Win in marketing and advertising by having an enemy. Inspires, focuses minds and differentiates

I have been reflecting on some of the tips and learning that I have had over my career on how to increase the chance of succeeding in marketing and advertising. I do think one of the best things that you can do as you look to position and promote your brand is to help differentiate by having an "enemy".


It helps to focus the mind, your unique offer and the agency (and people in the team/ company) to be creative and innovative. You may finally not call the enemy out to your consumer, but it does help to focus and rally innovation and creativity.


Having an enemy, especially one that is not likely to react, is a great way to drive creativity and competitiveness especially in copy and communication. This is a technique and approach used a lot by many of the big multi-national companies like P&G and Unilever.


I have seen a number of different ways of doing this, and here are some of the different approaches that I have seen work:


Having a category as an enemy.


The advantage is that a whole category is not likely to respond, but often stands for something clear in the mind of the consumer and so easy to get your point of difference across.


One of the best examples of this is the Unilever brand Dove, that has used this approach for many years - with great success


Dove has Soap as their enemy.
This is a huge category and one that people understand. Years ago when I was working on baby products we used comparison with the perceived (and real) drying effects of regular soap to convince people to use a liquid bath foam instead of soap. This was very successful. But Dove have probably done it even better.


Soap has bee the enemy for the hugely successful Dove Quarter Moisturiser soap bar. The famous TV ad showed litmus paper showing the PH of various types of soap and that Dove was neutral. It implied gentleness and mildness. Though may not have actually been significant in skin caring..

Watch the ad below:

They are still using this approach, and in 2011 in the UK ran this ad getting women to use their chosen soap to wash a mirror:






The story they use is: "Washing with soap leaves soap scum on your skin. You may not see it, but it's there, even after rinsing. Dove is different. Its patented blend of cleansers and moisturizers leaves skin soft, smooth and always soap scum-free. Now you see, the truth is clear."




Gold Standard Action Standards


One of my favourite examples, and one I wish I had thought of (or our agency had) were the Olay Regenerist ads that compare themselves to expensive department store brands. This is a really great example, as consumers know that department store anti-age products are expensive (and are also aspirational) and they believe them to be very effective as they are so expensive. As they do not name a specific brand and in early ads compare to "a $350 dollar cream" it meant that they only had to do clinical or studies versus one cream. But they managed to get the impression they were better than all.


Watch the ad below:

The ads says: We were flattered when we learned Regenerist beat the $100 dollar cream. Floored when we whipped the $350 dollar cream. And flabbergasted when we creamed the $700 dollar cream! For under $30 dollars Olay Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Cream, according to a European Study, hydrates better and longer than 32 of the world's most expensive creams. Fantastic, Phenomenal, Regenerist

The Market Leader
The most used and most expected. In the USA almost all headache pills seem to refer to Tylenol. I often though wonder if this approach is less good as you end up reminding people who the leader is, and that they are good.




Do you have any other ideas? Leave a comment below or drop me an email