Team Sponsorship - Ambush or Not?

Is Team Sponsorship Ambush Marketing?

Global FIFA World Cup sponsorship is a heady proposition, committing you not only to hefty rights fees and almost certainly advertising support of the tournament broadcasts, but more than likely the cost of new marketing campaigns that must be created from the ground up to leverage your sponsorship.

Then you must face the prospect of your top competitors swooping in and sponsoring the individual teams that will play in “your” tournament.

The competitors have the further advantage of being able to pick and choose those teams that geographically represent their best markets.

Does this constitute ambush marketing of your massive World Cup investment?

That depends on your perspective.

The team sponsors will feel that they are doing everything properly and above-board. They obtain official status, then support their sponsorship investment in the usual way.

But when that marketing campaign transcends the themes of team support and links the brand with the sport as a whole – and by implication its biggest tournament – then the World Cup sponsors can be forgiven for throwing around the “ambush” word.

Let’s look at Pepsi’s “Futbol and Pepsi” campaign, running on US broadcasts of the World Cup coverage – and not just during games featuring Team USA, which Pepsi sponsors.

The message is likely to leave consumers at the very least wondering if Pepsi or Coca-Cola, the official World Cup sponsor, is the best soft drink for their favorite sport.

They feature everyone’s favorite soccer superstar, Lionel Messi, who likewise has no connection to Team USA.

Ambush marketing? If you’re Coca-Cola, the answer is probably yes.

Other potential head-to-head clashes are World Cup sponsor adidas vs. Team USA sponsor Nike; the 

World Cup’s Hyundai-Kia vs. Team USA’s Chevrolet; and World Cup’s Sony vs. Team USA’s Panasonic.

Is it worth the investment to double-up, and sponsor both the World Cup and the team in your most important markets? Visa, McDonald’s, Castrol, Continental Tire and Yingli Solar apparently think so.

That’s one way to make sure you get past the elimination rounds.