Growing Popularity of
Comparative Advertising - What it
means to the Customer
In this age of information overload when a
new brand is born almost every day, more and more Companies are looking
for ways to catch the customer’s attention by portraying their brand as a
shade better than that of their competitor’s product. While some
advertisers prefer to only talk about the superiority of their own brand
in their advertising campaigns, others believe in taking a more direct
approach of drawing comparisons with the market leader or the competition brand,
thus positioning their product offering as a shade better.
The aim is to trigger off a shift in the
customer's mindset, thereby converting them into loyal customers and
increasing sales. This is the crux of Comparative
Advertising. Over the years, comparative advertising has
become popular with many marketers and is truly gaining
prominence across almost all product genres.
What is Comparative
Advertising?
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Comparative advertising,
also commonly referred to as Combative Advertising includes all
those advertising campaigns that make use of direct, highly blatant and
often humorous advertisements created with the goal of establishing a
direct comparison between two competing brands of the same product range.
The guiding force behind such advertising is to project the fact that the
advertiser’s brand is far more superior and offers greater value for money
as compared to the other brand. |
A comparative advertisement usually showcases
the competition brand in its ad to make a direct comparison.
Examples of Comparative
Advertising, over the years:
The comparison war between Pepsi & Coke is definitely one of the best
examples of Comparative Advertising. Other brands that have indulged in
such blatant & often questioned advertising strategy include Horlicks & Complan,
Rin & Tide, as well as Airtel & Reliance TV.
Conflicting Views about
Comparative Advertising
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Different people share
different views when it comes to discussing the usefulness and
underlying ethics concerning Combative Advertising.
While some believe that comparative advertising can help to showcase
just how customers can benefit from switching over from one brand to
another in terms of quality delivered and value for money offered,
others think that there is no reason why a brand should feature their
competitor’s brand in their own advertising campaigns.
Despite the conflicting views about whether
or not a marketer should indulge in Comparative Advertising, Companies
continue to spend time, efforts and their creative juices in devising
combative advertisements that not just bring them in the limelight;
they also sometimes land them in a tricky legal battle. |
Different countries have different laws in
place when it comes to comparative advertising and these need to be
followed.
Customer Relevance: What Does
Comparative Advertising mean to the Consumer?
At the end of the day, all advertising efforts are projected towards one
common cause – to reach out to the target consumers. Whether or not
combative advertising helps a brand is an entirely different issue.
What
needs to be seen is how such advertising affects the customer’s mindset
and their buying behaviour? It is often seen that ads which draw direct
comparisons between brands are not really taken seriously and only remain
a means for short lived entertainment and nothing more. As long as such
campaigns act as a stimulus for brands to improve their quality and offer
the end customer better value for their money, who am I
to complain?
Also read my take on :
Can Advertising Alone Make a Brand Successful?
Contributed By :
Akanksha, Advertising graduate and Freelance
Writer akanksha.sinha@gmail.com
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