Ambush Marketing
Ambush marketing is the act of deliberate association of a brand to an event with the intent of enjoying the advantages that come with official sponsorship, without necessarily incurring the cost of the sponsorship. While often considered unethical, ambush marketing remains a controversial pursuit, due to its legality in business (Burton, 2018).
Common examples of ambush marketing include a situation where a similar brand such as Pepsi coincidentally advertises during an event which is officially sponsored by Coca-Cola. Pepsi would enjoy a market share of revenue, at a significantly reduced cost, as compared to Coca-Cola, who footed the cost of sponsorship. In a different case, Coca-Cola, would self-ambush on their marketing, if they would choose to go beyond the limits and constraints of the official sponsorship agreement with the event organizers.
The advantages associated with ambush marketing are as follows: First, ambush marketing is greatly associated with creativity, which can make them more interesting to the public as opposed to the normal advertisements. More interesting advertisements tend to remain in the people’s memories for longer time-spans, which is a plus for the brand. Secondly, ambush marketing offers a lot more flexibility as opposed to the normal advertisements. There are no correct methods to perform an ambush in marketing. The main purpose of ambush marketing is to bring the point home, hence the need for creativity.
The disadvantages of ambush marketing are also evident. First, ambush marketing can result in a more expensive process, as one would need to focus time, energy and resources in order to pull off an effective campaign, since the risks are usually higher, then more resources can be used to increase effectiveness (Burton, 2018). Similarly, the risks involved can be detrimental, as stiff measures can be issued against the ambushing brand. Also, depending on the idea and execution, the campaign could fail, which would translate to losses.
The tactics employed by Bavaria Beer company involved relatively sneaky moves, as models wearing similarly colored costumes into the soccer event. Bavaria Beer wanted to confuse the consumers into believing that it was actually Bavaria Beer, who were the sponsors of the World Cup event. A similar expectation would be that they only intended to confuse the two brands, so that consumers would not know which brand was the actual sponsors of the event.
I would consider the move by Bavaria Beer as a simple competitive strategy against a rival brand. The fact that it was a relatively muted campaign is proof that Bavaria only intended to instill uncertainty in the market, a move that would increase competition between the two brands. It was actually through the acts of FIFA, that the act gained popularity and brought success to Bavaria as a result.
Ambush marketing can be both deliberate, as well as unintentional. A classic example of an unintentional ambush would be a situation where the media channels unintentionally mention a brand which is associated with the event indirectly, thus enabling the brand to gain traction as a result (Burton, 2018). The brand’s indirect association would be through personalities present or participating at the event.
As a leader of an organization, I would encourage the practice of ambush marketing, as an effective tool for advancing the value and reputation of my brand in a creative way. I would embark on educating my team on various ways in which ambush marketing can bring benefit to the brand without going outside the constraints of the law.
Reference
Burton, N., & Chadwick, S. (2018). Ambush marketing is dead, Long live ambush marketing: A redefinition and typology of an increasingly prevalent phenomenon. Journal of Advertising Research, 58(3), 282-296.