Ambush marketing is when a company promotes its brand or products by associating them with a sporting event or league without being an official sponsor. It allows companies to gain brand awareness and attention at a lower cost than official sponsors. Examples include Lufthansa printing soccer balls on planes during the 2006 World Cup when it was not an official sponsor. Ambush marketing is difficult to completely prevent due to creativity and new marketing ideas, but harms the value of events and returns for official sponsors.

1. Ambush Marketing
Ambush Means surprise attack or attack from hidden position.
Ambush Marketing is a marketing practice by which a company takes an advantage of event
done by other companies without being an official sponsor of an event and without breaking
any laws. 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.
Ambush marketing refers to companies promoting their brands or products by associating them
with a team, league or event without paying for the privilege.
It is the biggest bugbear for official sponsors at sporting events whose outlay often runs into tens
of millions of dollars.
Example of Ambush Marketing
During World Cup 2011, Mahendra Singh Dhoni was endorsed by Sony Corp and Aircel, which
were not official sponsors of the Cup whereas Reliance Communications, LG, PepsiCo, Reebok,
Hero Honda, Emirates, Yahoo, Castrol, MoneyGram and Hyundai Motors India were official
sponsors of ICC World Cup 2011 that was illegal as per ICC but as per Collage Sports
Management, a firm that handles endorsement deals for several Indian cricketers, said there was
generally a seven-day cooling off period for non-sponsors to take their advertisements off before
the event begins.
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2. Lufthansa Airlines printed a soccer ball on the nose of 40 of its planes. To the casual viewers, it
might have seemed that the airlines were the official sponsor of Soccer World Cup 2006.
However, Emirates was the official airline of the FIFA tournament.
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.
Strategies for Ambush Marketing
 Pourage Agreement
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 consists 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 event, place hoardings or booths
at strategic locations during the event etc.
 Sponsor the Broadcast of Event
The ‘ambusher’ sponsors the broadcast of the event. The benefits of this approach are
obvious when one considers that the media audience for most events is much larger than
the onsite audience. In such an instance, the ‘ambusher’ is seeking a perfectly legitimate
sponsorship opportunity in its own right.
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3.  Sponsor Subcategories within the Major Event
This is a 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.
Benefits of Ambush Marketing
Gain Brand Awareness at low cost and gain high public attention
Skills required for Ambushing Marketing
• New Ideas
• Creativity & Innovation
Conclusion
It is impossible to completely stop ambush marketing because we can never stop the flow of
new, creative and innovative ideas. An event is hit the most with ambush marketing, with it
losing its value followed by the official sponsors who end up getting low returns in relation to
huge amounts which they invest for sponsorship. 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 ambushing practices.
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