Ambush marketing involves a non-sponsor intentionally associating themselves with a sponsored event through advertising and promotions in order to confuse consumers into thinking they are an official sponsor. The objectives are to maximize returns and undermine official sponsors. Common tactics include advertising around event broadcasts, signage near venues, consumer promotions, and congratulatory ads. Studies show ambush marketing can confuse consumers and diminish the value of official sponsorship deals. Event organizers face hurdles in educating the public and making ambush marketing seem unethical. Examples are provided of ambushes by Pepsi at the World Cup and Hindustan Unilever against a Pantene campaign.

1. Ambush Marketing

2. Ambush Marketing
It has been defined as “a company’s intentional
efforts to weaken—or ambush—its
competitor’s ‘official sponsorship.’ It does this
by engaging in promotions and advertising
that trade off the event or property’s goodwill
and reputation, and that seek to confuse the
buying public as to which companies really hold
official sponsorship rights”

3. The objectives of ambush marketing
are twofold:
• To get maximum returns
• To undermine the branding efforts of the rivals
by stealing the attention, increasing the
clutter and confusing the viewers.

4. Types
• The purchase of advertising in and around a sporting
event telecast is one of the most common and popular
tactics of ambush marketing.
• Non-sponsors try to secure a presence in and around
the sporting event venue. In the early days of ambush
marketing, companies would employ blimps and
airplanes with trailing banners to ambush a major
sporting event, but event owners have successfully
closed this ambush avenue by working closely with the
administrative agency.

5. Types
• Other popular ambush marketing avenues
have included: securing strategically placed
billboards; erecting tents and inflatable in
high-traffic locations; and distributing
literature and samples to consumers attending
the event

6. • Conduct consumer promotions that associate the
ambush marketer with popular sporting events.
Such promotions typically are offered at retail
locations and are supported by point-of-sale
displays that feature visuals “themed” to the
particular sporting event and that utilize words
that generically refer to the sporting event.
• An association with a particular event, companies
will often create advertisements offering
congratulations” to the winning team or certain
players.

7. Success or Failure
• Recall and recognition of ambush marketers
versus “official sponsors”
• Consumers are less aware of ambush tactics
being employed. They do not oppose ambush
marketing practices and that consumers were
not “disgruntled” by companies that engage in
ambush marketing and that there seems to be
“a general acceptance of the practice”.

8. • Effective ambush marketing can confuse
consumers into thinking a non-sponsor is
actually a sponsor. Average consumer does
not differentiate between official sponsors
and ambushers.

9. Hurdles
• There are significant hurdles for sport
organizations regarding the prospects of
educating the general public with respect to
the official sponsors of the event and the
potential negative impact of ambush
marketing upon the value of official
sponsorship programs.

10. • It is in the interests of sport that ambush
marketing activity be positioned in the public
mind as unethical and deceptive and that
offenders be subject to public exposure and
embarrassment. It is only by making ambush
marketing unattractive to potential offenders
that sport can continue to protect its revenue
base.

11. • Sponsoring Media Coverage of an Event.
• Engaging in advertising that coincides
with sponsored event.
• Distributing free samples of a non-
sponsored brand product at the event.
• Attack on the sub-conscious mind of the
audience.
STRATEGIES FOR AMBUSH
MARKETING

12. Examples
• Jet Airways came up with an ad campaign
saying “We’ve changed”! To ambush the
campaign, Kingfisher airlines came up with
“We’ve made them change” which was
further ambushed by Go Airways saying
“We’ve not changed. We are still the smartest
way to fly”.

14. Pepsi and Coke – 2002
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 Coca Cola – Official Soft drink sponsor at the world cup in 2002.
 Pepsi aired Ads featuring football stars like David Beckham,
Roberto Carlos.
 It merely used the event to successfully capture audience
attention.
 Innovative and creative media campaign and it used the Stars of
the event to promote its brand.
NOTHING OFFICIAL ABOUT IT.
Pepsi roped in SACHIN TENDULKAR.

15. Ambush – Big Bazaar
• Keep West-aSide. Make a smart choice !
• Shoppers! Stop. Make a smart choice !
• Change Your Lifestyle. Make a smart choice !

16. • The war between Hindustan Unilever’s shampoo
brand “Dove” and Procter & Gamble’s shampoo
brand “Pantene”.
• P&G launched its intriguing ad campaign for
Pantene with the tagline “A mystery shampoo.
Eighty percent women say it is better than
anything else.”
• A few days later and before P&G could launch the
new Pantene, Hindustan Unilever ambushed the
campaign by placing an adjacent hoarding with
the tagline “There is no mystery. Dove is the No.
1 shampoo.”, thus ambushing Pantene’s
campaign.
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