Li Ning Affair and Coke

International Marketing Communications (7SSMM 514): Case 1 / 2

Your name: Pritika Singh

King’s ID: 1656976

Responses to the case questions:

1. As described by Bayless, Ambush Marketing is the purposeful and false association by a company not sponsoring an event toward the end of deriving benefits similar to those afforded official sponsors. In a nutshell it means that a company manages to positively associate itself with an event without spending a huge amount of money on official sponsorship. It’s important because it is becoming increasing common and works positively for the company doing the ambush as studies show consumers have a favourable attitude towards that company. Its importance is paramount for the ambushed company as they need to be prepared for such situations and have contingencies in place for the same. Like most strategies, it’s impossible to have a 100% success rate with Ambush Marketing as sometimes ambush tactics might be considered too aggressive and in your face by the consumers and they might develop a negative image of the company engaging in such ambush marketing.

2. The Li Ning affair took place during the 2008 Beijing Olympics when Li Ning lit the Olympic cauldron after being hoisted 75 feet in the air. This historic moment enabled Li Ning to get unprecedented and free advertising for his athletic apparel company to the extent that 67.4% of Chinese citizens thought that his company was the official sponsor for the Olympics instead of Adidas. While this meant great news for Li Ning’s company, it had an impact on Adidas who spent millions of dollars on getting sponsorship rights and didn’t succeed in being recalled as an official sponsor. Li Ning is a former gymnast who won 6 medals, which includes 3 gold medals during the 1984 Los Angeles Games. This was considered particularly historical as this was China’s first big sortie into the Olympics and for this particular reason he was chosen as the athlete to light the Olympic Cauldron during the 2008 Olympic Games. Under the circumstances, Adidas handled the situation in a commendable manner as instead of filing a lawsuit or reacting overtly in the public eye, they decided to not react and let their other communication strategies besides the sponsorship do the talking. This helped them immensely as they didn’t come across as bullies to a local small company and helped preserve their public image without causing any damages.

3. The Li Ning affair, which is considered one of its kind due to the sheer magnitude of its success has taught marketers some very important lessons when it comes to preparation against ambush marketing. Ambush marketing is unpredictable and can come from anyone, in all probability from the source you don’t even know is a possible competitor. Another lesson is to not rely on official properties like IOC because even if they have your best interests at heart, they might not be able to or be in a place to help you out. The same applies to government bodies, and more so as the government will always place their interests over the interest of any profit making organisation. In both the cases, the lesson to be learnt is that even though they do want to protect you, often the circumstances and ignorance might cause them to not be able to help organisations. Sponsorship includes high stakes and all organisations are now aware of the possibility of an ambush. Hence, companies should always have a contingency plan in place to protect them from ambush tactics. Another hard truth is that customers don’t care if you’ve been victimised by another company as they feel all is fair in the world of advertising; so it would be naïve to expect their sympathy. Overreaction can lead to the company coming across as bullish, leading to further drop in approval ratings. Sponsorship should not be the only weapon in a company’s armour as an effective communication and promotion strategy is what gets it noticed in an event setting as well as being prepared with a defensive strategy to deal with ambush marketing. In conclusion, the above mentioned points are the lessons that marketers should learn and keep in mind from the Li Ning affair.