Ambush Marketing Revisited

Abstract

Corporate sponso~ship of events has become a multi-bil- lion War promotional enteqnise. Some companies have sought methods of gaining the benefits of official spansorship while subvdng the esca- lating s m h i p fees charged by most major events. This approach has come to be known as ambush marketing. One event that is a traditional target for ambushers is the Olympic Games. Ambush marketers have found that by purchasing large amounts of advertising during these events they enjoy as much (or more) brand awareness as official sponsors incur- ring much greater costs. The results of this experimental study shed light on existing sponsorship questions, partic+rly ambush marketing in the Olympic context. Among the key finbgs are that coIlsumers seem unable to distinguish between official and ambush sponciors. This confu- sion has implications in terms of attibdinal measures, as study data indicate that sponsors rarely gain oompetitive advantage here, either. Measures of purchase intention also indicate that ambushers consistently do as well, or ktlw, than official sponsors.