Comparative Advertising: Get Their Attention!

In my last post, I talked about how ALL advertising is comparative. Your audience listens to what you have to say, and compare that to what they know of the competition. Whether you like it or not, you are forced into this comparative position. The best response is to capitalize on it.

You can create a comparative campaign with three degrees of aggressiveness:

• Focus on the things you do well, and the competition doesn't.
  
• Focus on the things mentioned above, but state that the competition doesn't really do these things well, and suggest the audience check out the situation for themselves.
  
• Focus on the things mentioned above, and then state that the competition (which you identify) just doesn't do these things.

Lets evaluate these three approaches one at a time.

Focus on what you do well.

You should use this tactic at a minimum. Remember, the point of advertising is to be remembered. Bland statements like “been in business for 20 years” and “have friendly staff “ won't cut through the clutter. You need to draw attention to what you do that sets you apart.

Certainly, we can all think of examples where a company used a clever line in their ads to become memorable. My only objections to this approach are that:

• This tactic is more likely to work if the company is already well known, and
  
• It usually takes a lot of repetition (which is expensive) to drive this message home.

Consequently, my preference here is to become memorable with your content (what you do) rather than clever messaging (how you say it.) Either way, find a unique message that sets you apart, and hammer away at it.

Focus on what you do well, and state that the competition doesn't.

This is one notch higher on the aggressiveness scale, and has more impact. The general message is the same as above, but it is more direct. It doesn't just imply that the competition doesn't excel in the same way you do, it states that explicitly.

If this difference might not be apparent to your audience, and if you are confident in your position, you can suggest that they (your audience) check out the competition and find out for themselves. Frankly, unless the competitors mount a campaign in response, most of your audience won't follow-up on your suggestion. They will just take your word for it. They will assume you wouldn't make the claim if it wasn't true.

Focus on what you do well, state that the competition doesn't, and mention them by name.

This is only for the strong of heart, and needs to be handled professionally. If you really do things that customers find beneficial, and that the competition doesn't do, mention all of that in your ad.

For example: “We only use dried-cured peperoni on our pizza. Domino's, and Little Ceasar's don't.”
or “Our service department is open all day Saturday to assist you. Bill's Auto and the Auto Haus aren't.”

This is also only advisable for the nimble of foot, for the competition may respond in attack mode with their own ads, or they may just modify their practices to match yours. Either way, this ad approach can be very effective, even if it has only a short life-span.

Some advertisers object to this type of ad, because they believe it just gives the competition some free advertising. My opinion, however, is that the audience already knows who your competitors are, and your ads give you a chance to improve your position in the audience's mind.

The take-away here should be that all ads have a comparative element and, in order to be memorable, you shouldn't shy away from using that to your advantage.