Ambush Marketing Essay Example

Ambush marketing is a tactic used in advertising by companies in that the ambushing company takes the chance and gets exposure by use of creative ways and this way they take to approach the attention from the company that is sponsoring the event (Data monitor Plc, 2010). This type of marketing usually takes place in big sports events. A company has to pay a lot of money so that they can get to be the sponsor of any event which on big companies can be able to pay. Smaller companies are not able to pay such a large amount of money. Therefore, they sneak in to advertise their product. In this form of marketing, the offender places their ads close to the ones that are sponsoring the events. This way they promote their product for free and they grab attention for the other advertisement.

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An example of ambush marketing is between Reebok and Nike wherein 1992 Reebok was the primary sponsor of the Olympic dream team, but the tracksuits logo covered with the American flag which was a result of Nike having a conference meeting with the players. Another example is between BMW and Audi in 2009 where they were fighting each other through billboard at Santa Monica California. Audi placed an advertisement that stated "you move BMW" then BMW replied by putting up a billboard nearby with a picture of its M3 model that had the impression of "checkmate" (BrandonGaille, 2018)

Just like any other form of marketing, there must be advantages and disadvantages. In this case, the company Bavaria Beer is faced with risks so that their name can be out in public. There are also consequences for both the ambusher and the ambushed. In Bavaria's case, they suffered the consequence that they were not noticed therefore creating attention to the one ambushed (Data monitor Plc, 2010).

An advantage that comes along with the strategy of marketing is that the ambusher gets to advertise their product for free without paying a large amount of money that is being funded by the one ambushed. The cost may be high for instance in the case of Samsung and Apple. Samsung sold their new phones in the shops in Australia for $2.00 the same day that Apple realized their new phone. The disadvantage for the primary sponsor of the event is that the attention is drifted away by the company ambushing it yet they have paid a large amount of money.

The intention of Bavaria Beer was achieved. They managed to divert the attention of the sponsors of the event to them. The company bought tickets to the match between Denmark and Netherlands which was brand home country of Budweiser. Then they dressed models in the color orange underneath their dresses. Later during the game, they revealed the color that they had underneath with the intention to steal the attention of the sponsors.

The ambush by the Bavaria Beer is considered unethical because they gained the focus from the public by girls revealing what they had dressed underneath. It is deemed to be creative because none of the girls had a logo they just had the theme color of Bavaria beer which communicated very well. The logo only appeared on the small bags that each girl was carrying.

Ambush marketing can be rarely be considered unintentional cause most companies do this type of marketing intentionally so that they can make more profits and succeed more than the other.

There are three types of ambush:

• Incidental- occurs when the company shows their relation to the event through someone else other than themselves such as the media.
• Direct- this kind is intentional, and it takes place when a company tries to steal attention from the official sponsors
• Indirect- this kind happens when the company avoids using words that directly related to the event but intends to give the public the impression of the relationship with the game. (Data monitor Plc, 2010)

As a leader in an organization, I would encourage the use of ambush marketing. Through this strategy, the company can readily be known through more accessible means. It would not cost the company a thing because it is free. All the company will need is creative minds that will come up with original thoughts that will attract the attention of the public.

References

12 Awesome Ambush Marketing Examples - BrandonGaille.com. (2018). Retrieved from https://brandongaille.com/12-awesome-ambush-marketing-examples/

Data monitor Plc, (2010). Ambush Marketing Case Study. [Place of publication not identified].