Ambush Marketing an Own Goal?

Five days to go and excitement ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ is reaching fever pitch. On billboards, radio and TV there are a multitude of reminders that the world’s biggest single sport competition is about to begin. For all those working in the sponsorship world the issue of ambush marketing has once again raised it’s head. Picture the scene – you’re the head of a major multinational brand who has paid millions of pounds to associate with an event like the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ and you see this ad from Kit-Kat during the half-time interval of the cup final. Have a break? More like a breakdown in this instance. Unfortunately this is the dilemma that sponsorship managers across the globe are increasingly facing as brands become ever cuter in their attempts to circumvent the laws around ambush marketing. Sure deodorant recently launched a neat sweepstake competition where fans could win a money prize based on a tournament taking place in South Africa this summer that is clearly the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ despite the fact that it is never explicitly mentioned.

Defined by the International Olympic Committee as ‘all intentional and unintentional attempts to create a false or unauthorised commercial association’, it was not until the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000 that brands began to get injunctions to help protect their sponsorship asset against guerrilla activities. In today’s sponsorship environment legal contracts prohibiting endorsement are the new norm. However, in some cases this can create a negative perception of an official sponsor who are deemed guilty of adopting a heavy-handed approach. Witness the level of criticism that FIFA faced in 2006 when they stepped in and forced thousands of Netherlands to remove orange lederhosen trousers simply because they were sponsored by Bavaria beer, a rival to Budweiser the ‘official’ beer of the 2006 World FIFA World Cup™.

For sponsors a key question worth considering is whether they want to be associated with a sport or an event? In the context of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ results from one recent survey suggest that the general public are often unclear on who actually are the official sponsors of a tournament. Coca Cola may run a competition whereby fans can win tickets to the big tournament but Pepsi’s elaborate on-pack promotion starring the likes of Torres, Messi and Drogba is equally attention grabbing.

In an ideal world you would have all these things – FIFA World Cup™ assets; superstar players as your ambassadors and prizes that appeal to even the non-football fan. However, budget constraints mean this is often a rarity. So which to choose? They all have their positives, but for the football fan there’s really nothing like being there for the live action and seeing history made....

Eamonn Collins