Competition or Insecurity?

I can’t help but notice that so many TV commercials today are focused on attacking their direct competitors.

Sure, the classic Coke vs. Pepsi battle has been going on for decades, and that’s always been somewhat entertaining. But today we see it in every industry, every product, every ad.

How about this Dominoes pizza commercial, offering a discount because they “beat” Papa Johns in some bullshit taste test?

Or the fact that every cell phone commercial is a direct rebuttal of the other guy’s previous commercial? See AT&T vs. Verizon, or Sprint vs. AT&T & Verizon.

Here in the local NYC market, there is a constant TV battle between the cable providers: Verizon Fios vs. “Other guys”. Optimum making fun of that commercial.

Is this all they’ve got?

Talk about insecurity.

Whatever happened to offering a quality product, with honest customer support, and having confidence that your customers will support you based on these things? Does every company now need to directly attack their competitors? Is this what people want to see? Is this what drives sales today?

It’s like these companies are high school bullies, trying to make a name for themselves simply by bringing down everyone else. I don’t know about you, but to me, that screams insecurity.

I’m turned off

Why would I want to buy a product that cares so much about beating up the other guy? That’s not a personality I relate with. How does that approach attract me to their brand?

It doesn’t. My prediction is eventually these types of desperate big dollar ads will open opportunities for the smaller guys to make a name for themselves with a quality product, quality support, and reasonable pricing. I think it’s already happening.

http://www.mcculloughdesigns.com/ Joseph McCullough

I actually made a comment on a blog post that basically sums up what you’ve written. Self-reinforcing advertisements are able to show viewers what value the product or service can provide for them. In other words, it can convince them to change their mind about how they view a product. Competitor-rebutting advertisement makes the assumption that the viewer already values their type of product or service: Who cares whether AT&T has better coverage than Verizon if they don’t even want a cell phone?
http://www.mcculloughdesigns.com/ Joseph McCullough

I actually made a comment on a blog post that basically sums up what you’ve written. Self-reinforcing advertisements are able to show viewers what value the product or service can provide for them. In other words, it can convince them to change their mind about how they view a product. Competitor-rebutting advertisement makes the assumption that the viewer already values their type of product or service: Who cares whether AT&T has better coverage than Verizon if they don’t even want a cell phone?
http://www.briancasel.com/dev Brian

Absolutely – Plus, since every cell phone company is in attack mode, it’s hard for the consumer to really know who’s providing the best value.
http://www.briancasel.com/dev Brian

Absolutely – Plus, since every cell phone company is in attack mode, it’s hard for the consumer to really know who’s providing the best value.