The European Sponsorship Association launched a new policy document on ambush marketing at its annual Sponsorship Summit held in London on April 3.
The 13-page updated policy paper explores the current sponsorship issues relating to ambush marketing and campaigns that may be developed to take advantage of the staging of major events.
The paper addresses situations where brands have developed and run creative marketing campaigns using the opportunity to push the boundaries and sometimes give the impression that they are an event sponsor, when they are not. The borderline between what is acceptable marketing by non-sponsors, and what is not, is often unclear. The ESA said this issue needs clarity in order to protect rights holders and their contracted sponsors.
The ESA paper seeks to define and ‘group’ ambush marketing into clear cases such as ambush by association, ambush by intrusion and opportunistic ambush.
The paper includes many recent examples to illustrate these three areas, including several from the 2012 London Olympics as well as from other leading global events. It looks at the current legal perspective in relation to ambush marketing, and puts forward the ESA’s views on how ambush marketing should be perceived, particularly as to when and what legal action could be taken against ambushers, or where such action would not be appropriate.
Helen Day, ESA head of European policy, said: “We have been in recent discussions and made presentations regarding ambush marketing to the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris, who are also considering this subject.”
To access the paper, visit the ESA website’s policy and opinion papers section via www.sponsorship.org/content/policy.asp.