Why are you Advertising for your Competitor?

By Steve Fradkin, President
The Wizard of Adz

• An ad in the Boston Globe reads “Give the Gift of Dance!”
• A radio spot for a car dealer sings the praises of the new Ford Five-Hundred.
• A TV spot tells you that aspirin can save your life in the event of a heart attack.

What’s wrong with these ads?  What do they have in common — and why should you avoid doing what they do in your ads?

In each case, the advertisement is selling “primary demand” — that is, demand for the generic product rather than the specific source for that product.  In each case, assuming the message is convincing, the buyer may go to any of several sources to make the purchase.

• Giving the gift of dance may convince you to buy a gift certificate for dance lessons, but will you go to Arthur Murray, Fred Astair or another dance studio.  Will you go to the specific outlet advertised, or to another franchisee?
• The same is true for the car commercial.  You may decide to buy the Ford, but you have loads of Ford dealers from which to choose.
• And even if you decide to buy aspirins to have on hand in case of chest pains, whose will you buy?

The wrong strategy

In most cases — and almost certainly in your case — promoting primary demand is a wrong strategy.  You will probably end up sending more business to your competitors than to you.  If I ran an ad simply convincing people to advertise, there’s a pretty good chance that those folks I convince will end up calling one of the scads of services and/or media to do their graphics.  On the other hand, if I give people a reason to call me — for example citing how we concentrate on developing sound advertising strategies — then those I convince will be more likely to contact my company.

The exception

The exception is when you are far and away the industry leader.  If you’re Bayer, and most of the aspirin sold is your brand, it’s OK to sell the benefits of aspirin.  Most of the folks you convince will, in fact, buy your brand.  If you’re Campbell’s (“Soup is good food”) or Kodak (“A Kodak moment”), you can sell the benefits of your generic product.  But if you’re Lipton’s or Agfa, you’d better tell people about the specific benefits of your brand.

The same holds true of franchises and dealerships.  Hype GE dishwashers or Pampers and you’ll send customers to anyone who carries those brands.  But tell people why your store is the place to buy GE dishwashers or Pampers (benefits like open 24 hours a day, or lowest prices in the area, or most knowledgeable staff) and you’ll win customers.

Bring your strategy into focus

The Wizard of Adz specializes in developing IN-FOCUS ADVERTISING STRATEGIES.  Part of that process is working with you to define the unique aspects of your business — to separate you from your competition — and then to creatively and convincingly convey that message to your specific target audience.  Give us a call at 781-821-1818 to see several examples of how we’ve done this for our clients, and to tell you about the spectacular results they’ve received.