Ambush marketing is a marketing campaign that takes place around an event but does not involve payment of a sponsorship fee to the event.
When did it started?
Ambush marketing as a concept first came to light at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Those Games, which generated a surplus of some US$250 million, were deemed an overwhelming success. They were the first to be funded entirely privately. Prior to the this any number of sponsors were allowed to tie themselves to the Olympics on an ‘official’ basis. During 1976 Montreal Olympics there were 628 ‘official’ sponsors.
Some famous cases of Ambush Marketing are:
# 1984 Olympics: Kodak sponsors TV broadcasts of the games as well as the US track team despite Fuji being the official sponsor. Fuji returns the favor in kind during the Seoul 1988 games of which Kodak is the official sponsor.
# At the 1992 Barcelona Olympics Nike sponsors press conferences with the US basketball team despite Reebok being the games’ official sponsor.
# In the greatest ambush marketing feat of all time Nike’s man Michael Jordan, Air Sponsorship himself, accepts the gold medal for basketball and covers up the Reebok logo on his kit.
# 1996 cricket World Cup held in the sub-continent. Though Coca-Cola was the `official' sponsor of the event, Pepsi stole the limelight with its `Nothing official about it' tagline.
# 2000 Sydney Olympics: Qantas Airlines’ slogan "The Spirit of Australia" sounds strikingly similar to the games’ slogan "Share the Spirit." Qantas claims it’s just a coincidence to the sound of official-sponsor Ansett Air helplessly banging its fists on the conference room table.
# 2002 Boston Marathon: Nike strikes again. As Adidas-sponsored runners come off the course they are treated to spray-painted ‘swooshes’ honoring the day of the race, but not the race itself.
# 2006 Fifa World Cup in Germany, The Dutch supporters, renowned for their crowd mentality, donned the amusing promotional trousers of Dutch brewery Bavaria Beer.
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