Samsung, who has in the past attempted to ambush big sporting events sponsored by rivals, is now attempting to protect its $100 Million investment in the London Olympics in 2012 and the use of its recent signing of David Beckham, a long time promoter of rival phone brand Motorola.The Korean company has asked the organisers of the games “to protect its Olympic sponsorship from ambush marketing” claiming that they expect the organisers to immediately deal with any unauthorised attempts by rivals to advertise during the Games.
Greyhen Kwon, head of worldwide sports marketing, said the South Korean electronics group was spending more than $100m in marketing to underpin its Olympics sponsorship, with around two-thirds of that amount being ploughed into domestic marketing in the UK.
Both Panasonic and Samsung have spent millions in the past sponsoring the Olympic games. However this is the first time that the company has raised the issue of ambush market with the media. In Beijing the issue was discussed internally.
Mr Kwon told the UK Financial Review that Samsung had “a lot of serious concerns” about ambush marketing.
Rivals to official sponsors have in the past used a number of ways to ambush the event through marketing strategies, such as handing out free promotional material to spectators or making an indirect association with the event.
Mr Kwon said: “They, the organisers, have to do something against any ambush marketing they find, that is the issue.
“If it is categorised as ambush marketing, as the local authorities they have to shut down the operations. They have the legal authority and the power.
“We have a high expectation of the London authorities and the organising committee.”
Mr Kwon said he believed London 2012 had the means to protect sponsors from ambush marketing. “The system is OK. The operations are a different thing. We have to see,” he said.
Samsung overnight launched its marketing campaign for 2012, which is built around David Beckham as its global ambassador. Beckham is expected to visit Australia to promote Samsung products.
