Ambush marketing: capitalizing on mega-events like EURO 2024

A billion-dollar business thanks to advertising and sponsoring

Paris Saint-Germain paid 222 million euros for the transfer of striker Neymar. FC Barcelona is 4 billion euros in debt. And the market value of players in the Premier League totals 11.26 billion euros. Soccer is a billion-dollar business. And not just at a professional club level: this summer, UEFA is holding the European soccer championships in Germany, with revenue expected to reach a whopping 2.4 billion euros.

A large proportion of this revenue will come from marketing and sponsoring. The sponsoring and licensing contracts for such tournaments are fiercely contested, making them expensive and leaving marketers asking themselves whether there is another way – a cheaper way.

The answer is: yes, with ambush marketing! Using this method, your company can profit from the buzz surrounding the event, without becoming an official sponsoring partner of EURO 2024. In the following, we tell you how it all works, while making sure you don’t get red-carded for any trademark infringements.

Use the air of excitement to your brand’s advantage

An ambush is a surprise attack. In terms of your marketing, that means you “hijack” major events like EURO 2024 and capitalize on people’s high spirits for the benefit of your brand, without having to enter into an expensive sponsoring contract. So, how does it work? Through skillful marketing – ambush marketing to be precise. This approach is identical to sponsoring because it lets you harness the enormous reach and attention generated by the tournament.

If your company isn’t among the pool of official UEFA sponsors, ambush marketing gives you the opportunity to tap into the special mood of soccer fans anticipating a “summer fairytale”. To score the equalizer against the official sponsors who have been allocated exclusive advertising spaces, you need to demonstrate outstanding creativity and a feel for optimally timing and placing your marketing material. That applies both to OOH and digital campaigns on social media. For example, you could try to establish a link between your brand and the championships in the minds of fans by advertising near public viewing areas. In this context, playing on words related to soccer always hits the mark!

Know the rules and don’t be caught offside

In soccer, referees keep the game fair. In soccer marketing on the other hand, it could be a court judge that blows the whistle on you if you infringe on a trademark. When running an ambush marketing campaign, you therefore need to make sure you don’t overstep the mark and get hit with a fine. With that in mind, the following marketing rule applies: the UEFA’s registered trademarks are reserved for its partners and are only allowed to be used by your company if this has been contractually authorized.

So, to market successfully without getting penalized, you have to give free rein to your imagination. And that’s why ambush marketing campaigns are often more creative than official ones that tend to merely focus on the sponsoring audience.

Hit the back of the net with ambush marketing

Even without using registered trademarks, you can optimally leverage the hype surrounding EURO 2024 as part of your guerrilla advertising. For example, you could make general references to the tournament. But remember: you’re only allowed to merely state the fact that the championships are taking place; what you can’t do is establish a direct link between your brand and the tournament. What you can do, though, is make a general connection between your company and the topic of soccer. That will allow you to directly get in on the action at a meta level because your target group already knows that EURO 2024 is happening. There’s also nothing against you using a nation as an advertising topic.

By incorporating this kind of content, you’ll be able to run your campaign in the media environment of EURO 2024 – in the form of commercials, public viewing events, or brand ambassadors and influencers from the soccer scene.

Now’s the time to kick off your ambush marketing

Ambush marketing is your chance to get a slice of the EURO 2024 buzz. This opportunity doesn’t come around often – German companies have had to wait 18 years for another major soccer tournament to be held on home soil since the “summer fairytale” of EURO 2006. Fans can now finally look forward to watching a hard-fought competition – one where you can also go head-to-head with your opponents who may be hoping to profit from the tournament as official sponsors. Rise to the challenge and remember: although you don’t have access to the official advertising spaces or licenses, you can outsmart your competitors at a much lower expense simply by being more creative.