Ambush Marketing: How Nike and Pepsi Hijacked The World Cup

606 days ago by Willis Wee, in Uncategorized

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Ever wonder who the official sponsors of the World Cup are? If your answer is Nike and Pepsi, it is apparent that you’re under the spell of ambush marketing.

Both Nike and Pepsi aren’t the official sponsors but created campaigns that followed the World Cup’s heartbeat. Nike featured stars in their national team jerseys, while Pepsi’s advertisement brings out an African flavor.

So what’s ambush marketing? It involves running similarly themed campaigns around the time of the event without actually mentioning the event itself. Nike, especially, has shown others how it should be executed (including print ads). The associations hinted in the ad, the timing of its release and most importantly, the “wow” factor that makes it so viral, spreading across the globe are flawlessly executed.

Learn more from adage.

Tags: Advertising, Marketing, Nike, Pepsi, World Cup

About Willis Wee

Founder of Penn Olson who is also an entrepreneur since 2005. He has had experience in crafting social media strategies for organizations such as Marriott Vacation Club, James Cook University, Reach Singapore and Unilever. Contact him at willis[at]penn-olson[dot]com

View all posts by Willis Wee →

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http://www.goldcoastsocialmedia.com Cam Gleeson

This is probably one of the best examples of ambush marketing – you really have to give it to pepsi and nike.

Is it the case though that social media has effectively enabled ambush marketing to become more effective?

Secondly, if such examples of ambush marketing of major events become really effective, then could we see an impact on the amount sponsor companies are prepared to pay?
At some point it must be worth saying for the amount the sponsorship costs we would get a better return by ambush marketing.
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