AMBUSH

MARKETING

GROUP MEMBERS
Puja

Bhagwani 65

Shivani

Chaudhary- 67

Sailesh

Gurmukhani- 79

Anagha

Nair- 96

Rohit

Talreja- 114

WHAT IS AMBUSH
MARKETING?
A promotion tactic designed to associate a
company, product, or service with a particular
event, or to attract the attention of people attending
the event, without payment being made for an
official sponsorship.

AMBUSH MARKETING
Ambush
It

marketing is an Aerial Advertising.

is a well planned effort.

It

is commonly used at worldwide sporting

organisations.

Ambush

Marketing is also called as Parasitic

Marketing.

GOALS OF AMBUSH
MARKETING

To hijack the intrinsic values of an event and take advantage, for the
least possible cost.

To improve the ambushers brand reputation and transfer the

positive aspects of the event to its brand.

To mislead the public into thinking the ambush marketer is

something its not.

To weaken the link between the official sponsors and the event by
creating confusion about sponsors identities.

ADVANTAGES OF AMBUSH
MARKETING

Advantage of a major event to increase brand

awareness while not spending the money to be a
sponsor

When there is an increase in competition the prices go

down

Less Investement with high business.

DISADVANTAGES OF
AMBUSH MARKETING

It decreases commercial value of the event

It creates unhealthy competitive environment

It may adversely effect the funding of the event as

it will be beneficial for the company to be an
ambusher

EXAMPLES

McDonald's Accuses Burger King of Ambush

Marketing in Brazil

Double Fries, Offered on Day After a Brazilian

Athlete Medals, Resemble Olympic Torch in Ad of
Burger King.

McDonald's is an Olympic sponsor; Burger King is

not.

BMW vs AUDI

One of the most famous examples is the 2009 Audi and BMW
billboard war in Santa Monica.

Audi thought they'd be clever and issued a challenge to BMW

with an image of the Audi A4, accompanied by the words:
Your move, BMW. Of course, BMW answered. Right next to
the Audi advert they threw up an image of the BMW M3 and
said: Checkmate.

Everything then got slightly out of control when fans took to

photoshop and decided to craft their own responses, including
the BMW sign flying a blimp with a picture of its F1 entry.

EFFECTIVENESS OF
AMBUSH MARKETING

Ambush marketing provides opportunity of standing at

advantage over the competitors.

Ambush marketing is more effective than traditional public

advertisement against the costs.

Ambush Marketing act as a promotional tool.

Ambushing is an enticing option.

EFFECT OF AMBUSH MARKETING

ON THE COMPANY DOING IT

Ambush marketing is considered an unethical business

practice.

A company, which uses the ambush marketing strategy, will

sooner or later loose the exclusivity of the sponsorship, which
will also cause the interest in the sponsorship to be lost.

The financial growth and power of an event organizer will soon

deplete.

Dominant brands may benefit from a tad more from their

sponsorships, but are more affected by an ambush than a nondominant brand

THE ETHCAL ISSUE

Is it ethical for a company to ambush an event?

Why do brands with excellent reputations get into this?

Are they justified?

The questions arises as to whether or not practices such as ambush

marketing is ethical, illegal or simply smart business practice. In order
to decide this, an examination has to be undertaken of what are regarded
as ethical marketing practices, in addition to examining what comprises
ambush marketing, followed by a comparison of the two.

THE ETHCAL ISSUE

Typically, sports property owners and sponsors view the practice as
being unethical,immoral and sometimes illegal. On the other hand,
many companies unable to afford sponsorship fees will regard the
practices involved as a legitimate form of defensive, competitive
behaviour and perhaps even deny that what they are doing is
ambush marketing.

CASE STUDY

NHL v/s PEPSI

First case to deal head-on with pure-ambush marketing

Pepsi promoted a scratch card which stated If X city(home of a NHL team) wins Y number of
matches, you win. This was in addition to other promotional measures like T-shirts, caps etc.

Disclaimer was provided on the card that the campaign did not associate itself or sponsor the
NHL. In fact, Coca-Cola did.

The Court identified the tort of passing off, by means of suggestion, that the plaintiff was in a
way authorising or endorsing the product.

It also stated that the defendant could also cash in on the goodwill of the plaintiff.

However, the Court found that the likelihood of confusion was very minimal, and even if there
was any, it was eliminated by the disclaimer.

The decision of the Court was that ambush marketing, done bona fide, was an acceptable
business practice in Canada.

ICC V/S ARVEE

Philips had indulged in a promotional campaign Philips : Diwali Manao World Cup Jao and
Buy a Philips Audio system : Win a ticket to the World Cup .

The words were accompanied by an image of a ticket with fictitious seat and gate number.

Philips was not one among the 9 official sponsors of the ICC World Cup.

The ICC filed suit, citing passing off, unfair competition and ambush marketing.

The Court held that slogans only pointed that the purchaser of Philips may win a prize and nothing
more.

No likelihood of confusion that Philips was a sponsor or licensee thereof. There was no passing off
or unfair trading.

Not contrary to public interest, as the commercial advertising is free speech protected by the Indian
constitution.

CONCLUSION
Impossible

Event

The

to completely stop ambush marketing.

is hit most with the ambush marketing.

ambushed cannot be compensated.

Proper

legislation should come for the protection

of the official sponsor .