Ambush Marketing in the Tech Industry
Photo: IsmailD (Flickr) – a nice ambush example by a coffee company
The Economist included a short article this week on the rising frequency of ambush marketing particularly in sport marketing:
Wikipedia: Ambush marketing is the name given by an event proprietor to any marketing campaign which takes place around the event but does not involve payment of a sponsorship fee to the event.
The ethics of the tactic are debatable, and where you stand on it probably relates to if you’ve driven major formal sponsorships of events or if you’ve been the target. Ethics aside (hah, the easy way out of the debate!), that guerrilla marketer in all of us gets a bit of glee when you read of results like these:
Overzealous enforcement can also result in bad press—as with the orange plastic Lederhosen given out by Bavaria, a Dutch brewery, to Dutch fans before a match at the 2006 football World Cup. Officials asked fans to remove the offending garments, to placate Budweiser, a rival beer brand that was the tournament’s official sponsor. Many fans ended up watching the match in their underwear, and the resulting fuss generated even more publicity for Bavaria.
A comeuppance for big Bud from the fiesty Dutch brewery, or a low-blow nightmare from a shady competitor. Again, it’s all in the perspective. (An aside, the above example is like a twisted variant on the Streisand Effect)
This got me thinking about examples from the tech industry – while probably not on the sheer scale of crashing a World Cup sponsorship, I’m sure they abound in our slice of the marketing world. An example I witnessed directly that comes to mind from back at the Windows 2000 launch is summed up nicely in this archived press release:
IntraLinux representatives will be handing out free penguin peppermints, stuffed penguins and Linux information.
The main event includes a Celebrity Boxing Match between a Bill Gates look-alike and Penguino, the IntraLinux mascot. Rolleen Myers and other members of the Oakland Raiderettes drill team will also be assisting with the IntraLinux event. Robert Close, a well known opera singer in the San Francisco community will also be performing. Attendees will recognize the IntraLinux participants by their red bow ties and distinctive outfits.
“We in the open source community cannot just sit around and let Microsoft get all the news!” says CEO Randy Stockton
That’s right righteous of Mr. Stockton isn’t it? This one was all in good fun – penguin-costumed people and others handing out information on Linux outside the main launch event for Windows 2000. All sides had a good laugh and no event was really interrupted. I’m looking for better, more daring, and more recent examples of great tech industry ambush marketing though – anything come to mind?
