AMBUSH MARKETING TACTIC
Running Head: AMBUSH MARKETING TACTIC 1
Ambush Marketing Tactic
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Ambush Marketing Tactic
Ambush marketing can be described as a marketing strategy where marketers work towards promoting their products in a particular event to reach potential customers. The advertiser ambushes an event by advertising his products against competitor dealers. The advertisers avoid paying sponsorship fee while at the same time gaining the benefits of associating their products with a sponsored event (Bhasin, 2018). There are various forms of ambush campaigns which are direct ambush marketing and indirect ambush marketing. The primary goal of each is to draw the attention of the official brand onto another brand by using creative tactics. An example of ambush marketing would be the act of selling music products such as CDs within the field of a music concert without the sponsors of the event being aware. In such a case, marketer associated the CDs with the music concert to make the sales. The second example of ambush marketing is the incident in 1984, where Fuji Film was given the rights to sponsor the Los Angeles Olympic Games. Kodak on their side used the sponsorship program to ambush Fuji and market their products.
Ambush marketing has both advantages and disadvantages. Some of the benefits include; increased brand awareness, and it is also an easier way for the ambushing brand to be noticed. Moreover, ambush marketing creates competitive pricing. Since there is a massive competition among brands, the prices will be lower and competitive as the firm try to outdo each other. However, the disadvantages ambush marketing includes; decreased income earned by the event. Also, it creates unhealthy competition among brands (Datamonitor, 2010). Furthermore, ambush marketing harms the sponsorship programs since it diminished their actual value in marketing.
Bavaria beer ambushed the world cup that took place in South Africa in 2010 by purchasing tickets for several seats in the stadium. The firm dressed some girls in bright orange costumes that were connected with the brand. In this scenario, Bavaria was attempting to draw the attention of the people in the stadium to the girls so that they can recognize and notice the brand (Datamonitor, 2010).
In this case, the ambush marketing applied by Bavaria beer can be considered to be a competitive strategy. Many firms that cannot afford the cost associated with sponsorship programs will take advantage of public activity as a legitimate way to market their products. Also, Bavaria Beer can deny any claim that they were doing ambush marketing since other companies were present in the event (Datamonitor, 2010).
Ambush marketing can be both unintentional and also intentional. Under intentional ambush marketing, the brand plans for the ambush, and the customers tend to think that the brand is associated with the activity (Bhasin, 2018). Unintentional ambush marketing occurs when the media provides information about a brand and its presence in the event. In this case, the consumers are aware that the brand is the official sponsor of the program.
I would not allow the practice of ambush marketing in my organization because I consider it to be unethical and also illegal. A company can be sued for ambush marketing and incur unexpected costs (Datamonitor, 2010). Additionally, after ambush marketing has been carried out, a brand may not be able to account for the benefits.
References
Bhasin, H. (2018). Ambush marketing. Retrieved from https://www.marketing91.com/ambush-marketing/
Datamonitor. (2010, July). Ambush marketing case study: Successfully leveraging high-profile events to raise brand profile