Ambush Marketing
Ambush marketing implies a marketing tactic applied in marketing where advertisers aim at connecting their product(s) with a particular event to target potential clients. The advertiser is said to have ambushed the event through competing for exposure against rival dealers. Since he/she is not the event’s official sponsor, the advertiser does not pay, and they avoid any sponsorship fee that would be expensive. Yet, he/she gains the benefits of affiliation with the said event at the sponsor’s expense. Ambush campaigns present themselves in various forms in which the key objective is to draw attention to the brand being promoted through many creative efforts. Ambush marketing could be direct or indirect; direct meaning that the advertiser fraudulently uses official trademarks or names to mislead consumers deliberately; indirect implies ambushing the event through alluding to its themes and imagery but does not reference any associated trademarks (Datamonitor, 2010). For instance, if a celebrity like Tiger Woods poses for a photo with an Adidas shirt that reveals the logo, this is a strategy of ambush marketing that favors the company. Also, if Apple advertises its iPod on a billboard and a different company puts its banner on the billboard such that they seem to be the same, the latter is said to have done ambush marketing since it has not paid for space.
Of course, ambush marketing has its advantages and disadvantages. The advertiser enjoys the benefits of popularizing their brand without having to incur any costs. The said events e.g., FIFA World Cup or Olympics, are attended by huge crowds or potential consumers and are covered worldwide by the media. Therefore, this is an excellent platform and an effective way of creating public awareness of a new product, thereby boosting its sales and, at the same time, minimizing the advertising expenses. However, it has its drawbacks. For example, it could be offensive to various market rules, and the ambush marketer could bear the consequences of such offenses like penalties or loss of trading license. Also, ambush marketing could create a bad reputation or association with potential customers if it is not conducted correctly (Schutte, 2014).
In Bavaria Beer’s case, they used 36 young ladies who wore tight-fitting, orange mini-dresses during a soccer match between Denmark and the Netherlands (2010 World Cup) (Datamonitor, 2010). This seemed like a competitive strategy as opposed to being unethical. These ladies used the beer company’s colors, thereby leaving an everlasting brand image among the event’s patrons. Bavaria correctly executed the strategy by using the ladies rather than using the brand name, thus avoiding any ethical issues and bringing out the concept of competition. In a situation where the ladies would have worn bold letters of Bavaria Beer on the outfits without the company having paid sponsorship fees, then the issue of ethics would have come up.
Bavaria Beer ambushed the sporting activity in 2010 through buying tickets for a specific sitting area within the stadium. These young ladies wore attractive orange dresses that revealed the colors of the company’s brand (Datamonitor, 2010). The intention of using this tactic was to ensure that the singing ladies would draw all the attention to themselves amid live coverage, thereby advertising their brand.
While in the majority of instances, ambush marketing is done intentionally, there are various instances in which the act can be considered unintentional (Schutte, 2014). Consider a sporting activity where Nike is the official sponsor, and during the event, an interview with a player is being done. If the player wears Nike outfits but has a Puma tattoo, this would probably be an unintentional form of ambush marketing in which Puma would be the beneficiary.
As an organization’s leader, I would be opportunistic enough to allow and implement ambush marketing strategy. The most important thing would be to ensure that it is handled correctly, prudently, and legally to minimize the possible risks as well as consequences. This is an excellent avenue to popularize the organization’s products without having to incur the massive advertisement costs and, most importantly, if the organization is young and has a small budget. Again, it is a favorable platform to advertise a product because of the enormous number of potential consumers (Schutte, 2014).
References
Datamonitor. (2010). Ambush Marketing Case Study: Successfully Leveraging High-Profile Events to Raise Brand Profile. Retrieved from https://http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/case-studies/59543529/ambush-marketing-case-study-successfully-leveraging-high-profile-events-raise-br.
Schutte, S. (2014). 8 Great Ambush Marketing Campaigns. Retrieved from https://https://realbusiness.co.uk/8-great-ambush-marketing-campaigns/.