When Sponsorship Marketing Meets Ambush Marketing: Where Does The Olympic Games Go From?

"Ambush marketing" means that non sponsors through various marketing and communication activities, make consumers mistaken that they are sponsors of Olympic Games or other big events.

They confuse the public with the aim of promoting their brand and weakening the sponsorship effect of their competitors.

Ambush marketing is just like a delicious product. As long as it is creative and exquisite, it can also directly attack the taste buds of people, bringing pleasure to the luxury meal, and most importantly, it is very affordable.

So, as a "luxury meal" sponsorship marketing and "flavor boutique" ambush marketing, how should enterprises choose?

utilize

The tremendous influence of every brand will enhance its brand awareness and reputation.

According to a survey conducted by Ipsos, the world's leading research group, the latest sponsorship effect of the London Olympics shows that the sponsorship status of the Olympic Games has a marked improvement in brand reputation.

Among them, sponsorship marketing has the most significant effect on the brand reputation of Yili and Anta, reaching 24%.

But nothing can escape the law of "two sides".

While enjoying the "luxurious meal" of sponsorship marketing, enterprises must pay a huge amount of sponsorship fee for this purpose.

For example, the threshold for sponsors of the 1984 Losangeles Olympics was only $4 million, and has been soaring since then.

According to reports, the recent sponsorship of Acer, which became the partner of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games and the 2012 London Olympic Games, was more than 70 million dollars.

Moreover, sponsorship marketing is difficult to produce immediate results, and enterprises can not expect huge profits from sponsorship through an Olympic sponsorship.

Therefore, sponsorship marketing often makes enterprises face a huge cost test.

In addition to huge cost pressures, the biggest threat to sponsorship marketing is undoubtedly.

。

Ipsos's Olympic sponsorship marketing research shows that Erie, as an Olympic sponsor, has not been able to compete with the non sponsors' Mengniu in terms of consumer awareness. Erie is likely to face serious challenges from Mengniu ambush marketing.

Moreover, the influence of sponsorship marketing on different types of enterprises is not the same.

Take Olympic marketing as an example, aside from the applicability of the industry, international brands with wide international markets are often more cost-effective than local brands in sports related industries.

For example, the potential earnings of Adidas with global market due to Olympic sponsorship marketing are likely to be greater than that of Lining, the main Chinese market.

At the same time, because of the relatively strong capital, the risk of huge sponsorship investment of the stronger enterprises is also low, and the weaker brands often suffer huge risks.

At the same time, in sponsorship marketing, the traditional brand with strong influence is relatively low risk of being ambushed, while the risk of new sponsorship brand being ambushed is much greater than that of traditional well-known brands.

According to Ipsos, Acer and Anta, as the new sponsors of the London Olympic Games, have relatively low brand influence, and consumers are not very well aware. The risk of being ambushed is also high.

A few years ago, a Chinese local clothing brand that invested heavily in sponsoring Real Madrid China bank was successfully attacked by Adidas.

Although this brand has invested heavily in sponsoring this event, when several of the Real Madrid's stars appeared, people were surprised to see their "Adidas" stamped on their chest.

It seems that small brands must plan carefully and act cautiously when considering big sponsorship. Otherwise, the carelessness of a big brand will inevitably result.

High costs, slow returns, certain brand limitations and risks - it seems tempting "luxury meal" is not that easy to eat.

But after all, the "big meal" is a "big meal". With the tremendous influence of event brand, especially the Olympic brand, as long as the planning is thorough and comprehensive, and try to try new ways of innovation, the "big meal" of Olympic sponsorship marketing will still bring huge, unique and irreplaceable value experience to the enterprise.

Many successful cases of sponsorship brands have proved that the huge investment in sponsorship marketing is indeed worth the money.

Setting up their own brand identities, simulating and creating related events, interception of live television, sponsoring players or host clothes are all common means of ambush marketing.

For example, in 1996, Nike did not win the sponsorship of the Atlanta Olympic Games. Through the way of "sponsoring the audience" (for example, the ropes with Nike logo issued on the spot), many people thought it was a sponsor, and the limelight was far from the real sponsor.

Beijing Olympic Games, Lining did not receive the sponsor qualification, but Lining's "flying sky" ignition and TV presenters to provide clothing, so that many people mistakenly believe that Lining is the Olympic sponsorship brand, not only greatly enhance its brand influence, but also make the investment of competitors fall pale.

Apart from the lack of sponsorship and the need to fight against competitors, it is obvious that no need to pay huge sponsorship fees and low input costs is another important reason for the choice of ambush marketing regardless of the size of the brand.

Although the cost of investment is low, its earnings are no less than or even far exceeding that of sponsorship brands, for example, the cases mentioned above mentioned by Nike and Lining. There are many similar success stories.

Even if the direct benefit is not expected, the brand will still achieve the purpose of confusing and weakening the sponsorship effect of the competitors. And the surge in the number of media and the addition of various new media forms will make the Olympic media environment noisy and more convenient for the "misleading" operation of ambush marketing.

{page_break}

At first glance, ambush marketing is indeed "cost-effective", but it is not a profitable business. If there is a slight loss and improper operation, it will often lead to a "sneak attack".

First of all, moral problems are unavoidable problems for ambush marketers.

"Ambush" marketers who have no special purchasing power can get a lot less than or even spend more money than a large number of sponsors. They will no doubt be condemned by events or event organizers and sponsors.

But this is not the most serious.

When "ambush" marketers are too motivated to infringe on others for their own interests, their brand image and brand preference will undoubtedly be greatly reduced.

In addition, its brand reputation and influence are not high, so it is hard to avoid the impression of "Shanzhai" to "abuse" ambush marketing for personal gain.

Therefore, when running ambush marketing, we must first establish moral standards and bottom line, identify what things should be done and what should not be done. We should try our best to publicize our brand as much as possible in the light of the Olympic opportunity and the purpose of serving the public at the same time, taking into account the interests of the sponsors, sponsors and the public.

This puts forward high requirements for brand marketing innovation ability.

As Inamori Kazuo, the Japanese God of management, has stressed, "altruism" is the long-term and ultimate way for the successful operation of an enterprise, and so is brand building.

Secondly, the organizers and sponsors suppress the ambush marketing by various means, such as making clear and improving the sponsorship rules, increasing the strength of sponsorship's public relations, expanding the scope of media cooperation to raise the cost of ambush marketing, and so on. The pressure of ambush marketing is gradually increasing.

The above is a simple analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of sponsorship marketing and ambush marketing. Then how can enterprises choose whether to choose "luxury meal" or "flavor boutique"? If you often go to a luxury restaurant, it is both famous and rich, so it is no doubt that you choose "luxurious meal".

If you are famous and rich, but you are not lucky enough to receive an invitation from a luxury restaurant, it is also advisable to try "flavor boutique". It is very likely that "flavor" will bring you more pleasant surprises.

If you are more comfortable at hand, but rarely experience "luxury meal" at any time, it is not impossible to experience it. But be considerate and do your homework beforehand. Perhaps a luxurious experience can make you famous.

If you are neither well-off nor nameless or even "rural", then do not choose the "luxury meal" as a good thing, otherwise it will not taste anything, it will be a laughing stock, and it will also make yourself more financially strapped.

In this case, "flavor boutique" is a more realistic and affordable option.

In fact, whether it is sponsorship marketing or so-called ambush marketing, it is nothing more than a syllable in the marketing movement of an enterprise. If it works properly, a syllable can really play a role in finishing the melody of the movement, but it is not realistic to expect it to turn the business and brand image immediately.

No accumulation, no progress.

Brand building is not completed overnight. Only solid and patient management is the ultimate way to success.