Ambush marketing is a marketing strategy that involves raising awareness of a brand in covert ways. With this marketing strategy, an organization hijacks or coopts another organization’s advertisement campaign to raise awareness of their brand ( Piątkowska et al., 2016) . The organization seeks to ride on the publicity value of a major event without having to contribute to the financing of the event through sponsorship. A typical example of ambush marketing is selling music merchandise outside the grounds of a concert without the consent or awareness of the concert promoters. In this regard, the sellers rely on association with the concert to drive sales. A real-world example is the infamous Bavaria Beer ambush campaign of 2010. In 2010, Bavaria Beer took advantage of Anheuser Busch Budweiser’s advertisement campaign to promote its brand.
Ambush marketing has a number of advantages and disadvantages. First, ambush marketing is a much cheaper option to promote a brand for the organization, firm, or business running the ambush marketing campaign ( Piątkowska et al., 2016) . Given that many startups do not have the financial capability, ambush marketing provides a vital means to jump-start a business. Lastly, it provides a cheap way to disrupt a competitor’s marketing campaign or sponsorship deal ( Piątkowska et al., 2016) . However, there are a number of disadvantages associated with marketing strategy. First, the terms “ambush” itself carries a negative connotation with it. Secondly, small companies or businesses that are less competitive may not be able to handle the negative media and brand impact that results from this marketing or advertising strategy.
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Through its ambush marketing tactics, Bavaria Beer was hoping to promote its brand. The beverage company bought tickets for a section of seats in the stadium. They then dressed up girls in orange clothing that was linked to their brand to promote their brand (Herzog & Nufer, 2014). Bavarian Beer’s ambush marketing tactic is simply a competitive strategy. Bavarian Beer was not capable of sponsoring the event. As such, it sought other alternatives to promote its brand, which is using ambush marketing tactics. With this strategy, Bavarian Beer wanted to outdo Budweiser, one of its competitors.
Ambush marketing can either be intentional or unintentional. Intentional ambush marketing tactics are planned for while unintentional ambush marketing tactics are unplanned. With intentional ambush marketing, the ambushing company makes plans for conducting the marketing campaign to promote its brand. With unintentional ambush marketing, media sources market some brands irrespective of whether they are sponsors of the event or not. As a leader of an organization, I would not allow ambush marketing because of the negative media and brand impact that results from this advertising strategy.
References
Herzog, B., & Nufer, G. (2014). Analyzing the effectiveness of ambush marketing with Google search data
Piątkowska, M., Żyśko, J., & Gocłowska, S. (2015). A systematic literature review on ambush marketing in sport. Physical Culture and Sport. Studies and Research , 66 (1), 14-27.
