Ambush marketing: Olympic ambush

With sponsors paying millions of pounds to become officially linked to major sporting events such as the 2012 Olympic Games, the likelihood of ambush marketing is ever present.

Ambush marketing: Olympic ambush

Tony MeenaghanGraduate School of Business, University College Dublin

Social media offers a new channel for ambush marketing at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, and the organisers can do little to prevent it, it seems.

The prospect of a major sports event fills fans with a sense of anticipation and expectation. For sports and sponsorship marketers, there is the additional sense of anticipation regarding the likelihood of an ambush and the 'cat and mouse' games so often played out at major global sports events. For some third parties, ambush activity has itself become a spectator...

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