Case Studies

Bavarian Beer

The Dutch beer firm Bavaria, ambushed the 2010 world cup as the official beer sponsor was Budweiser. 36 women were allegedly paid by the Bavarian beer firm to strip of their clothes and reveal their orange branded dresses in a match between the Netherlands and Denmark. 

Although they got kicked out, the video went viral in an instant. So without paying millions of dollars to be an official sponsor, Bavaria beer sneakily got their brand into the major event and formed an association and gained awareness – even from the news! The ‘ethics’ of the association is questionable.

Check out the Bavarian Beer Ambush!

Adidas versus. Nike

Nike is the ultimate Gold medal winner for Ambush marketing! 

In this year’s London Olympics 1034 US consumers were surveyed to identity an official Olympic sponsor (TolumaGlobal Omnibus Survey). The survey revealed that, 37% identified Nike as an Olympic sponsor, compared to 24% for real sponsor Adidas.

Nike’s “FindYour Greatness” campaign landed first place on the Viral chart (4.5 million views), while Adidas’ “Take the Stage” campaign took third place with 2.9 million views. I sympathize with Adidas as they paid 100 million pounds for EXCLUSIVE marketing rights and to be an Olympic Partner. 

We can see  here what a strong tool social media is for brands to POSITION themselves around a sports event without being an official sponsor. 

Nike used similar tactics to ambush the World Cup two years ago with its "Write the Future" campaign and again stole buzz from Adidas and Nike arguably benefited more than any other brand from the World Cup tournament. 

MichaelJohnson's famous shoes were one of Nike's many attempts to ambush Reebok's 1996 Olympic sponsorship.

It seems like Adidas always settles for second place, BUT will this change, with their Social Media Barricade shoe concept for the Rio 2016 Olympic games?

Adidas is working on concepts with track shoes that have built in LCD which can receive instant twitter updates! 

Social Media = Game Changer!

Check out the Social Media Barricade

  

Subway - The 'Official Training Restaurant' 

We all know that McDonald’s is the official sponsor of the Olympic Games, however this year Subway signed an endorsement with Olympic Athlete Michael Phelps and was therefore labelled an ‘ambusher’. 

Although in the Ad no specific reference to the Olympic Games were made, Subway positioned themselves as the ‘Official Training Restaurant’ and because of the timing of the release debates were sparked and Subway was accused for hitching the McDonald's brand. 

I think the timing of the endorsement was crucial because the ad did suggest a connection to the event. However famous athletes, and sports teams sign endorsements with brands all the time and it’s not a problem. 

 

This raises questions such as when does Ambush marketing become unethical?

What strategy is acceptable what not? 

Is Ambush Marketing just Smart Marketing?