CIBS, based at Coventry University Business School, has logged 18 instances of ambush marketing taking place since the beginning of the Euro 2008 Football Championships, including: Burger King creating a “red card” advertising campaign in the host countries, featuring silhouettes of celebrating fans, whilst McDonalds are the official sponsors and Heineken creating marching band-style hats for Dutch fans to wear, branded with the Heineken logo and name, whilst Carlsberg are the official sponsors.
“This summer’s mega sporting events are likely to be as interesting off the field as they are on it,” said report author and Coventry University Business School academic, Nick Burton. “Ambushers are set to pounce to ensure that official partners and sponsors don’t have things their own way. We are likely to see ambushers engaged in activities ranging from rival advertising through to the distribution of free gifts and the use of images deliberately designed to mislead consumers about who the ‘official’ sponsors are.”
Burton added: "Host countries are undoubtedly learning the value of legislation to protect official sponsors at past Olympic Games, and the importance of appropriate legal action. Event rights holders must now consider even greater exclusive marketing zones surrounding venues, and a continued presence of 'ambush police' with the authority to protect their sponsors' investment, in order to prevent ambushers from capitalising on the attention surrounding these mega events."
CIBS has also published a new report, ‘Ambush Marketing in Sport: An Assessment of Implications and Management Strategies’, analysing more than 300 cases of ambush marketing. Professor Simon Chadwick, Director of CIBS and leader of the ambushing project, states: “Just as sponsorship has become big business, so too has ambushing. Corporations that have missed out on the big sponsorships are going to great lengths to undermine their rival’s sponsorship of sporting mega events.”
“Recent research demonstrates that as many as 50 per cent of consumers may be led to believe that ambushers are official sponsors. In such cases they are more likely to recognise and recall ambusher brands. Official sponsors will be susceptible to almost half of the benefits they expected from their deals being appropriated by other companies."
"Countries staging major sporting events must take ambush marketing seriously, using legislation where necessary. Failure to do this will seriously affect their chances of hosting similar events in the future because of their inability to attract sponsors, who will question whether event sponsorship is the most beneficial way of spending their marketing budgets. Without this considerable investment organisers will not be able to cover the cost of staging major sporting events."
