You simply should to run comparison advertisements when the consumers seeing the advertisement are extremely familiar with the competitor's product. I don't mean that the market is generally aware of the name, I mean that the prospects all have understanding of the features and advantages of the competitive offering. This is almost never the case.
You need to recognize that you think about what you market all day. You chart your company around advertising your product. You see it every day. You touch it, explain it, and almost certainly find it fascinating. You know about the products that are in your offering category. You probably decided to buy them to run tests. You can converse about your offering for hours without repeating yourself. Am I correct in this? The problem is, your shoppers barely know the basics of what you offer, and this is once they buy it. The solitary expert in the room, on your product, is you.
You may even think of your competitor as your rival. So it's natural to enjoy ads that harass your competitor rather than sell your offering. But this is not selling.
For instance; I sell vacuum cleaners. There is a well marketed vacuum cleaner that is lightweight. So another manufacturer, who also has a lightweight vacuum cleaner, decides to run advertisements with both vacuums featured, and in that case compared to one another. This is a vastly well-liked ad, with the dealers. It's very well-liked with the producer as well. But comparison advertisements seem to possess a "So There!" approach about them.
Do they work? Of course. They are effective on consumers who are extremely aquainted with the other product, and have not purchased yet. But that section of the public is really pretty tiny.
By making these comparison ads, you additionally are notifying the market that the other offer exists! To a knowledable customer, it also appears like you are comparing to this other product because you think that it's much better than what you offer. Why else would you bother comparing at all?
These ads occasionally have one offering illustrated next to the other product. Then there are a list of features. Naturally, the features listed will favor whatever product the advertiser sells.
Sometimes these advertisements just refer to the other offer, and then list why ours is better.
The most horrible case I've seen up to now is knocking the competition with an inside joke that only the manufacturers would even appreciate. This ad was very popular at conventions. The advertiser's CEO loved it, I'm certain. The merchants loved it too.
But there is a huge cavernous flaw to this type of advertisement. The buyer doesn't understand the references. They do not have the intimate knowledge of the equivalent features. Nearly the entire ad is wasted on them.
I've actually been guilty of running these advertisements previously.
The most profitable test I've seen, to decide if they are valuable or not, is to show the advertisement to a kid. Eight or nine years old is okay for this kind of test. Ask them what they think of the ad. If they don't instantly recognize what you are saying in the ad, it's overly complicated. The references will be wasted.
Why divide the consumer's attention between your offering, and your competitor's?
I'm a slow study. You do not have to be.
Author Resource:
Local Small Business and Marketing expert Claude Whitacre is author of the book The Unfair Advantage Small Business Advertising Manual. You can purchase the book for $19.95 at http://www.claudewhitacre.com. You can also download your Free copy of the complete book at http://local-small-business-advertising-marketing-book.com
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