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Essay Instructions: 1) Paper Topic. This is the problem statement or the specific area to be investigated.
Ambush Marketing: Should Tough Rules be introduced to Protect Sports Sponsors?
2) Introduction to the Topic. Explain the reason you are investigating this area for your paper and summarize what the research says about this area. For example, is there conflicting research?
Every year companies take away the spot light of an official sponsors at huge world events like the Olympics, World Cup Soccer and in South Africa Cricket. Many of these countries participate in a free-market, but is it fair for rival companies to take the spotlight in these events when the other company has paid the big bucks to become the official sponsor? Obviously it is not yet laws allow it to happen. The eventual effect will be the events will have a hard time finding official sponsors. When this happens what will the event do? The big question is should laws be enforced to stop this type of Ambush Marketing? South Africa has said yes. The country has set up criminal offence that may be punishable by jail if convicted of ambush marketing. The South African law prohibits companies from trying to achieve publicity for that trademark and there by derive promotional benefit from the event without the prior authority of the organizer. The South African government goes even further claiming that bringing a product or its promotion to the attention of people interested in a sponsored event but without suggesting or implying any form of sponsorship would fall foul of the law. Should more countries follow South Africa?s lead? If not, why not? How will these ambush marketing laws help South Africa in being able to host many of the world events? How will it hurt the country? These questions and others will be answered throughout the paper.
3) Brief Outline. The outline should include an explanation or plan of how you intend to organize your paper.
I. Introduction
a. Research Problem statement
i. Ambush Marketing: Should Tough Rules be introduced to Protect Sports Sponsors?
b. Example of Introduction Paragraph
i. Every year companies take away the spot light of an official sponsors at huge world events like the Olympics, World Cup Soccer and in South Africa Cricket. Many of these countries participate in a free-market, but is it fair for rival companies to take the spotlight in these events when the other company has paid the big bucks to become the official sponsor? Obviously it is not yet laws allow it to happen. The eventual effect will be the events will have a hard time finding official sponsors. When this happens what will the event do? The big question is should laws be enforced to stop this type of Ambush Marketing? South Africa has said yes. The country has set up criminal offence that may be punishable by jail if convicted of ambush marketing. The South African law prohibits companies from trying to achieve publicity for that trademark and there by derive promotional benefit from the event without the prior authority of the organizer. The South African government goes even further claiming that bringing a product or its promotion to the attention of people interested in a sponsored event but without suggesting or implying any form of sponsorship would fall foul of the law. Should more countries follow South Africa?s lead? If not, why not? How will these ambush marketing laws help South Africa in being able to host many of the world events? How will it hurt the country? These questions and others will be answered throughout the paper.
c. Statement about what Ambush Marketing is.
d. Quick overview of 4 categories to be covered in the paper:
i. What Ambush Marketing is and examples of it.
ii. Ambush marketing Problems
iii. The Rules South Africa Has Set up to stop Ambush Marketing
e. Brief statement about how I feel about the future of world events if ambush marketing is not stopped.
II. Literature Review (Go in Depth of the 3 categories)
a. Terms to be defined
i. There will obviously need to be a lot of terms defined. I will first have to define what Ambush Marketing is
a. Ambush Marketing - the unauthorized association of an organization with the marketing of a particular event whereby they gain benefit of the marketing rights of that event without having to pay the license fee applicable in order to be associated with the event
b. Free Market
c. Parasitic Marketing
d. Smart Marketing
e. Other Terms
b. Examples of Ambush Marketing
i. Find Examples of Ambush Marketing
1. Many Olympic Events
a. How it occurs
b. Mainly by athletes having other sponsors rather then the event sponsor. By doing this the athlete advertises for the product they are being sponsored for and therefore that company has received recognition and has not paid the millions that the official sponsor had.
i. Example of this is Linford Christie of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. She was a British sprinter and wore blue contacted lenses with the logo of sportswear group PUMA in the center, this obviously annoyed Reebok who was the official sponsor
ii. There are many other Olympic examples
c. Problems of having other sponsor who official claim that they are not the official sponsor. For example American Express ran many advertisements as the unofficial Olympic sponsor, which upset MasterCard who was the official sponsor.
d. At the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympics, Norway, Visa paid approximately US $40 million as official sponsor. However, a survey, showed it was American Express that had 52 % brand recall thanks to its slogan: 'If you are traveling to Lillehammer you will need a passport, but you don't need a Visa'.
2. World Cricket Events
3. World Soccer Events
c. Ambush Marketing Problems
i. Unfair to official sponsors
ii. Will stop companies from becoming official sponsors because of cost and not enough recognition
d. The Rules South Africa Has Set up to stop Ambush Marketing
i. Describe the rules that the country has instated.
1. Criminal
2. Jail Time
ii. Is this Unfair
1. Does it violate free trade laws?
iii. Impact it will have
1. Make Official sponsors lobby for events to be in countries like South Africa who have strict ambush Marketing rules
2. Opposite is many governing bodies will oppose to events being held in countries that do not have tough rules against Ambush Marketing
3. Will hurt the country in the economy as a whole
a. More trouble having to find sponsors for
i. Individual athletes
ii. Countries
iii. Teams
III. Summary and Conclusion
a. Summarize all the findings in the literature review
b. What the future holds for World Events
i. I believe that more countries will follow laws set up by South Africa and Ambush Marketing will not be as big a problem
ii. If this does not happen I see world events having a tough time finding corporate sponsors
iii. If rules are put into place it will become more difficult for individual athletes and teams to find sponsors.
IV. References
4) Sources. Describe where you will look for information relating to your topic.
V. References
a. List References used
i. Secondary sources
1. To Define terms
ii. Primary sources