This document talks about few example of ambush marketing and how brands stand in each cases stand benefited or otherwise

1. MARKETING
STRATEGY
P R E P A R E D B Y :
POULAMI KARJEE
18050143062
MEDIA MANAGEMENT
A S S I G N M E N T 2

2. AMUL VS BRITANNIA
Amul released a print ad taking on
the cookie makers of the market
questioning how much of butter do
they use in their butter cookies. They
alleged the other makers for using
vegetable oil. Also, they claimed that
they themselves have 25% butter in
their butter cookies, whereas other
maker’s used only 0.3 to 3%of
butter.Furthermore, Amul ran a
campaign called Bitter Butter
Contest on Twitter asking customers
to check and compare the butter
content of other cookies in the
market. They added that other
companies use vegetable oil instead
of butter.
In return, Britannia (Good day) the
market leader in this segment replied
addressing the health conscious
consumer asking that
how much cholesterol does a 25%
butter cookie contain, suggesting
Amul cookies as not a healthy choice
This ambush marketing leads to
questioning if butter is a good
positioning or not. For a butter
cookie it definitely is, but coming to
a decision of taking the market
leader in the segment so soon, even
before making their (Amul) product
available to the whole of India was
not very wise.

3. Also, the argument of its competitor’s using
vegetable oil than butter is not as solid
because both the ingredients are not very
healthy and are imprecation for
cholesterol. But the advantage lays in the
part that Amul is the leader in butter
segment. To have leveraged on that factor in
order to promote a new product is a very
good strategy.
Britannia’s retaliate statement have also been
questioned in this case. Amul did not target
any one of its competitors in its campaign
but Good day Britannia came a lot
many times in its Bitter Butter contest on
social media. This was unexpected
and hence the reply came one month late
from Britannia. Also, the reply statement
came up was just, “Butter cookies with 25%
butter have up to seven times more
cholesterol than Britannia Good Day Butter
Cookies.” not explaining the
vegetable oil content in their product.
Managing director of Amul Richa Sodhi
says the idea of the campaign was to bring out
the fact that they always use pure ingredients in
their products. She added saying if Britannia
has no guilt of having higher proportion of
vegetable oil content in its cookies then they
should not declare them as butter cookies
atleast, it is just a type of dishonest marketing.
(Banerjee, 2019)
Both the brands have not clearly
retaliated each other’s statements here, while
the campaign event became very
famous but the trolling being a day to day event
none of the brand lost or converted an actual
number of consumers. This was more of a
confusing the customer than convincing
them.
"CONFUSING THE
CUSTOMERS THAN
CONVINCING
THEM"

4. DETTOL VS VIM
Dettol entered the dishwashing market
with their own kitchen cleaner gel in
2013 and attacked Vim openly in its
television commercial. The creative goes
as: two plates with germs infesting on
them, in a clinical manner. The one
cleaned by Dettol was germ- free while
the other cleaned with Vim noticeably
had germs. And it makes a statement
“Compared to leading dishwash liquid,
based on lab test” and the category leader
in this segment was Vim then.
To this Vim did a comeback publishing a
front page print ad on Sunday Times
asking consumers to choose between a
harsh antiseptic liquid or the power of
100 lemon to clean a child’s tiffin box.
The ad also reads “No one removes
grease better. No one removes germs
better. That’s a Vim challenge!” HUL
even took the case to the Kolkata High
Court asking Dettol to remove the part in
the ad where Vim is shown. But till
then the damage had been done. (Menon)

5. Vim being the leader in this category came
up with the hard antiseptic liquid message
in its ad in order to protect its share by
using fear psychosis in the mind of
consumers.
After Vim’s retaliate as Dettol took up a
case against Vim for denigrating or
disparaging its product. The high court did
pass an order restraining Vim from
hurting the good will and reputation of
Dettol. One of the market experts have
intuited that the two brands has the
capacity to compete with each other on
various levels like advertising, distribution
and even retail. The legal order is a minor
order in this fight. (Dewan)
A brand that is entering a new segment
and taking the role of a market challenger
and implementing a frontal attack on the
market leader shows the brand’s
confidence, capability and direct
positioning. Also they might be new to the
segment but they are not a complete new
player.
Whereas, for Vim the best decision would
have been to defend their turf and not
react. If we look at Dettol’s history it has
survived in the market being a germ killer
or liquid that protects you from germ.
Scaring people with statements as
“antiseptic in your tiffin box” is not a good
option. Vim should have worked on
strengthening its germ killing credentials
through advertising as well as product
intervention/improvements. However,
HUL had described its lemon strength
creative as something that, the other
products have just begun to realize the
importance and power of natural
ingredients while Vim use of power of
lemons is to bring in the concept of the
brand’s use of natural products such as
lime, vinegar and green tea to maximize
results and minimize the use of
chemicals. (Rangaswami)
"THEY MIGHT BE IN A NEW SEGMENT
BUT THEY ARE NOT A NEW PLAYER"

6. Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) published a
print ad to take on Dettol antiseptic liquid
through Lifebuoy on a Sunday Times front
page. The ad said “It's proven! Lifebuoy gives
better germ protection than Dettol antiseptic
liquid, while bathing.” It conveys how the
soap brand is a better germ fighter than the
antiseptic Dettol liquid. The creative goes
like this: in a circular dish divided half one
side Dettol and the other side Lifebuoy with
more residual germs left on Dettol’s half.
There have been two similar factors
recorded in this and the last event, both the
ads were featured on Sunday Times
and both Dettol then Lifebuoy used the
identical device of a split dish to
demonstrate effectiveness.
Plus the new commercial on TV for
Lifebuoy Total shows a rather unwell child
going to the doctor, where it is
conveyed that the illness is due to germs and
that the kid needs protection. To
this the mother replies that she uses
antiseptic liquid in the bathing water.
Then, the doctor reply that antiseptic liquid
is effective in killing germs in
the water but not on the child’s body and
advises to use Lifebuoy for the best
protection. (Menon, Round Two: Now
Lifebuoy attacks Dettol, 2013)
LIFEBUOY VS DETTOL

7. "VIM QUESTIONED DETTOL'S
POTENTIAL AS DISINFECTION"
Although there is no direct link to any
brand but it is impossible to notice the
underline statement. The brand Dettol
has been built on the germ- kill platform
which began from its antiseptic liquid.
One of the HUL representatives when
asked about the ad replied that a lab study
shows many citizens bathe with only
antiseptic liquid in water. He also said that
the campaign is aired in public interest
and seeks to inform the customers that
soap and water removes more germs than
antiseptic liquid in water proved by
various tests in their laboratory and that
the commercial does not refer to any
particular product or competitor. (Pinto,
2013)
The campaign had hit Dettol really hard
questioning the source of its power as a
disinfectant: The antiseptic liquid. Dettol
earlier had complained against Lifebuoy in
Advertising Standard Council of India
saying that Lifebuoy claimed to be 10
times better germ protector than other
soap brands in one of their ads that was
misleading. ASCI ruled in favor of Reckett
asking HUL to modify their ad. But to this
attack Dettol did not make any prominent
comeback.

8. RIN VS TIDE
This is one of the most controversial ad
that has been aired in the history of Indian
Television. The TVC was supported by a
very good media plan that ensured prime
time slots across all major GEC’s and news
channel to incur more and more
impression over the long weakened. The
ad was a video film where two mothers
one with Rin and another with Tide were
standing in a bus stop waiting for their
kids to arrive. The Tide lady looked very
proud about buying Tide and brags about
how it gives “khusboo aur safedi”. While
the Rin lady simply smiles. When the
school bus drops of the two children the
boy of the Rin mother seems to have
whiter shirt than the Tide one. The boy
even asks “aunty chaunk kyun gayi?”
making a taunt at Tide as “chanuk gaye” is
its punch line. The ad in total conveys that
Rin is better than Tide when it comes to
whiteness and at a mere price of 25
rupees.
Comparative advertising has been done
many times before by different brands
they either use air brushing or pixelating a
brand’s name but Rin naming Tide so
prominently was breaking rules in every
book. Tide did put up a complain against
Rin to ASCI but the damage had already
been done till then. According to HUL this
ad really acted in favor of Rin as it
reinforced the promise of Rin delivering
superior whiteness to the customer.
Few brand experts felt that it was very
bold and smart move by HUL and a trend
setter in the advertising history among the
campaign that did their job before
they were pulled off. While other experts
felt it was a very desperate and
distasteful act. (Drypen)

9. "AD AIRED ON A LONG WEEKEND
TO REACH HIGHER AUDIENCE"
Tide took a great hit during this campaign;the ad being aired during the long
weekend time was clearly to reach higher audience in the market. HUL had simply
said their aim was to create a buzz about their campaign and become a trend
setter (Anushree Bhattacharyya). This was “putting a finger on consumer’s eye”
type of advertising and of course the intention was to create a noise.
But ads that say not “I am better” but “you are worse” can take a hit at both the
brands. Naresh Gupta, director, strategy and planning, Dentsu Marcom, too, feels
that ‘faded shirt versus white shirt’ mnemonic used to bring out Rin’s ‘superiority’
was not a very wise attempt. This maybe a great example of ambush marketing
and a huge controversial and effective ad but very few companies have the
financial muscle to walk this path.

10. PROS AND CONS
AMBUSH MARKETING
PROS
Ambush marketing gives a lot of creative flexibility. The results may not be as effective
but it’s unusually entertaining and lot more memorable. It can be anything from visual
trickery to witty work play. The firm mostly have to leverage on some statement made
or some campaign made by their competitor so it has to be clever with subtle jokes and
sly references. Even if the ad does not give a high conversion rate but if it's funnier and
cleverer ad will be much more remembered (Shewan, 2018). In general when a brand
shoots a campaign they have to make sure that the campaign looks, feels the same on all
platforms. But in Ambush marketing the brand can go off script in style, tone and
context.
Ambush marketing if done cleverly can help brand cultivate and exhibit brand attributes
and values that customers may want to associate with. Humour is the new cool and can
win everything so; a funny ad can make people like the brand. However this has to be
subtle or in some manner that does not show the brand to be desperate or nasty.
It is a good way to start a business for the startups. Most of the startups do not have a
financial capability to sponsor large events to reach audience. This is a direct way to
make itself visible in the market by taking on the market leader. All in one it can also
create more competition in the market and hence lower the price.
CONS
The word “Ambush” itself creates a negative connotation. It’s like doing marketing in
dishonest and a hiding manner. Unless it’s a big firm it would be difficult for the firm as
there are concerns such as breadth of activities caught by the definition of improper
advertising by the ASCI. The firms may not be able to handle the negative media and
brand impact resulting from such advertising method.
Ambush marketing can be very expensive and calculating its ROI is very difficult. It
might seem like a very effective way to bring down the competitor’s brand but it also
demands a certain amount of spends that puts this approach beyond the reach of smaller
firms. For eg the one where Samsung sold their Samsung Galaxy II in a pop up store just
outside the Apple store the day it was releasing it I phone 4 S at a very low price. Both
the company was hit very hard by this decision but Samsung sold 750 smart phone that
particular day. (Ambush Marketing, 2018)
Ambush marketing also requires a quick response and coordinated planning for an
effective campaign. Also, the availability and pricing of inventories at that time can make
or break the campaign even before it goes on air.

11. O D D B A L L I M A G I N G S T U D I O P A G E 9
Bibliography
(2018). Ambush Marketing. Optimy.
Anushree
Bhattacharyya, D. J. Rin vs Tide - Hit and run. afaqs!
Banerjee, D. (2019). Is
butter really better? Britannia reacts to Amul ad. afaqs!
Dewan, D. M. Clean
case - DETTOL vs VIM: a tale of two soaps. Lexology.
Drypen. RIN v/s
Tide the latest HUL commercial that rocked advertising industry. Drypen.
Menon, R. POV:
Under attack: What should Vim do? afaqs!
Menon, R. (2013). Round
Two: Now Lifebuoy attacks Dettol. afaqs!
Pinto, S. (2013). Lifebuoy
takes a dig at Dettol again. Mumbai: Business Standard.
Rangaswami, A. HUL
gets into a kitchen war with Dettol. FirstPost.
Shewan, D. (2018). Ambush
Marketing: What It Is & Why It Works. Wordstream.

12. PLAGIARISM SCAN REPORT
Words 905 Date August 31,2019
Characters 5274 Exclude Url
2%
Plagiarism
98%
Unique
1
Plagiarized
Sentences
41
Unique Sentences
Content Checked For Plagiarism
Amul Vs Britannia Amul released a print ad taking on the cookie makers of the market questioning how much of butter do
they use in their butter cookies. They alleged the other makers for using vegetable oil. Also, they claimed that they themselves
have 25% butter in their butter cookies, whereas other maker’s used only 0.3 to 3%of butter. Furthermore, Amul ran a
campaign called Bitter Butter Contest on Twitter asking customers to check and compare the butter content of other cookies
in the market. They added that other companies use vegetable oil instead of butter. In return, Britannia (Good day) the market
leader in this segment replied addressing the health conscious consumer asking that how much cholesterol does a 25%
butter cookie contain, suggesting Amul cookies as not a healthy choice. This ambush marketing leads to questioning if butter
is a good positioning or not. For a butter cookie it definitely is, but coming to a decision of taking the market leader in the
segment so soon, even before making their (Amul) product available to the whole of India was not very wise. Also, the
argument of its competitor’s using vegetable oil than butter is not as solid because both the ingredients are not very healthy
and are imprecation for cholesterol. But the advantage lays in the part that Amul is the leader in butter segment. To have
leveraged on that factor in order to promote a new product is a very good strategy. Britannia’s retaliate statement have also
been questioned in this case. Amul did not target any one of its competitors in its campaign but Good day Britannia came a
lot many times in its Bitter Butter contest on social media. This was unexpected and hence the reply came one month late
from Britannia. Also, the reply statement came up was just, “Butter cookies with 25% butter have up to seven times more
cholesterol than Britannia Good Day Butter Cookies.” not explaining the vegetable oil content in their product. Managing
director of Amul Richa Sodhi says the idea of the campaign was to bring out the fact that they always use pure ingredients in
their products. She added saying if Britannia has no guilt of having higher proportion of vegetable oil content in its cookies
then they should not declare them as butter cookies atleast, it is just a type of dishonest marketing. (Banerjee, 2019) Both the
brands have not clearly retaliated each other’s statements here, while the campaign event became very famous but the
trolling being a day to day event none of the brand lost or converted an actual number of consumers. This was more of a
confusing the customer than convincing them. Dettol Vs Vim Dettol entered the dishwashing market with their own kitchen
cleaner gel in 2013 and attacked Vim openly in its television commercial. The creative goes as: two plates with germs infesting
on them, in a clinical manner. The one cleaned by Dettol was germ- free while the other cleaned with Vim noticeably had
germs. And it makes a statement “Compared to leading dishwash liquid, based on lab test” and the category leader in this
segment was Vim then. To this Vim did a comeback publishing a front page print ad on Sunday Times asking consumers to
choose between a harsh antiseptic liquid or the power of 100 lemon to clean a child’s tiffin box. The ad also reads “No one
removes grease better. No one removes germs better. That’s a Vim challenge!” HUL even took the case to the Kolkata High
Court asking Dettol to remove the part in the ad where Vim is shown. But till then the damage had been done. (Menon) Vim
being the leader in this category came up with the hard antiseptic liquid message in its ad in order to protect its share by
using fear psychosis in the mind of consumers. After Vim’s retaliate as Dettol took up a case against Vim for denigrating or
disparaging its product. The high court did pass an order restraining Vim from hurting the good will and reputation of Dettol.
One of the market experts have intuited that the two brands has the capacity to compete with each other on various levels
like advertising, distribution and even retail. The legal order is a minor order in this fight. (Dewan) A brand that is entering a
new segment and taking the role of a market challenger and implementing a frontal attack on the market leader shows the
brand’s confidence, capability and direct positioning. Also they might be new to the segment but they are not a complete new
player. Whereas, for Vim the best decision would have been to defend their turf and not react. If we look at Dettol’s history it
has survived in the market being a germ killer or liquid that protects you from germ. Scaring people with statements as
“antiseptic in your tiffin box” is not a good option. Vim should have worked on strengthening its germ killing credentials
through advertising as well as product intervention/improvements. However, HUL had described its lemon strength creative
as something that, the other products have just begun to realize the importance and power of natural ingredients while Vim
use of power of lemons is to bring in the concept of the brand’s use of natural products such as lime, vinegar and green tea to
maximize results and minimize the use of chemicals. (Rangaswami)
Sources Similarity

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insmaller type, the adalsoreads, “lorde joineda global anti-semitic boycott of israel but will performinrussia, despite putin’s
support forthe body text of the adincludes anallegationthat “growing prejudice against the jewishstate” innewzealandis “trickling
downtoits youth,” alsocriticizing new...
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/rabbi-calls-lorde-bigot-cancelling-142518256.html
4%

14. PLAGIARISM SCAN REPORT
Words 837 Date August 31,2019
Characters 4780 Exclude Url
0%
Plagiarism
100%
Unique
0
Plagiarized
Sentences
34
Unique Sentences
Content Checked For Plagiarism
Lifebuoy Vs Dettol Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) published a print ad to take on Dettol antiseptic liquid through Lifebuoy on a
Sunday Times front page. The ad said “It's proven! Lifebuoy gives better germ protection than Dettol antiseptic liquid, while
bathing.” It conveys how the soap brand is a better germ fighter than the antiseptic Dettol liquid. The creative goes like this: in
a circular dish divided half one side Dettol and the other side Lifebuoy with more residual germs left on Dettol’s half. There
have been two similar factors recorded in this and the last event, both the ads were featured on Sunday Times and both
Dettol then Lifebuoy used the identical device of a split dish to demonstrate effectiveness. Plus the new commercial on TV for
Lifebuoy Total shows a rather unwell child going to the doctor, where it is conveyed that the illness is due to germs and that
the kid needs protection. To this the mother replies that she uses antiseptic liquid in the bathing water. Then, the doctor reply
that antiseptic liquid is effective in killing germs in the water but not on the child’s body and advises to use Lifebuoy for the
best protection. (Menon, Round Two: Now Lifebuoy attacks Dettol, 2013) Although there is no direct link to any brand but it is
impossible to notice the underline statement. The brand Dettol has been built on the germ- kill platform which began from its
antiseptic liquid. One of the HUL representatives when asked about the ad replied that a lab study shows many citizens bathe
with only antiseptic liquid in water. He also said that the campaign is aired in public interest and seeks to inform the
customers that soap and water removes more germs than antiseptic liquid in water proved by various tests in their
laboratory and that the commercial does not refer to any particular product or competitor. (Pinto, 2013) The campaign had
hit Dettol really hard questioning the source of its power as a disinfectant: The antiseptic liquid. Dettol earlier had complained
against Lifebuoy in Advertising Standard Council of India saying that Lifebuoy claimed to be 10 times better germ protector
than other soap brands in one of their ads that was misleading. ASCI ruled in favor of Reckett asking HUL to modify their ad.
But to this attack Dettol did not make any prominent comeback. Rin Vs Tide This is one of the most controversial ad that has
been aired in the history of Indian Television. The TVC was supported by a very good media plan that ensured prime time slots
across all major GEC’s and news channel to incur more and more impression over the long weakened. The ad was a video film
where two mothers one with Rin and another with Tide were standing in a bus stop waiting for their kids to arrive. The Tide
lady looked very proud about buying Tide and brags about how it gives “khusboo aur safedi”. While the Rin lady simply smiles.
When the school bus drops of the two children the boy of the Rin mother seems to have whiter shirt than the Tide one. The
boy even asks “aunty chaunk kyun gayi?” making a taunt at Tide as “chanuk gaye” is its punch line. The ad in total conveys that
Rin is better than Tide when it comes to whiteness and at a mere price of 25 rupees. Comparative advertising has been done
many times before by different brands they either use air brushing or pixelating a brand’s name but Rin naming Tide so
prominently was breaking rules in every book. Tide did put up a complain against Rin to ASCI but the damage had already
been done till then. According to HUL this ad really acted in favor of Rin as it reinforced the promise of Rin delivering superior
whiteness to the customer. Few brand experts felt that it was very bold and smart move by HUL and a trend setter in the
advertising history among the campaign that did their job before they were pulled off. While other experts felt it was a very
desperate and distasteful act. (Drypen) Tide took a great hit during this campaign; the ad being aired during the long weekend
time was clearly to reach higher audience in the market. HUL had simply said their aim was to create a buzz about their
campaign and become a trend setter (Anushree Bhattacharyya). This was “putting a finger on consumer’s eye” type of
advertising and of course the intention was to create a noise. But ads that say not “I am better” but “you are worse” can take a
hit at both the brands. Naresh Gupta, director, strategy and planning, Dentsu Marcom, too, feels that ‘faded shirt versus white
shirt’ mnemonic used to bring out Rin’s ‘superiority’ was not a very wise attempt. This maybe a great example of ambush
marketing and a huge controversial and effective ad but very few companies have the financial muscle to walk this path.
Sources Similarity