Scrolling through my Facebook feed, I saw a post that was comparing two brands of gadgets. Initially, I thought it was a review but when I looked at the post text, it was a sponsored post by Brand A.
And get this - the post wasn’t talking about a review at all it was talking about was how they got awarded Best in Something 2016. Say what??
I did not understand how these two things - their award and their choice of image to go along with it made sense to their Marketing Department.
I mean sure, brand wars are fun if you actually do it right (like this one). But to use it to, err, I don’t know, prove that you deserve an award? It screams insecurity.
It tells your customer that you aren’t really sure about your product. That you need Brand B just to make a buzz for yourself. That you getting a recognition isn’t really as important as putting your competitor down.
It’s tacky and a huge turn-off.
Look, checking your competitor is one thing. Focusing on your competitor, that’s a whole new ball game and a bad one at that.
If you start obsessing on what your competition is doing, you will push your customers to them. You’ll just end up trying to keep up with them while they focus on being better, listening to their customers and innovating.
Focus on you. Focus on what your customers want. Listen and evolve. Stop riding on someone else’s coattails and instead create your own.
