You either let your imagination loose or see brilliantly creative marketing ideas getting lost while waiting for a turn! One of such unique marketing ideas is brands talking about each other overtly through print, digital, and broadcast media.
The biggest PR myth of all time is that brands can’t engage in friendly banter with each other. Well, there is always some scope for playing by the PR rules while bending them a little. Rather than engaging in a constant fight to undercut each other, big shots are opting to indulge in intense brand rivalries to up the game significantly. Even brands like Netflix, Apple, and Google can’t distance themselves from comparative advertisement.
Let’s take a closer look at how these brands openly mock their rivals through ‘tongue in cheek’ ad campaigns and managed to grab at least a million eyeballs.
Ronald McDonald at Burger King! And why not? When it has to be bigger and better, everyone comes to Burger King. Wait! This is not what we are saying, but is what Burger King wants to represent through its German TV commercial where a clown dressed up as Ronald McDonald is shown savoring a juicy burger with 25 percent more beef at 25 percent less price.
They might take our bottles, but they will never take our taste – Guess who is saying this to whom in the boxing ring. Well, there is no clear winner till now!
Let’s get back to the history of rivalry between these two soft drink giants. The age-old rivalry between Pepsi and Coca-Cola dates back to PepsiCo’s founding in the 1960s, when both started using ads to snipe at one another.
The rivalry became so intense that it blasted off into space. Both these brands started making special cans for zero-G that onboarded the Space Shuttle Challenger. Further, there are several examples of Pepsi trying to take over Coke’s FIFA World Cup sponsorship.
Amid all these witty brand rivalries, there is another rivalry that got dirty in the mud-slinging world of advertisements. When Pepsodent made direct references to its competitor Colgate in one of its TVCs, it surely did make for an interesting watch. Colgate didn’t take this ad kindly, and Colgate Palmolive (India) Ltd. brought an action against HUL for depicting its product ‘Pepsodent GermiCheck Superior Power’ in the bad light.
However, the justice was made in Pepsodent’s favour based on the reason that the ad only showed that Pepsodent was a better product, but didn’t demean Colgate’s product.
The famous twitter war between Old Spice and Taco Bell that might have started the flame war on Twitter in literal sense. But, alas, no! The Twitter conversation between two prominent brands turned out to be more of a light-hearted, innocuous exchange. This most followed The Taco Bell/Old Spice Flame war on Twitter clearly indicated that brand have relational personalities through which they interact with each other and build buzz around their product.
‘Smell like a man, man’ – Isaiah Mustafa uttering this line in an Old Spice ad back in 2010 left everyone in America swooned. The tall, dark and handsome Mustafa riding on a white horse made women giggle like a school girl. It was a whooping success on YouTube, with over 13 million views in just few days.
However, AXE did something that is counted among one of the most epic burns in the History. By making fun of Old Spice’s fixation with horse, AXE drew the first blood in the game against the men’s deodorant giant.
Recently, Hotstar got into the ‘gif-fy’ war with Netflix. As Kavin Spacey from House of Cards ringed in 57th birthday, Netflix decided to do something desi and rajnitik in India for Spacey Ji.
Hotstar was quick to react on this billboard ad, as it had already done something similar to promote On air with AIB last year.
And what followed next – A brutal Twitter spat with no one willing to take it lying down.
While the battle swords were out, Twitterati made the most of it. They got their popcorn bucket ready to witness one punches after another!
At a recent time, platforms dealing in IT software have also caught the trend of comparative advertisement. And, why not! Such talking and tagging on social media helps brands get real and rack up people’s attention.
Here’s is someone who decided to give a twist to the longstanding practice of brand rivalry by putting the personal touch.
Ankit Dudhwewala, Founder of SoftwareSuggest went on his own Facebook profile to say in a ‘tongue in cheek’ manner that cash-rich companies like Techjockey are imitating its website design. Unlike brand rivalries of all time, here the founder himself drew the first blood against competitors.
Guess, what clap-back Techjockey used in response to this private Facebook post!
It decided to hilariously pick at the history of brands throwing hissy-fits at each other just to gain clout. As a consequence, you are reading this article now!
Oh, yes! That’s how we roll– Roasting competitors in TeeJayZ style.
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