SNEAK PEAK INTO THE WORLD OF

AMBUSH MARKETING

The War of Fruit Juices

When the summer season arrives, it brings with it scorching heat across India.
And this is the time when the cola brands wake up and fight for their market
share. The cola wars have given way to the war of juices, because consumers
are now more health conscious and prefer healthy options.

ITC is a relatively new entrant entering the segment in 2015 when it acquired B
Natural. The category is led by Dabur at 55.4 % with its Real brand followed by
PepsiCo’s Tropicana.

ITC came out with a classical ambush marketing campaign with direct
reference to PepsiCo India’s Tropicana and Dabur’s Real advertising in national
dailies, digital and social media. A trendy hashtag by the name
#SayNoToConcentrate was started to promote the product.
Without any delay, Dabur & PepsiCo India responded strongly and this led to a
furious juice war on Twitter.

In lieu of this agitation, Tropicana created a new hashtag of its own

#ConcentrateOnTheFacts to drive consumer awareness, that there isn’t any
proven nutritional difference between concentrates & non-concentrates.

A legal action was initiated by PepsiCo India against ITC in the Delhi High
Court.
(Source: www.brandsfun.com)

That was a lot to digest. This was an example of Ambush Marketing.

Ambush Marketing
Marketing that breaks all stereotypical notions of 4P’s, the Marketing Mix. It
can also be defined as an attack from a different position, branching out into a
new arena of marketing where there is publicity without actually paying for it.
It involves a subtle form of confusing or misleading the public about the actual
sponsors.

Aren’t we all attracted to things which we get free of cost? Is it morally right to
divide some perks without actually working for them monetarily? Is it even fair
or is it even justified?
FAMOUS CASES OF AMBUSH MARKETING WORLD WIDE –
PayPal vs WePay, Burger King – Clown Ad, Fuji and Kodak, Vodafone vs Jio –
IPL 2017

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(Source: www.adweek.com)

THE DEBATE

“Everybody wins and gets free media attention.”

One says it’s a parasite that devalues both brand and official sponsors. While
others say that, it is kind of creative opportunism that fuels interest in people.
The consumers, distributors, media persons, everybody gets a piece of cake. In
the end, it’s about who gets the higher stake! And for the good part, the brands
involved become the talk of the town. But some people debate it on being
unethical and immoral.

CONCLUSION

Ambush Marketing is viewed differently by different people. Some believe it is a

zero-sum game and others say it is a victory in itself. It is either attracting
attention or snatching, or increasing sales and revenues. We can keep debating
if the thief is a kleptomaniac or genuinely poor, he tends to free ride on the
wealthy because they leave some loopholes or because they have paid him (the
rival brand), is totally a personal judgement.

Be prepared for more wars in future, Ambush Marketing is here to stay.

Submitted By:

Team Name: The Impacteers

Ashi Bhargava – e-Biz 2

Bulbul Singh – e-Biz 2

Saloni Agarwal – e-Biz 2