Ambush Tweet!
“We’re rooting for you @LindseyVonn @Shaun_White @GregBretzz and @Drahlves in the 2010 Winter #Olympics!”
– Red Bull
“Guess what? Team USA is rockin’ out the #Olympic medal count in 1st place with (drumroll, please) 18!”
– Verizon
These seemingly harmless tweets by Red Bull and Verizon are, in fact, quite a problem in the marketing sector for the Winter 2010 Olympics. Because neither Red Bull nor Verizon signed a contract with the Olympic sponsorship committee, any posts or statements made to the public are NOT allowed to incorporate any language that is associated with the Winter Games. This unofficial type of marketing is noted as ambush marketing.
“When people partake in this kind of ambush behavior, it hurts American athletes,” says Lisa Baird, chief marketing officer of the U.S. Olympic Committee.
Lisa Baird
It seems Red Bull and Verizon both understand their actions were not permitted; however, because of the nature of the medium they used, they were able to cover up their intentions with a simple, but defendable argument.
Red Bull argues that “the dynamic and consumer-driven nature” of social media make it tricky to “stay within guidelines as they are defined.” The company says it has not been contacted by the International Olympic Committee or the USOC with any concerns. By Friday morning, its Olympics-related Twitter postings had been deleted.
Verizon says its Twitter postings aren’t part of its marketing, but rather a company effort to post news stories.
A reasonable response to this type of marketing, would be a punishment of some sort. However, the penalties for such marketing are vague. To me, this is completely understandable because it is difficult to create a penalty when the perpetrator uses ignorance and misinterpretation as a defence. The one measure mentioned they are taking, is to educate marketers on the rules. The disappointing fact is that it is hard to believe that this will help at all. Instead, it would clearly outline the rules and regulations a marketing committee must work around to create an effective and defendable ‘ambush’ .
Now with highly developed internet services, the ability to post something and delete it when desired, makes the problem of stopping ambush marketing even greater.
So I wonder...What new measures will be taken, if any?
Source:
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/02/22/red-bull-verizon-tweets-run-afoul-of-olympics-rules/