from the field of marketing Best defense against ambush marketing is a good offense

is for offense. president of Justice Entertainment O In the Group and former executive director event industry, sports of the three special-event venues at the organizations must University of Nevada-Las Vegas, en- be on the offensive courages a proactive strategy as well. to prevent ambush “Articulate what to expect,” so ambush marketers from com- activity will be reported, because every- Linda promising their brand one from ushers to executives knows it Norcross identity and the integ- does not belong at the event. Michael rity of their sponsors’ brands. Pine, formerly with Zuffa LLC, owner Ambush, a form of guerrilla market- of the Ultimate Fighting Champion- ing, is a marketing campaign occur- ship, and now chief sales officer of the ring around a public event, typically a World Triathlon Corp., agrees. “Set the major sporting event, and involves cir- right precedent” by preparing all those cumventing payment of a sponsorship involved to prevent cannibalizing a fee. Many companies pay hundreds of sponsor relationship. thousands, even millions, of dollars to The overriding response in the sports sponsor an event in exchange for exclu- industry is that communication is key. sive advertising rights before a large, From creating a style guide for athletes captive audience. to a pre-event punch list educating the Sports marketing experts Simon key organization players, the more

Chadwick and Nicholas Burton of the GETTY IMAGES information shared, the less likely an Charges of ambush marketing were leveled against Bavaria beer after a group of women at a Centre for the International Business ambusher will successfully infiltrate World Cup match shed the top layer of clothing to reveal the orange mini-dresses. of located at the Coventry Uni- an event. versity Business School in the United team from Netherlands sported orange ports returned. Bavaria entered into a Nikki Hart, assistant counsel for Kingdom, estimate the amount spent lederhosen, which had been provided confidential settlement agreement with the NFL, said the league’s proactive on exclusive sponsorships in 2009 was by Bavaria brewery. Stadium officials FIFA through the end of 2022. approach serves dual purposes: protect- $43.5 billion. That’s billion, with a B. responded by forcing those wearing According to Rob Prazmark, presi- ing the NFL and its sponsors. Because Ambushing occurs when compet- the brightly colored trousers to remove dent of 21 Sports & Entertainment there are so many ways to ambush, ing companies promote their brands them if they wanted to be permitted Marketing Group, a more appropriate “the best defense is an aggressive of- despite another company having paid inside the stadium. Budweiser was the description for ambushing is “parasitic fense.” She added, “The bigger circle a handsome sum to market their brand official World Cup beer. marketing.” Companies that engage in of rights we can carve out, the further as the official, exclusive event sponsor. More recently, during the World this tactic do so in a way that damages back we can [push] ambushers.” Organizations including venue owners, Cup match between Netherlands vs. legitimate properties, negatively affect- In addition to developing and pro- leagues and teams are then left scram- Denmark last June 16, Bavaria was ing their ability to reap the benefits of tecting its rights, bling to come up with an effective de- at it again. During the match, nearly the good will they have worked so hard the NFL considers whether it can terrent in response. 40 Dutch women stripped out of the to create, and in this case, paid large complement its efforts through well- Chadwick submits that many organi- clothes they had worn into the stadium sums to exclusively promote. crafted rules and policies, including zations have trouble appreciating what to reveal bright orange mini-dresses. As one of the founders of The Olym- player conduct rules and ticket-back ambushing means for them because The mini-dresses incorporated the pic Partnership program, Prazmark’s and media credential language, all they are preoccupied with sponsor- color of the Dutch national team, approach for effectively dealing with of which are carefully crafted to best ship sales rather than sponsorship but also bore a small logo identifying ambushers has included a successful protect the rights of the league and its management. Unless organizations Bavaria brand beer. The dresses were PR campaign involving communication sponsors. adopt a proactive strategy for dealing distributed as part of a giveaway cam- with nonsponsors before big events, protection is a critical with ambushers, we will continue to paign with the purchase of an eight- letting them know that the host organi- step in insulating organizations from see more and more unwelcome ambush pack of beer. zations are on the lookout for ambush ambushers. Organizations that stay campaigns and unhappy sponsors as a The choreographed striptease would activity, emphasizing that it hurts one step ahead by proactively shoring result. For example: not have posed such a problem were athletes, teams, sponsors and even the up their trademark rights will be the During the 1996, at the Summer it not for the fact that Budweiser was communities the nonsponsors serve. winners. Otherwise, their bargaining Olympics in Atlanta, British sprinter the official beer of the World Cup. Both Prazmark challenges nonsponsors to power for generating sponsorship reve- Linford Christie wore contact lenses FIFA and Budweiser cried foul. The two do the right thing and focus their mar- nue and the ability to protect their own bearing the Puma logo at a news con- ladies considered ringleaders of the keting efforts elsewhere, rather than brand identities may be irreparably ference held before the 100 meters final. mini-dress campaign were arrested by “denigrating someone’s legitimate in- ambushed. n had paid $40 million to be the Johannesburg police and their pass- terest in supporting an event.” Linda Norcross ([email protected]) official sponsor of the Games. ports were confiscated. Charges against So how can organizations score is a senior associate in the intellectual At the 2006 World Cup, fans of the the ladies were dropped, and their pass- against ambushers? Daren Libonati, property group with Lewis and Roca.

Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal ❘ www.sportsbusinessjournal.com February 28-March 6, 2011 ❘ 1 5