Media&Marketing Alex GibsonThis week's spat between the GAA and members of the Cork team over the use of a beer company logo on sportswear should be seen in the context of a growing trend by some marketers to rely on the tactics of ambush marketing to get a foothold - literally in this case - in sporting events.
Ironically, it is a sporting goods manufacturer, Nike, that has garnered an international reputation as a master tactician in the black art of ambush marketing. While many have criticised the practice for its alleged lack of fair play and creativity, Nike has shown a flair for the approach, to such an extent that it has become a strategic part of their marketing activity.
As far back as the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, the company sponsored press conferences with the US basketball team, despite Reebok being the games' official sponsor. To rub salt into Reebok's wounds, Nike's iconic brand representative, Michael Jordan, accepted the gold medal with the Reebok logo covered up on his kit.
More recently the company gave Adidas-sponsored runners in the Boston Marathon spray-painted "swooshes" as they came off the course, ostensibly to honour the day of the race but not the race itself.
Gerard Tannam of Islandbridge branding consultants claimed that Nike's unabashed use of such guerrilla marketing strategies was supportive of their brand strategy promoting individual talent and effort.
Tannam argued that for brands such as Nike there is a natural fit between the often unconventional approaches to marketing and the brand position that they wish to communicate.
So is ambush marketing a natural consequence of the rising stakes and cost of entry to event - especially sporting event - sponsorship? Certainly in a narrow sense it is effective, whatever about the ethical dimensions. The publicity garnered for a relatively minor player in the beer market was completely disproportionate to the apparent cost of securing the players' endorsement.
However, if such ambush marketing is opportunistic in its origins, rather than as part of a strategic game plan, it risks undermining the sheer hard work and resources required to strategically position a brand.
Stations lose share
The recently released AC Nielsen figures for television share of viewing figures for the various stations for the first half of 2005 show that RTÉ1 has the highest all-day network share at 25.4 per cent for all individuals, down slightly from 25.6 per cent over the corresponding period in 2004.
However, the station's share of viewing in peak time has increased slightly. TV3 is ranked number two with an all-day share of 12.9 per cent and a peak-time share of 13.4 per cent which are both down on the same period in 2004.
TG4 is the only indigenous terrestrial station to increase its share, up from 3.1 per cent to 3.4 per cent for all individuals/all day.
All in all, most stations have lost some share year-on-year. The most noteworthy year-on-year increase is, in fact, for "other channels", whose share has increased by one-third, up from 12.3 per cent to 16.4 per cent for all individuals/all day viewing.
"Other channels" category mainly consist of satellite and digital channels such as Sky Movies, VH1 and Men & Motors. For 15-34 year olds, the "other channels" all-day share of 18.7 per cent is equal to RTÉ1's.
The audience for these niche stations is evenly drawn from the more mainstream terrestrial and digital stations. While one might expect that these stations would take advertising revenue from existing stations, this is not necessarily the case for Irish advertisers.
There appears to be a more limited case for Irish "opt out" advertising slots for the stations than previously. For "opt out" to be sucessful an entire ad-break needs to be filled, typically with a diverse range of advertisers. As Joe Dalton, marketing director of AFA O'Meara, argues, these niche stations, while offering clear benefits in terms of targeting, are not likely to attract significant selling capacity to justify Irish "opt out" slots.
Post rates survey
The Irish Direct Marketing Association will this week launch an e-marketing campaign to survey Irish business and gather market research from the business community on the proposed postal increase from An Post. The campaign will include a click-through link which will allow businesses to send an e-mail directly to ComReg to lobby for the rate increase not to be granted.
An Post is seeking to increase the price of a stamp from 48 cent to 60 cent. While the company offers a range of discounts for bulk mailings, many in the sector, which is valued at almost €600 million, are concerned that the price increase will retard growth.
Peter Whelehan, managing director of Direct Marketing Campaign Management, pointed out that many clients have databases of less than 2,000 and would therefore not qualify for bulk discounts. He argued that An Post should actually be reducing the cost base for the direct marketing industry and that this would attract a higher volume of business to the sector, particularly in light of the proposed move to the introduction of postal codes.
Hospitality awards
A call for entries has been made for this year's Hospitality and Tourism Sales and Marketing Awards, to take place on October 25th in the Burlington Hotel, Dublin. The Paddy Fitzpatrick Memorial Award will reward the best of young Irish talent in hotel sales and marketing while a lifetime achievement award will be bestowed on an individual who has made a significant contribution to the hospitality industry. New categories this year include festival marketing and sports event marketing. Details from David Shirley on 01-2802641.
Alex Gibson lectures in marketing at the Dublin Institute of Technology. Emmet Oliver is on leave.
