A recurring theme often reappears when major sports events like
the Olympic Games or the FIFA World Cup are about to be held: how
can sponsors, agencies and organizers fight the so-called ambush
marketing that plagues the advertising world?
While some companies invest very large sums to become an
official sponsor of the event, others find creative unauthorized
ways to, directly or indirectly, associate their trademarks, trade
dress and distinctive signs to the competition, so as to obtain
undue advantages or fake a connection to the event without paying
any sponsorship fees.
If we delve into past occurrences, we will find that ambush
marketing is more common than many imagine. Two major factors lead
companies to practice it: (i) increased costs of sponsorship
rights; and (ii) the inability to participate when the option to
sponsor the event has already been given to a competing
company.
