The Art of War: Comparison Marketing

Comparative advertising can be an effective way for new brands to break into markets and for established or tired brands to reposition and regain lost market share. Over one-third of advertising is comparative in nature, while approximately one-quarter of advertising directly identifies or names the competitive brand. (Freeman, 1987)

https://intercom.com/blog/wpcontent/uploads/2016/08/ComparativeMarketingExamples.png

Apple Vs. Microsoft

Coke Vs. Pepsi

Weight Watchers vs. Lean Cuisine

Simply put, comparison marketing is aimed to claim superiority and enhance perceptions by likening or differentiating your product from your competitor’s, achieved either directly or by implication.

And as we are more inclined to remember negative information better than positive, it most definitely works. In University of Pennsylvania’s meta analysis of 77 empirical studies on the effects of comparative advertising, Professor Armstrong found that comparative advertising increased a buyer’s intent to purchase a product by 22% on average.

Apple’s MacBook and Microsoft’s PC are notorious for going head-to-head in comparison advertising. In July 2006, Apple released their “I’m a Mac, and I’m a PC” ad campaign, in which they later accredited to their 39% increase in sales by September that year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48jlm6QSU4k

So where does marketing ethics come into play?

In the changing climate of consumerism, ethical standards are now in the court of the customer and they are becoming more and more critical of the messages at play.

Is the response to negative advertising now no longer so positive?

An example of a comparative advertisement that backfired can best be seen in Sprint’s 2018 Super Bowl commercial. The ad involved robots mocking their creator for using competitor Verizon instead of Sprint – portraying Verizon customers themselves as unintelligent. The commercial instead sparked controversy for its hostile stance and was boycotted by many customers in response.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBx2gmFz1Yg

So how can you benefit from comparative advertising whilst navigating the grey space of ethical marketing?

1. Be accurate with your prices when comparing savings with your specified competitors - the claims must be independent and objective

2. Whilst false advertising claims are unsurprisingly illegal, it is still important to include ALL relevant comparisons so that consumers are not mislead. For example, a comparative advertisement positioned as a marginally cheaper product will create inaccurate product beliefs if its low cost isn’t credited for its significantly reduced functionality of its competitor.

3. Build your brand positively through avoiding direct comparisons that may unfairly disparage specific brand identities and in turn provoke a ‘poking the bear’ rebuttal.

Lastly, it is important to consider the legal sources of liability in comparison advertising campaigns

a. Trademark acts: be aware of using logos, names or pictures that your competitor has registered for trademark. There is generally higher risk for competitor legal action when this trademark is used to highlight product similarities rather than for differentiating the products.

b. Copyright: when ‘work’, such as jingles or slogans, of your competitor are reproduced without consent

c. Tort Law: be aware that your competitor can prove that your comparative advertisement caused intentional interference with economic relations

d. Competition Act: holds you liable against misleading and false claims (i.e. fake review or complaint of competitor’s product)