns.
It allows brands to go off-script from their regular advertising campaigns, whether in style, tone, or content. It helps in affording the ambusher a great deal more creative freedom and flexibility.
It helps brands to cultivate and display new brand values and attributes that consumers may not perceive at first place with the advertiser.
Disadvantages of Ambush Marketing
These campaigns are a great way to piggy-back on another brand’s efforts, but it also needs to spend a certain level of the fund. If these are not executed well, then it creates a significant loss too. Ambush campaigns need to be launched by well-funded brands.
Another drawback with these campaigns is It is easier to gauge the overall reception of an ambush campaign by monitoring mainstream and social media for mentions and engagement metrics but calculating the ROI of its marketing can be challenging.
Successful Ambush Marketing diminishes the value of the actual sponsorships and brands who invest. Some say that Ambush Marketing is a sneaky and less honest way to market.
Types of Ambush marketing
Direct ambush marketing is an approach where a brand works aggressively to associate itself with an event or property when that brand has not purchased rights as the official sponsor.
Indirect ambush marketing, on the other hand, does not force the association but seeks to align a brand through suggestion or reference to an event or property.
Types of Direct Ambush Marketing
- Predatory Ambushing
- Coattail Ambushing
- Property Infringement
- Self-Ambushing
Types of Indirect Ambush Marketing:
- Associative Ambushing
- Distractive Ambushing
- Values Ambushing
- Insurgent Ambushing
- Parallel Property Ambushing
Predatory ambushing: Predatory ambushing refers to marketing that attacks a competitor’s sponsorship of an event, athlete, or organization, while simultaneously confusing consumers over which company is the official sponsor.
Coattail ambushing: Coattail ambushing involves gaining exposure through sponsoring an individual or related event without being an official sponsor of the larger event.
Property ambushing: Property or trademark infringement intentionally misuses or violates the trademark of an advertiser to dilute the marketing space or confusing consumers.
Self-ambushing: It is the practice of breaching the limits of a company’s sponsorship parameters in a way that infringes on another sponsor’s marketing or advertising.
Prime Examples
Rona catches Apple’s paint
In Canada, Montreal, Apple had a billboard advertising iPod nano, where the hue of the iPod would drip down to the bottom, Home Improvement Chain Rona saw a perfect chance and maybe pulled off one of the most fantastic ambush marketing stunts. They put a banner under Apple’s billboard to make it look like the paint was dripping into buckets. The text on their banner was translated as: “We recycle leftover paint.”
2006 FIFA World Cup
Again the star of this example is Nike. At the 2006 World Cup, Nike again unveiled a successful Ambush Marketing strategy. They launched a social networking website for soccer fans around the world as part of their “Joga Bonito” (a beautiful game) marketing strategy.
Nike reported that their website and sponsorship of the Brazilian soccer team together gave them the same recognition as their rivals Adidas, but they did not spend the extra million that Adidas had to pay for the Cup Sponsorship.
Coca-Cola/Pepsi
In 1996, the International Cricket Council (ICC) awarded Coca-Cola the right to be the official sponsor of the tournament in India. By smelling a missed chance, competitor soda giant-Pepsi led an innovative marketing push using the term ‘Nothing Official About It’ and cleverly snatched Coca-Cola’s limelight. Only by cleverly employing wit and the keyword synonymous with the event, Pepsi was able to make its presence known, without being an official sponsor. During and after the World Cup, people were puzzled that who was the official sponsor, Coca Cola or Pepsi? This case is seen as the most prominent example of 20th-century ambush marketing in India.
If you enjoyed reading this concept, you may also read Guerrilla Marketing or Movement Marketing