The Beijing Olympics is the most heavily sponsored ever. The 12 worldwide Olympic partners, who have paid up to $100 million for their rights, are McDonald's, Lenovo, Kodak, General Electric, Coca-Cola, Samsung, Omega, Visa, Johnson & Johnson, Panasonic, Manulife and Atos Origin.
In addition there are 15 China Olympic Partners, 10 sponsors, 15 exclusive suppliers and 17 suppliers. For beer alone there are three official suppliers: Tsingdao, Budweiser and Yanjing.
And with all these brands battling to associate themselves with the games, a number of other companies are likely to attempt ambush marketing.
The term ambush marketing was coined in the early 1990s by Jerry Walsh, a marketing executive at American Express. Originally intended as a positive concept, it now has negative connotations and is defined as an attempt by a brand to associate itself with an event despite not having paid to be an official sponsor.
Ambush marketing is often split into two kinds: by association, in which a sponsor falsely claims association with an event in an advert; and by intrusion, in which a non-sponsor gives away free branded products for fans to take inside a stadium.
The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG) has been thorough in trying to prevent sponsors losing out through ambush marketing.
On June 3 BOCOG and the China Advertising Association held a press conference in which they made a joint appeal to businesses and individuals "to abide by the lawful and ethical behaviours and to contribute to the spirit of the Olympic Games" by safeguarding the rights of sponsors, not establishing unauthorized links to the Olympics and protecting Olympic marks and IP rights.
But this may not be enough to deter the so-called ambushers, says Ross Parsonage, a consultant with Rouse & Co in Beijing. In one high profile example, Chinese sportswear company Li-Ning had signed a deal with CCTV 5, China's live sports channel, which stated that the presenters will wear Li-Ning clothes or badges for at least a year.
This would have irritated official Olympic sponsor adidas. But Li-Ning has now apparently backed down from enforcing that provision.
Parsonage said that businesses throughout China are mentioning the Olympics in advertising, though this is "patriotic more than ambush marketing".
BOCOG has been prepared to take action against infringers. Parsonage said his firm has been working with Snickers, one of the official suppliers to the Games, to track down rival brands falsely associating themselves with the Olympics.
Investigators found 30 different examples of chocolate makers using different Olympic symbols, which BOCOG then passed on to the local AIC for further action.
While a lot of brands are trying to associate themselves with the Olympics in adverts, ambush marketing by intrusion during the games is less likely to happen.
A good example of intrusive ambush marketing occurred at the last Football World Cup in Germany. Dutch brewer Bavaria gave away orange lederhosen bearing its logo to hundreds of its country's supporters attending the Netherlands' match against the Ivory Coast. Since Budweiser was the official beer, stewards at the match ordered the fans to remove the offending items before letting them in, forcing some supporters to watch the match in their underpants.
But in China foreign businesses might be reluctant to risk a backlash by embarrassing the organizers by falsely claiming association with the Olympics in this manner. In Hong Kong, which is hosting the equestrian events, Stephen Selby, the head of the Intellectual Property Department, has advised people attending the Games not to wear clothes with large advertising messages on them and not to accept free gifts outside the venues.
Some brands will always find away around the rules. Parsonage told Managing IP that Heineken, which is not one of the official beer sponsors, has managed to set up a beer world 500 metres away from sponsor Budweiser's beer tent.
In the long term, the effort to protect the rights of Olympic sponsors may benefit IP owners in China: "Maybe they can use it for raising awareness among the country about the need to respect the IP of others," says Parsonage.
