Criterion Global: International Media Buying Blog

Dutch fans arrested as a result of "ambush marketing"

Bavaria Brewery, rival of official sponsor Budweiser, distributed tickets for the Denmark-Netherlands match to several young women donning plain orange dresses. FIFA charged the fans as walking advertisements, arresting two of the women for persuading the others to join them and for contravening the Merchandise Marks Act (which prevents companies from “deriv[ing] special promotion benefit from [an] event, without the prior authority of the organizer of such event”, FIFA’s overreaction brought Bavaria more brand exposure than official sponsorship likely would.  For years now, brands have leveraged sporting events by seeking advertising adjacencies with these events, but without directly affiliating through paid sponsorship. It’s called ambush marketing, and its purpose is to draw in major attention without the major sponsorship costs of an official partnership.

Nike has been so successful in its creative ambushing that it continually eschews official FIFA sponsorship. Nike’s 2010 World Cup viral video ad, “Write the Future,” received over 2.8 M views in five days and up to 10 M views within the next five days.  Surely this came to the chagrin of the official FIFA World Cup partners, including Coca-cola and Adidas. The success of ambush marketing certainly puts an official sponsor’s ROI to shame.   Pepsi’s “Oh Africa” campaign went viral this World Cup, generating advertising reach as viewers voluntarily shared the video. Pepsi racked up millions of views online without the investment in official sponsorship. The viral video captures the spirit of Africa’s people and the love for the game of soccer worldwide.   In another ambush instance, Pepsi seized another opportunity when Argentina coach Diego Maradona announced he would “run naked around the Obelisk” if Argentina won the World Cup. In honor of his promise, Pepsi announced that it would sell its soft drink “naked” – that is, without the body label – for a week if Argentina won.

Nowhere does FIFA forbid the use of pictures. Yet in a letter to Kulula.com, FIFA stated the ads cannot contain soccer balls, the national flag, the stadium, or vuvuzelas. However, instead of “World Cup,” the ad writes “the-you-know-what.”  The point of ambush marketing is not only for brands to ride on the coattails of a sporting event without paying through the nose for sponsorship, but for brands to generate attention through the there’s no such thing as bad publicity methodology as the media controversy often brings further exposure to the campaign. Because of this, ambush marketing has become a spectacle where people attempt to guess how far companies can push the envelope, but also how official sponsors have tarnished their own image through ever-aggressive, pre-emptive policing.

Perhaps the most exciting part of ambush marketing is the unexpected reaction FIFA officials have to seemingly legal campaigns.  While FIFA tries to curb this strategy, ambush marketing is getting harder to control. Companies are increasingly willing to bend the rules – and accept the minor penalties – to associate with the biggest world sporting events while increasing their ROI.