Know-How Exchange : Student Questions

In my view, there are two distinctly different ways to advertise at the competition’s expense:

1. There’s the comparative approach showing your product against “inferior” competitor products like your shipping companies example. Often these ads will use humor at the expense of the competitor(s). Other times ads will simply list feature/benefits favorably comparing their product against product X and product Y. Comparative ads often incorporate a bit of FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) as an emotional hook to the consumer.

2. There’s the positioning approach showing your product’s position relative to the competitor’s products with benefits for the consumer. For example, “Avis is Number Two, We try Harder”. Avis is indirectly stating that Hertz isn’t trying hard enough to earn the consumer’s business and Avis will try harder than Hertz.

Both of these approaches can be highly effective when they strike a chord of truth with the target audience. And as many brands become global brands, it will be much harder to enforce any cultural or legal restrictions on this type of advertising. Afterall, all’s fair in love and war and marketing.

Hope this helps,

- Steve

I am working with a local advertising agency and we have a client who raised exactly this question!

The client is a burger and fries restaurant, but a higher end type place than the know franchises and international chains. This is a mom and pop burger stand that has survived many a burger war since the late 1940's.

This burger place wanted to differentiate themselves from the rest of the pack. They were not adverse to 'challanging' the competiton and known names, but at the same time, they didn't want to come right out and name names.

The campaign began with their 'secret sauce'. "Sure we'll tell you what in our secret sauce, but you'll have to join the witness protection program"

Followed up with: "If the burgers were any fresher, we would have to keep the cows in the back yard".

The strongest they came out with was the catch phrase "Ronald, you want a piece of me?"

"Mushrooms, almost as good as the magic ones"

The differentiation campaign is working, and not once did they really slam or directly comparison advertise to anyone...its all implied. And tastefullly done I might add.

There is the high road, and the low road. I'd rather use my brain, and do the high road, because more people appreciate and remember sophisticated humor. When given the choice, always take the high road. There is enough scummy politicians to bottom feed, so why get down there with them.

Darcy Moen
Customer Loyalty Network

hi jleighton81,

in new zealand it was recently made legal to put other competators brands in to commerial and compare them.

i have not seen any ads like that yet, but they will come (eventually).

Carl Crawford

Darcy's response reminded me of a very clever tagline underneath the Charlie's Hamburgers sign:

"Over two dozen sold."

I think that approach is clever. No mention of McD's, but the comparison is there!