Ambush marketing

1. CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
FILMA VARGHESE
TRADE MARK DEPARTMENT

2. CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
INTRODUCTION
• Ambush marketing is a marketing strategy where in the advertisers
associates themself with and therefore capitalize on a particular event
without paying any sponsorship fee.
• The word "ambush" as used in the expression ambush marketing, means
"an attack from a hidden position” and is derived from the old French
verb embuschier, having the meaning "to place in a wood”. The term
"ambush marketing" was coined by the famous marketing strategist Jerry
Welsh, while he was working as the manager of global marketing efforts
for the American Express Company in the 1980s.
• The Ambush Marketing is believed to date back to the 1984 Olympic
Games where Fuji was the official sponsor of the Games. Its main
competitor, Kodak, used a clever ambush tactic in becoming the sponsor
for the television broadcasting of the Games. Fuji evened the score by
ambushing Kodak at the next Olympic Games in sponsoring the US
swimming team, while Kodak was the official sponsor of the Games.

3. CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
WHAT IS SPONSORSHIP?
• Support an event, person, by the organization financially
or through the provisions of products or services.
• The main purpose of sponsorship is to increase public
recognition and if possible allow some facilities to the
sponsors for direct advertisements.
• In exchange for the sponsorship fees, official sponsors
typically get exclusive rights to certain advertising
opportunities such as banners on the race course, naming
rights to tournaments or event locations, being the
official provider of a team’s uniform or shoes,
merchandise tie-ins, and VIP tickets.
• The sponsor expects a return in terms of publicity.

4. CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
WHAT IS AMBUSH MARKETING?
Marketing and promotional activities
• Seek an association with a sponsored event
• Without the authorization or consent of the organizer of the event or sponsor
• Without paying the requisite fee
• More Business
• Less Capital invested with high returns
• To misappropriate or capitalize on the goodwill and popularity of the sponsored event
• Intentionally confuse the public into thinking that the ambush marketer is the official
sponsor of the event.
• To deflect some attention away from the competing sponsors
• Reduces the intended effectiveness
• The official sponsor who has paid for a heavy amount for the event loses its
identification
• Impact negativity on sponsorship rights
• It is the biggest bugbear for official sponsors at sporting event whose outlay often
runs into tens of millions of dollars.
• Sponsors seek some guarantee from the organizer of the event that offenders will be
pursued (in the sponsorship agreement)

5. CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
SOME OF THE EXAMPLES OF AMBUSH
MARKETING
1. Examples of ambush marketing include: advertising on billboards that are
near the sporting event, for example, outside a stadium or along a marathon
route; flying airborne banners; handing out freebies such as t-shirts, flags or
caps near the event so that those inside a stadium are wearing or waving the
logos of an ambush marketer; creating ads that refer to the sporting event,
usually in generic terms to avoid liability for trademark infringement;
sponsoring individual players at sporting events so that they wear the
ambush marketer’s logo; sponsoring a news conference where team players
are invited to speak.
2. In the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games where Converse was an official
sponsor, Nike built huge murals near the Los Angeles Coliseum displaying the
Nike logo and several athletes were wearing Nike sporting clothes.
3. Reebok was one of the official sponsors of the Barcelona Olympic Games in
1992. When the US basketball Dream Team went up to the podium to receive
their gold medal, two of its most famous players, Michael Jordan and Charles
Barkley, who had lucrative sponsor contracts with Nike covered the Reebok
logo of their tracksuits with the US flag.

6. CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
CONTINUED….
4. In the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games, Reebok was also an
official sponsor. They were not pleased when at a press
conference the British 100 meters runner Linford Christie
appeared wearing blue contact lenses with the highly
recognizable Puma logo in white in the centre of the each
lens. The Puma logo lens received worldwide coverage and
was front page of the most international newspapers.
5. In recent times the nation has been a witness to hoarding
ambush advertisements. Jet airways came up with an ad
campaign saying “we’ve changed”. To ambush the campaign
kingfisher airlines came up with “we made them change”
which was further ambushed by go airways saying “we’ve
not changed. We are still the smartest way to fly”. The
hoardings in this case were placed in the city of Mumbai in
a vertical sequence. The campaigns proved to be a funny
sight to the city when the opportunity was exploited by
Indian railways intending to put down the entire airline
industry itself when they said “we will never change”. The
campaign was put to an end by the Mumbai bus service
BEST who put the last hoarding above all which said “Ab
bus karo, warna plane hoarding se crash ho jayega”

7. CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
TYPES OF AMBUSH MARKETING
Direct Ambush Marketing
It takes place in the situation, when non-sponsor gives an impression of being an
official sponsor by using words, players and logo associated with the events.
Indirect Ambush Marketing
There are several ways in which indirect ambush marketing takes place, for example by
sponsoring the broadcast of an event or by sponsoring the subcategories of a major
event.
Incidental Ambush Marketing
This comes into picture when the market communications of a company lead to such
incidental ambushing of the official sponsors. It may be done in two ways:
– Unintentional ambushing: This is when the consumers incorrectly identify a non-
sponsoring company as an official sponsor due to its previous association or due
expectation of association with the event.
– Saturation "ambushing: "Saturation ambushers" increase their broadcast-media
advertising and marketing at the time of an event but make no reference to the
event itself and avoid any associative imagery or suggestion. A strategic increase
in the marketing communication of a product through aggressive marketing in
order to maximize the advertisement during the event by maximizing available
advertising before, during and after the event.

8. CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
STRATEGIES FOR AMBUSH
MARKETING
Predatory Ambushing - The sale of products at event is a useful and high profile
way for certain type of potential sponsors (soft drink and fast food suppliers) to
raise their profile in association with a sport and also to sell their products.
Corporate Hospitality and Ticketing - This method consist of buying of tickets
for event and offering hospitality and touring packages, which are not being
sanctioned by the right owners.
Engage in Major Non-sponsorship Promotions to coincide with the event - For
example, organize contests to send consumers to the vent, place hoardings or
booths at strategic locations during the event etc.
Sponsor Subcategories within the Major Event - This is very widespread and
cost-effective method of association with an event of major public interest.
Essentially, the ambusher sponsor some lesser element attached to overall event
and exploits this association through major promotional effort.
Purchasing Advertisement time during the broadcast replay - A company wishing
to deny a competitor the full benefits of their event or broadcast sponsorship can
engage in ambush marketing by buying advertising time in the slots of around
repeat telecast of event.

9. CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
WHERE DOES AMBUSH MARKETING
LEGALLY STAND?
Organization committees had to find ways to fill various legal gaps by both
forcing governments to legislate special provisions, and developing sponsorship
agreements, for the purpose of preventing ambushers. However, non-sponsors
refused to be outsmarted, and kept finding ways of ambushing their
competitors, despite special legal provisions that were put into place for the
Atlanta Olympic Games (1996), Sydney Olympic Games (2000), Beijing Olympic
Games (2008) and South Africa World Cup (2010). Contracting with the
athletes, sponsoring the press conference room, using helicopters or planes to
fly banners over the event arenas, giving away free products to spectators of the
event, or tattooing the logo or brand on athletes during the course of games,
shaving brands or logos onto the back of players' heads are some other creative
ambush tactics.
While some tactics may be considered as infringements of event organizers' or
official sponsors' IP rights, it may not be possible to pass judgment on all
ambush marketing attempts as being illegal. The ambushers mostly find a
creative way to use unprotected generic words or images that may be associated
with a particular sports event, navigating through legal gaps.

10. CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
CONTINUED….
Ambush Marketing is still being considered under the domestic trademark or
unfair competition laws in most countries. From a legal point of view, ambush
marketing is a controversial and infrequently litigated issue, and there is no
internationally recognized law in this area. For instance, in the US, where
ambush marketing is commonplace, this practice does not habitually attract
trademark infringement cases. Any such claim is unlikely to be successful under
trademark infringement rights, as ambushers create and use their own marks
and names associated with themselves. The more likely legal recourse would be
under the passing-off, false advertising or breach of contract. In another leading
jurisdiction, the UK, there is no specific legislation per se for ambush marketing
claims. The protection may be exercised through the British Code of Advertising
and Sales Promotion against advertisements that do not comply with the Code.
Some arrangements were made to tackle this issue, but they were all event-
specific, such as the Sydney 2000 (Indicia and images) Protection Act (1996) and
the Olympic Arrangement Act in Australia, and the Olympic Symbol (Protection)
Act (1995) in the UK. Uncertainty in establishing ambush marketing for filing
claims is a fundamental challenge for seeking a legal remedy.

11. CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
SHOULD WE LEGISLATE ON AMBUSH
MARKETING?
• As far as India is concerned, it is on the threshold of hosting major
international sports event, there will be calls for official event sponsorship to
receive special legal protection.
• The second aspect worth mentioning is that the fixation of the determining
point is quite difficult. It so happens that sometimes a parody or spoof in
most of the cases becomes difficult to prove that it is illegal or a copyright
infringement, as most often it is protected as free speech and a form of
permissible cultural criticism
• Certain cases ambush marketing has a creative and innovative element to it
and should therefore be promoted rather than prohibited. Bringing ambush
marketing under legal umbrella shall limit freedom and will have negative
social consequences.
• Existing laws in India do not provide the ambushed entity or the event
organizer a ready remedy. Trademark law, nor the tort of “passing off” can
be used effectively by an alleged victim of an ambush marketing campaign.

12. CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
It is impossible to completely stop ambush marketing
because we can never stop the flow of new, creative and
innovative ideas. Unless there is a proper legislation made
to protect the interests of the official sponsors, it might
be close to impossible to curb the onslaught of ambush
practices.
CONCLUSION

13. CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
THANK YOU