Monday, August 06, 2012

Brands 'Hijacking' The Olympics

A few months ago I did a post giving some examples of brand ads from official Olympic sponsors.

Now, just over a week in, here are a few from brands who are not officially associated with London 2012, but who are still trying to associate themselves in the public's minds with it.  Incidentally I don't mean anything legal by 'Hijacking', it's just that in the perception of many they are using guerilla marketing to ambush or associate themselves with the event and the coverage.

Nike

The most obvious example, trading on the 'no, not *that* London' idea



Also, this one.  Again, a different London:



Paddy Power

Also talking about a different place called London


Oddbins

Talking about a celebration, and how they can't be any more specific


"It offered a 30% discount to anyone who visits its stores with products from non-Olympic sponsors.
To qualify, customers need to visit one of Oddbins' 35 branches wearing Nike trainers and have in their pocket a set of Vauxhall car keys, an RBS MasterCard, an iPhone, a bill from British Gas and a receipt for a Pepsi bought at KFC."

Strongbow

Trading on a certain sprinter's 'archer' victory stance



Specsavers

Trading on the Olympic flag mix-up in the first day


EastPac

Ad in an email newsletter received by a colleague, and possibly less of a case of a hijack than someone not knowing the law



Beats by Dr Dre

They didn't advertise, but they did give nice headphones to athletes in the hope they'd use them on camera

Google

Google isn't an official partner as far as I know, but they've been doing a series of doodles during the games, some playable, including Hurdles and Basketball

The Guardian

Not exactly a hijack, but they re-created key moments using LEGO bricks


Please let me know about any others in the comments!

Also - here are some other examples of ambush marketing from previous events.

No comments:

Related Posts with Thumbnails