or creative pranksters, there is no doubt attempts will be made to hijack the official 2012 marketing efforts. 'I don't think we will stop it, or at least I acknowledge very creative things will be done,' Mr Odendaal told the BBC. But why is London so concerned about ambush marketing at this early stage? 'If you cannot guarantee exclusivity to your sponsors their product category then the price will be driven down,' says Mr Odendaal. 1. How do the two world events; Olympic Games and FIFA World cup market their product merchandise? Are their channels the right ones to reach customer? Compare how the two sport organisations could get you to buy their products. Sponsorship and ambush marketing in the Olympic Games The Beijing Olympic Games 2008 had a global audience of 4 billion. The games cost US $43 billion to stage, with venues alone costing US 51.8 billion. Funds, expertise and knowledge were contributed by 63 official sponsors and 12 worldwide partners, while 6,000 official retail products were launched. Agreements for sponsorship are based on the Olympiad or 4-year cyde, but not all sponsorship contracts start and finish at the same time, for instance CocaCola has signed sponsorship deals which run until 2020, while some others are contracted to 2010 and 2012. Sponsorship can consist of official suppliers to the Games, or sponsors recruited for their ability to provide direct support, services or expertise. Sponsorship is sought by both the International Olympic Committee, through their TOP sponsors and official suppliers' programmes, and through Games organising committees. While sponsors receive the rights to using the famous five rings brand, returns on investment are hard to gauge. For the first time in Beijing separate broadcasting rights were sold for television and for new media, Internet and mobile technology. This provided additional revenues to support the 10,708 athletes competing in 31 Olympic venues across seven cities. British Airways provided sponsorship for Team GB by providing flights and services in transport of equipment to Beijing. In exchange they had the benefit of the huge media welcome for the team as it returned to UK soil. The resultant global television and news paper coverage provided a return on investment that would be measured in financial calculation of equivalent hours of exposure through advertising Ambush marketing campaigns are bound to be as big a part of the 2012 Olympics in London as they are around any other major sporting event. And the man tasked with the responsibility of keeping the multi-billion pound sponsors of the event happy candidly admits that the event will be hit by ambush marketing. Ambush marketing is when a firm tries to create unauthorised association between their name or brand and a major sporting event, detracting from the rights of official sponsors of the event. Recent classic ambush campaigns have included branded orange Lederhosen given to Dutch fans by brewer Bavaria to wear at the 2006 World Cup- official beer sponsors Budweiser were not amused. Other firms that have successfully ambushed big events in recent times indude Nike Puma, Benetton, and American Express Ambush marketing is a form of sports marketing, it is on the extreme unauthorised side of the line,' says Dalton Odendaal, senior manager of sponsorship for London 2012. 'It becomes a problem when [a company tries to create an unauthorised association between its name, its brand, and the Olympics. 'It is trying to obtain an ill-gotten association - riding on the back of the event without paying for it. We take it very seriously. We have an obligation to our sponsors to tackle ambush marketing. "Crude attempts So seriously in fact that there are currently three people working full-time as the 2012 brand protection team, and that team will be 'ramped up over the coming four years. Traditionalists may not like it, but the Olympics is a business and it and its sponsorship partners who have paid handsomely for the privilege of association with the games - need to be protected, like any other business. Whether ambush marketers are seen as parasi (14 marks) 1