Ambush marketing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ambush marketing occurs when a brand pays to become the official sponsor of an event and an other brand tries to connect itself to the same event, without paying the sponsorship fee and without breaking any laws.
[edit] Famous ambush marketing
- At the 1984 Olympics Kodak sponsors TV broadcasts of the games as well as the US track team despite Fujifilm being the official sponsor.
- At the 1988 Summer Olympics, Fujifilm sponsors the games despite Kodak being the official sponsor.
- At the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Nike sponsors press conferences with the US basketball team despite Reebok being the official sponsor.
- At the 1994 Winter Olympics, American Express sponsors the games despite Visa being the official sponsor.
- For the 1996 Cricket World Cup, Pepsi ran a series advertisements titled "Nothing official about it" targeting the official sponsor Coca Cola.
- At the 1998 World Cup, Nike sponsored a number of teams competing in the Cup despite Adidas being the official sponsor.
- At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Qantas Airlines’ slogan "The Spirit of Australia" sounds strikingly similar to the games’ slogan "Share the Spirit." despite Ansett Air being the official sponsor.
- At the 2002 Boston Marathon, as Adidas-sponsored runners come off the course Nike are treated to spray-painted messages honoring the day of the race, but not the race itself.
- At the 2006 FIFA World Cup, fans of the Netherlands had to disrobe Bavaria Brewery's leeuwenhosen because Budweiser was the official beer sponsor.
[edit] Future of ambush marketing
For the the 2011 Rugby World Cup and the 2015 Cricket World Cup, New Zealand is planning to enact laws to combat ambush marketing, according to Sports Minister Trevor Mallard.[1]
