While some people may have issues with ambush marketing, I love it. And, if you don’t know what ambush marketing is, its time to learn…that’s what your here for right? 
So, here’s the skinny. Ambush marketing is defined by Sandler and Shani as “a planned effort (campaign) by an organization to associate themselves indirectly with an event in order to gain at least some of the recognition and benefits that are associated with being an official sponsor”. Simple enough, right? Well, if you are struggling (that definition was kind of tough!), I’ll break it down with this example:
Say you go to a basketball event that is solely sponsored by McDonald’s. In fact, we can use the McDonald’s All-American game. The event, because it is sponsored by McDonald’s, is all-McDonald’s – they have sole rights to the banners, the names, the jerseys, etc. Ambuish marketing would therefore take place when, out of the blue, Burger King’s King enters the building and starts handing out Burger King burgers. Or, it would take place if someone from Wendy’s is outside of the building handing out banners that say ‘Go Team’ but have the Wendy’s logo on said banner. Do you get it? The un-official sponsor has ambushed the official sponsor’s event, and is now getting recognition.
Now, what does this have to do with Nike and the Olympics? Well, if you didn’t know, Nike is NOT an official sponsor of the Olympics. Does that stop them from getting involved? Not in this case. News broke that Nike is planning on sending out tweets, via its Jordan brand, during the Olympics. They will get fans involved in conversations during the Games, while at the same time promoting their Jordan brand. This is genius. I’ve heard of fun examples of ambush marketing, such as the one’s I’ve mentioned above, but this is different. It’s a simple way to get involved with the Olympics; yet, at the same time, they are utilizing social media in a formidable fashion.
The thing is, with those other ambush marketing stories – like those mentioned above – the official sponsors usually get upset! McDonald’s was not happy with the King after that whole episode…But with this, who can blame Nike? They are just following a trend in social media…
So, back to the campaign….In what they are promoting as their #riseabove program, Nike will be encouraging fans to tweet during the Olympic Games (specifically the basketball events). Nike will be using top name NBA stars to start these conversations. They are even planning on having in-tweet competitions. They look at it like this: if you are going to tweet about the Games during the Games, why not do so with top NBA stars, and why not involve one of the biggest brands in the world? In our opinion, this is a great move by Nike…
