Ambush Advertising

Ambush marketing also known as coat-tail marketing or predatory ambushing is the practice of hijacking or coopting another advertiser’s campaign to raise awareness of another company or brand, often in the context of event sponsorships.

Ambush marketing or ambush advertising is a marketing strategy in which an advertiser “ambushes” an event to compete for exposure against other advertisers.

The term was coined by marketing strategist Jerry Welsh, while he was working as the manager of global marketing efforts for American Express in the 1980s. Most ambush marketing campaigns aim to associate a brand with the prominence of a major event, without actually being an “official” partner or sponsor of said event. An advertiser may indirectly ambush an event by alluding to its imagery and themes without referencing any specific trademarks associated with it, or in “direct” and “predatory” means where an advertiser engages in the fraudulent use of official names and trademarks to deliberately mislead consumers.

Actions against ambush advertising are most common in sport (where major events such as the FIFA World Cup, Olympic Games, and the Super Bowl are prominent targets), as the practice can devalue and dilute exclusive sponsorship rights, and in some cases, infringe upon the organizers’ intellectual property rights. Such actions may include restricting advertising in “clean zones” around an event site, removing or obscuring references to non-sponsors at venues, and requiring host countries to pass laws to grant the organizer legal rights to enforce clean zones, and to restrict the use of specific words and concepts to create unofficial associations with the event.

Anti-ambush marketing regulations have attracted controversy for limiting freedom of speech, and for preventing companies from factually promoting themselves in the context of an event.

One of the earliest known examples of ambush marketing is the bitter feud that erupted between MasterCard and Visa during the 1992 Winter Olympics, which was held in the town of Albertville in southeastern France.

Ambush Marketing is a marketing technique which involves riding on the coattails of a major event or campaign without actually paying for or participating in the sponsorship or event.

It is a tactic that many vendors use to get free promotion and compete with those vendors actually paying for the sponsorships and/or event without having to dish out the big bucks themselves.

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, doesn’t force the association, but seeks to align a brand through suggestion or reference to an event or property.

Pros and Cons of Ambush Marketing

Pros:

• For the company running the Ambush Marketing campaign, it is a much cheaper option to get your brand noticed and in some cases with the same amount of impact if not more.
• Ambush Marketing is a great way to jump-start your business in the beginning because most start-ups don’t have the financial capability to sponsor something as large as the Olympics or Super Bowl.
• Ambush Marketing creates more competition among companies jockeying for market share which is good for consumers; more competition usually means lower prices.

Cons:

• 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 and therefore, in a smaller, more local approach, it may not be a good solution. A smaller local business may not be able to handle the negative media and brand impact surrounding it.
• The word “Ambush” itself carries a negative connotation with it.
• The actual sponsors of events get certain advantages and privileges that the “Ambush” company will never have.