Ambush marketing is a strategy where a brand attracts attention by associating itself with an event or even another brand in numerous different ways. Events are usually major sporting events, attractive because of the huge number of followers they draw, and providing a readymade audience for a brand that hasn’t been awarded official sponsor status. Ambush marketers wheedle their way in quite cleverly and avoid the high cost associated with being the title sponsor, and hopefully any legal pitfalls. So, how is it done effectively?
In this article, we outline six ambush marketing examples, breaking them down to determine exactly what makes a truly great ambush marketing campaign.
The Best Ambush Marketing Examples People Still Talk About
The best way for anyone to learn a craft of any kind is to study previous success stories. The following are major examples of different types of ambush marketing strategies and how they were executed.
Nike’s “Find Your Greatness” – 2012
Adidas was the event’s official sponsor for the London 2012 Olympic Games; Adidas paid £100 million for the rights. This deal allowed the iconic sports brand to gain exclusive use of Olympic properties, event logos, and the famous Olympic rings. Their exclusive sponsorship rights were strictly protected by the International Olympic Committee under the Olympic Charter and Paralympic Games Act 2006. So, how did Nike end up getting their brand in front of people in the UK’s capital city during the summer of 2012?
Nike’s ambush marketing strategy worked by sidestepping any focus on the Olympic games, instead concentrating their aim at other locations with the same name as the host city. They filmed an advertising campaign in obscure places worldwide named after the capital city, such as in Ohio and Nigeria, that involved real everyday athletes in normal settings doing promotional activities that emphasised the Olympic values – performance, perseverance and greatness. This form of ambush marketing is called indirect ambush marketing or ambush by association – meaning, they shared the spotlight through implication and association, without referencing the protected intellectual property rights assigned to Adidas.
This marketing strategy made them seemingly untouchable, allowing them to launch it during the same week as the Olympic games, and leading to many people falsely associating Nike with the Olympic movement. As a result, Nike were able to piggyback off the widely televised event with zero consequences. Ambush by association creates the illusion of an official partnership by using imagery, wording, or endorsements to suggest a formal link to the event.
It was such a great success that Nike outperformed Adidas in global brand recall (21% vs 17%), all whilst not paying sponsorship fees. As far as ambush marketing campaigns go, this was one of the most flawless of all time, as it didn’t infringe on this major sporting event in any way. Knowledge of the law and thinking outside the box are sometimes all you need.
Bavaria Beer – 2010
Most ambush marketing campaigns review their risk exposure very carefully because the consequences can be very expensive and may include legal action and the wrong type of commercial exposure.
In 2010, Bavaria Beer didn’t do their due diligence properly before launching their ambush marketing campaign at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The official sponsorship agreement allowed for the American beer manufacturer, Budweiser, to have full advertising rights, with a 2km exclusion zone around any venues for other branding.
Bavaria Beer decided to execute their ambush marketing campaign during the match between the Netherlands and Denmark. They sent 36 women in tight, orange mini-dresses to the front row seats, garnering a lot of attention. Orange is not only the Dutch national colour but also a signature of Bavaria. Despite these mini-dresses being unbranded, they were considered a signature of Bavaria due to previous marketing campaigns. So this was effectively a direct ambush marketing strategy – these dresses were on-venue and in clear view, promoting their product, and therefore, intentionally and visibly associating themselves with this major international event without permission.
The stunt received significant exposure. However, FIFA responded harshly. Not only were the women removed, but some were interrogated, and two were arrested whilst legal charges were considered against Bavaria Beer. Luckily for them, there was a high degree of criticism by the public against FIFA for their overreaction, and the controversy probably didn’t result in any financial penalties being levied against Bavaria Beer.
This high-risk, high-reward strategy resulted in event organisers increasing scrutiny for future ambush marketing campaigns. Although it did result in brand awareness increasing in the long term, marketing experts believe that the company was lucky they weren’t more directly and severely punished.
Beats by Dre – 2012
Nike wasn’t the only one hunting the spotlight of the sporting world’s most major event of 2012. The Olympic games did not have an official sponsor for the audio category, despite Panasonic being the most major electronics partner. Still, non-sponsors were barred from unauthorised marketing activities involving any Olympic properties or sports performances.
Beats by Dre chose not to target the Olympic properties at all, but rather the athletes themselves. They distributed custom-made headphones to the top athletes in their national colours. These athletes wore them during warm-ups, interviews, sports performances – all whilst being on camera, drawing massive attention. This is called an ambush by distraction, overshadowing the official sponsors through a well-planned, organic stunt.
The athletes got these headphones for free and were under no obligation to wear them, but because they were high quality and fitted the event so well, many did so. This created a viral effect across social media platforms without the cost of either paid ads or venue presence.
Nonetheless, the IOC viewed the campaign as a breach of Rule 40, which prevents unauthorised association with non-sponsors. Beats by Dre were not on the receiving end of any legal action, effectively allowing them to bypass intellectual property laws. However, the athletes were warned not to wear anything with visible branding.
The results were fantastic. The media coverage, social media buzz, and free PR through athlete usage established Beats as the dominant headphone brand of the Olympic games, despite there being no official sponsor of that category. Beats outperformed many of the official sponsors in the window where the headphones were visible. This is a fantastic example of the ambush by intrusion strategy, as effectively, Beats by Dre was able to physically place itself inside the event without permission.
SK Telecom – 2016
During the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, SK Telecom decided to launch an ambush marketing campaign that would undermine the official sponsor, the KT Corporation. Both were in direct competition with each other.
Typically, most ambush campaign tactics outline a marketing strategy that skirts around trade marks; in this instance, SK Telecom decided not to bother. Instead, they brazenly ran an ad campaign during the opening week of the Olympic games featuring the competing Korean Olympic athletes, congratulating their “Olympic spirit”, and drawing on national pride. This is a clear case of ambush by self-promotion – aggressively promoting itself as a supporter of the Olympic athletes without being authorised.
No Olympic symbols were used, but the campaign was simply too referential for the Korean Olympic Committee to stomach, and they issued a warning to SK Telecom. The International Olympic Committee then supported the warning, citing unauthorised association and a clear breach of sponsorship agreements. SK Telecom immediately pulled the campaign.
Not only did SK Telecom lose money in this ordeal, but its reputation also took a hit. Many saw them as being self-serving and only interested in activity for commercial purposes, plus, this was an example of unfair competition. SK Telecom was subsequently blacklisted from other events hosted by the KOC.
Audi vs. BMW – 2020
In 2020, the two giants of German car manufacturing went head-to-head in a classic example of ambush advertising, also known as the ‘war of billboards’. Audi had just launched a new model, the A4, and it hit the billboards with a glossy picture alongside a catchy slogan, ‘your move, BMW’. In a move perhaps not anticipated by Audi, BMW installed a billboard right beside the Audi ad campaign with a picture of its new 3 series vehicle and the slogan, ‘checkmate’.
Warming to the theme, Audi ran another advertising campaign based around the new model R8. This time the banner was ‘your pawn is no match for our king’. In response, BMW chose to promote their electric vehicle, the i8 on an adjacent billboard with the accompanying phrasing, ‘touché’. Determined to have the last word, Audi installed a giant balloon over both billboards bearing an image of an F1 car and the phrase ‘game over.’
It’s hard to know who got ahead in the advertising war; it’s likely both brands did well out of the publicity.
Pepsi vs. Coca-Cola – 2019
At the 2019 World Cup, Pepsi took a tilt at Coca-Cola, the event’s official sponsor. Pepsi ran a campaign featuring 87-year-old Charulata Patel on a poster with the slogan, ‘Win or lose, fan love is forever’. Charulata was a superfan of Indian cricket throughout the decades and became a sensation during the ICC World Cup in 2019 in the UK for her memorable presence and enthusiastic support for the Indian cricket team.
The move reprises an earlier infamous ‘Cola’ war, where both the brands used ambush marketing against each other.
Conclusion
Each of these examples detail ambush marketing tactics with varying levels of success, each one a different type. Ambush marketing is fascinating because it requires thinking outside the box to avoid legal issues. It can ultimately achieve great results for a non-sponsor brand without the expense of official status or defending legal challenges by the same or disgruntled event organisers.
