Know-How Exchange : Advertising/PR

Randall's example is good (though I think the spokesman's name is Jarrod). I saw a recent Subway ad on TV where Jarrod starts by showing a Big Mac and talks about the 33 grams of fat in it, then show their sandwich and talk about how it only has 10 grams of fat. Negative ads can definitely be effective, though not in all cases.

This is a strategy usually done by smaller players. The largest player doesn't want to talk about a competitor, because that could actually help the compeitor (if the big guys says something that shows the small guys are a threat, then the consumers might actually think the small guys are an alternative). The big guys usually work by trying to grow the overall market or use non specific methods to get people to buy their product instead of the alternatives.

The small guys, though, need to break into the market and can do this most easily by taking business from the big guy. Direct comparisons are one way to do this.

Negative ads (where you say negative things about a competitor) do have additional scrutiny by the FTC in the U.S. You generally need to be able to prove whatever you are saying about the competitor.

Hi Kevin,

It’s good to hear from you again. Of course you are talking about FUD. It’s a great strategy for the right situation – here’s some info:


"FUD", for short.
The term "Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt" was apparently coined by GeneAmdahl who supposedly used it when describing a tactic used by the InternationalBusinessMachines salesforce to cause potential customers of Gene's new company, AmdahlCorporation?, to think again about buying products from any company but IBM.
More generally: 1. The tendency of human beings to let negative emotions such as fear, uncertainty, and doubt constrain their choices and decisions, which might otherwise be based on a more rational or pragmatic basis. 2. A marketing strategy to get consumers to choose a particular brand (or, more often, pass up a competing brand), or purchase a good or service they might not actually need, using the emotional factors discussed in definition 1.

Source: https://c2.com/cgi/wiki?FearUncertaintyAndDoubt


OR

Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt (FUD)

The term, which stands for fear, uncertainty and doubt, was originally coined in the 1970s in reference to IBM's marketing technique of spreading rumors about a competitor's new product to dissuade customers from taking a "risk" by buying it. FUD relies on emotion—not reason—to make a sale (or prevent one). In the security department it takes the form of scare tactics used to persuade adaptation of certain practices or acquire funding.
Source: https://www.csoonline.com/glossary/term.cfm?ID=1223


https://members.hellug.gr/vyruss/computing/FUD_essay.html

https://www.marketingprofs.com/3/barnes6.asp

hope this helps,

- Steve

Like it or not, negative motivators indeed work: I found it easier to convince managers of my proposed approach if I pointed to what they could loose, instead of what they could win. Likewise, consumers have a general inertia, making them stick to current solutions unless it is necessary for them to change.

This is the reason why current market leaders, faced with a new challenger, are often better off not reacting by e.g. price reductions - this tips off the consumer that it may be worthwhile to check out the challenger, but by playing off the general fear of switching. Cable companies are doing just that with 'testimonials' by consumers that switched to dish and regret it.

However, you can overdo it and turn people off so that they either switch over (I recently switched to dish partly because I was tired of my cable company running such annoying negative ads 5 times an hour) or do not buy in the category at all - which appears to happening in politics as well.

Personally, I like FUD, but have yet to find ,think of, or witness a classy example.

There is a definate danger of alienating your audience because they like "Brand X" too, OR because they may view you as arrogant.

Private sales meetings/presentations offer a no-holds barred playing field where you can really blast the competition. But to do so in a very public manner without looking like an ass is quite the challenge.

Even the recent Subway commercials with Jarrod comparing a footlong sub to McDonald's new chicken tenders makes me want to go to McDonald's out of spite! Actually, more than spite, I am curious about the chicken strips because I didn't know McDonald's had a new line of chicken... and now I do, thanks to Subway. It's free advertising for the competitor. I have to try the chicken to see if I like it better than Subway...I'm not taking Jarrod's word for it!

Like the others mentioned above, one is better off spending their dollars and sense towards enhancing focus on their product, rather than advertise for the other guy at the same time.