Event-related advertising and the special case of sponsorship-linked advertising

Corporate sponsorship is a valuable brand-building platform, typically leveraged by advertising and promotion. While advertising often ‘uses news’ to connect to meaningful events, sponsorship contracts create a special category of advertisers that have official rights to event affiliation. In fact, sponsorship-linked marketing creates two special categories of advertiser: those officially linked to the event and those that seek association with the event but have no legitimate link (i.e. ‘ambushers’). We examine the prevalence and nature of sponsorship-linked advertising (SLA) as a leveraging strategy employed by both sponsors and ambushers. SLA includes advertising that communicates a sponsorship link or tie, as well as advertising that demonstrates a theme that links to sponsorship. Two content analytic studies find extensive use of SLA by ambushers and true sponsors. We propose a diagnostic method to identify ambushing attempts. Practical implications for sponsoring brands, potential ambushing brands and policy makers are discussed.