Ambush marketing is dead ; long live ambush marketing – a re-definition and typology of an increasingly prevalent phenomenon

Ambush marketing is more than thirty years old, and its prevalence continues to grow. Recent cases indicate that brands perpetrating ambushes are becoming more creative, but the literature has failed to keep pace, offering scant analysis of the different forms that ambushing can take and the implications it can have, and little investigation or consideration from the ambusher’s perspective. This study proposes a new definition of ambushing and typology of the three types of ambush marketing strategy: incursion, obtrusion and association. Each type is defined and explored, and the significance and implications for sponsors, event owners and ambushers are examined, providing new insight into the nature and impact of ambushing for industry stakeholders