Ambush Marketing

Ambush Marketing

Ambush marketing as a situation in which a company or product seeks to ride on the publicity values of a major event without having to finance the event through sponsorship. It is a marketing campaign that takes place around an event but does not involve payment of a sponsorship fee to the event. It occurs when a company signs on to sponsor an event as official sponsor, and a rival hijacks the mind space through backdoor means. Ambush Marketing means when companies try to pass themselves off as official sponsors when they are not.  Most of the advertisements are done during major sporting events.

It is a concept that describes the actions of companies who seek to associate themselves with a sponsored event without paying the organizers. or most events of any significance, one brand will pay to become the exclusive and official sponsor of the event in a particular category or categories, and this exclusivity creates a problem for one or more other brands. The ambush consists of giving the impression to consumers that the ambusher is somehow affiliated with the event. Ambush marketing can provide some, if not most, of the benefits of a legitimate, paid-for sponsorship at relatively little cost.

Perfect example of Ambush Marketing

Ambush marketing can be classified in two classes.

1. Direct ambush marketing. In 1994 football world cup, MasterCard received exclusive rights for using world cup logo, but a rival Sprints communication used the logo without permission. This is direct attack but can be defended by laws.

2. Indirect ambush marketing. Several ways indirect ambush marketing can take place like sponsoring the broadcast of the event, sponsoring subcategories of the major event etc.

It would be pertinent to review why exactly companies do sponsorships as a part of their marketing programs because this will help explain the implications of ambush marketing.

Audience awareness: When people are relaxing they can imbibe information faster. This helps the brand message penetrate effectively into the consumer psyche.

Image: Sponsorship leads to the brand’s image enhancement by virtue of association with a high profile event.

Segment targeting: Sponsorship enables the marketers to target their consumers in an efficient & relevant manner. So if Mercedes Benz wants to reach CEOs, they can do so more efficiently by sponsoring a golf tournament than by advertising on TV.

Other options: Sometimes companies have no other avenue for reaching the masses due to governmental restrictions on advertising etc. (for example many tobacco & alcohol companies cannot directly advertise).

Public Relations: Finally, sponsorships give an opportunity to get high visibility & Free PR.

Conclusion

Ambush Marketing should be understood as a marketing strategy occupying the consumer mind space for an event. What Ambush Marketing is not, is some underhanded attempt to take advantage of sponsored properties without paying the associated fees. The marketing decision around sponsorships is really a question of whether or not the sponsorship, as currently offered, is really commercially viable.Successful ambush strategies feed on ill-conceived sponsorships and inept sponsors; in that regard, Ambush Marketing is the natural result of healthy competition and has the long-range effect of making sponsored properties more valuable, not less, in that successful ambushes, over time, help to weed out inferior sponsorship propositions.

concepts of famous logos

Amazon

This logo doesnt seem to hide much at first sight, but it gives you a little insight in the philosophy behind the brand. First of all, the yellow swoosh looks like a smile: Amazon.com want to have the best customer satisfaction. The swoosh also connects the letters a and z, meaning that this store has everything from a to z.

FEDEX

This is probably one of the best known logos with a hidden meaning. If you look closely, youll see an arrow thats formed by the letters E and x. This arrow symbolizes speed and precision, two major selling points of this company.

Continental

Continental is a manufacturer of tyres. You could actually see this in their logo, because the first two letters create a 3-dimensional tyre.

Toblerone

Toblerone is a chocolate-company from Bern , Switzerland . Bern is sometimes called The City Of Bears. They have incorporated this idea in the Toblerone logo, because if you look closely, youll see the silhouette of a bear.

Baskin Robbins

The old logo of Baskin Robbins had the number 31 with an arc above it. The new logo took this idea to the next level. The pink parts of the BR still form the number 31, a reference to the 31 flavours.

SONY Vaio

Sony Vaio is a well known brand of laptops. But did you know that the name Vaio logo also had a hidden meaning? Well, the first two letters represent the basic analogue signal. The last two letters look like a 1 and 0, representing the digital signal.

Carrefour

Carrefour is one of the biggest European retailers, and its also French for crossroads. The logo symbolizes this word via two opposite arrows. They also added the first letter of the name, because if you look closely youll see the letter C in the negative space between the two arrows.

Forumla1

At first, this logo might not make much sense. But if you look closely, youll see the number 1 in the negative space between the F and the red stripes. I also love how this logo communicates a feeling of speed.

SUN Microsystems

The Sun logo is one of the most famous ambigrams in the world. You can read the brand name in every direction; both horizontally and vertically. This logo was designed by professor Vaughan Pratt of the Stanford University .

NBC

The NBC (National Broadcasting Company) is one of the biggest American television networks. I think most of you have already seen the peacock in this logo. The peacock has 6 different tail feathers, referring to the six divisions at the time that this logo was created. The peacocks head is flipped to the right to suggest it was looking forward, not back.

Concept behind UNILEVER logo

The big blue ‘U’ of logo stands for Unilever. But look a little closer and you’ll see there’s much more to it.Unilever is one of the biggest producers of food, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products. They produce a huge amount of different products and they wanted to reflect this in their logo.

their logo was designed to include 24 icons, each of which represents something important to Unilever.

From a lock of hair symbolizing th shampoo brands to a spoon, an ice cream, a jar, a tea leaf, a hand and much more, the little icons all have a meaning.

Icons explained

	Sun Their primary natural resource, the sun evokes Unilever's origins in Port Sunlight and can represent a number of our brands. Flora, Slim·Fast and Omo all use radiance to communicate their benefits.		Hand A symbol of sensitivity, care and need. It represents both skin and touch. Flower Represents fragrance. When seen with the hand, it represents moisturisers or cream.
	Bee Represents creation, pollination, hard work and bio-diversity. Bees symbolise both environmental challenges and opportunities.		DNA The double helix, the genetic blueprint of life and a symbol of bio-science. It is the key to a healthy life. The sun is the biggest ingredient of life, and DNA the smallest.
	Hair A symbol of beauty and looking good. Placed next to the flower it evokes cleanliness and fragrance; placed near the hand it suggests softness.		Palm tree A nurtured resource. It produces palm oil as well as many fruits – coconuts and dates – and also symbolises paradise.
	Sauces or spreads Represents mixing or stirring. It suggests blending in flavours and adding taste.		Bowl A bowl of delicious-smelling food. It can also represent a ready meal, hot drink or soup.
	Spoon A symbol of nutrition, tasting and cooking.		Spice & flavours Represents chilli or fresh ingredients.
	Fish Represents food, sea or fresh water.		Sparkle Clean, healthy and sparkling with energy.
	Bird A symbol of freedom. It suggests a relief from daily chores, and getting more out of life.		Tea A plant or an extract of a plant, such as tea. Also a symbol of growing and farming.
	Lips Represent beauty, looking good and taste.		Ice cream A treat, pleasure and enjoyment.
	Recycle Part of our commitment to sustainability.		Particles A reference to science, bubbles and fizz.
	Frozen The plant is a symbol of freshness, the snowflake represents freezing. A transformational symbol.		Container Symbolises packaging - a pot of cream associated with personal care.
	Heart A symbol of love, care and health.		Clothes Represent fresh laundry and looking good.
	Wave Symbolises cleanliness, freshness and vigour. Liquid A reference to clean water and purity