Start Creating “Brand New Friends” With Your Competition
There’s this classic rule in business that states you shouldn’t talk about your competition. On the rare occasion that a business does mention the competition’s name, it's usually negatively used through the marketing strategy of attack ads. There are countless examples of attack ads used in every conceivable industry, and despite them still being used regularly today, they are not always as popular or successful as you might assume due to usage frequency.
Whether it’s within advertising campaigns or B2B sales pitches, saying a competitor’s name only serves to bring attention to them, add credibility to their competitive position, and gets the audience thinking about them. Because you likely don’t know why that consumer buys from the competitor, your comparisons might reinforce his/her most desirable purchase criteria or worse than that…insult them because you overlooked possible personal reasons outside of product features alone.
No More Being “Debby Downer”
Over the last 2.5 years, there has been A LOT of negative energy bubbling up across America:
Political Divisiveness
Racial Tensions
Gender Rights Being Attacked
Heightened Attention Towards Worker Rights
This is a classic “swim against the wave” situation. America doesn’t need the business community adding to the hate and negativity. Instead, businesses would actually get more consumer attention if they spread love and positivity.
Which Side Are You On?
Competition is a central driver in business. Many see competition through a “winner takes all” or “zero sum” lens. The typical way that these business professionals think about competition can be summed up by the business icon Jack Welch…
"Number one, cash is king; number two, communicate; number three, buy or bury the competition."
While Jack Welch might be the business spirit animal of many, there’s an alternate way to think about business competition…
"There's always competition in the world, but you don't have to be enemies. You can empower each other."
You might see that ideology as weak, but consider the mindset of arguably one of the most competitive businessmen in the world Gary Vaynerchuk. One of his famous quotes is…
“You can build the biggest building in town without having to tear the others down.”
Being Nice is Valuable
While staying silent about your competition is arguably better than being negative, it’s the third option of praising your competitor (aka saying nice things about them) that can actually create the most value. In a recent study done by Keisha Cutright, nearly a dozen experiments supported the idea that complimenting your competitor ends up boosting your own reputation and sales.
One of my favorite experiments was where they created a fake tweet sent from Kit Kat to Twix. It congratulated Twix on 54 years in business and admitted to thinking Twix are delicious. About a week and a half later, they checked in with consumers who saw the tweet and asked them about recent candy purchases. It turns out that they were 34% more likely to buy a Kit Kat compared to a control group. Most importantly, Twix sales didn’t increase, even after Kit Kat praised the candy as delectable.
Make “Brand” New Friends
Don’t be afraid to make friends with your competition. This is especially true if you’re a CPG brand because market dynamics of the industry is arguably the furthest thing from “winner take all.” CPG brand partnerships, organic or strategically planned, can be beautiful if both combine skill sets and audiences while working to their respective goals. Being friendly with your competition ends up changing consumer attitudes and their purchasing behavior.
Interactions between brands, and not just customers, is a way signal who you are by being more human. When people see one competitor praising another, they automatically think you're now this warmer, fuzzier brand that they can trust. Don’t be afraid to do it occasionally, but just know that there is a “too much effect”, as consumers will start to question your sincerity. Social media has made all of this a bit easier because you don’t need to spend huge budgets on television ads to make brand friends.
Case Study: Oreo & Kit Kat
In 2013, KitKat challenged Oreo to a game of Tic-Tac-Toe on Twitter for a consumer’s affection.
This was a cute, playful move that not only responded to a fan but also engaged another brand. Oreo rose to the challenge and responded with its own visual tweet of a bitten Kit Kat on the Tic-Tac-Toe board along with cheeky hashtag #GiveOreoABreak.
Case Study: GHOST & RAW Nutrition
Making “brand new friends” doesn’t always have to be in the form of social media collaborations. What happens when competitors create a physical CPG product together and then combine forces further within a “drop culture” style go-to-market strategy? While the sports nutrition industry has traditionally been about huge egos, being collegial can bring value to both side of the partnership if done correctly.
Final Thoughts
Will we see more businesses (specifically CPG ones) start deploying this “brand new friends” strategy? Let’s hope so, as I believe…
it elevates the creativity within an industry
the positivity helps play a role in counteracting the tensions within society
it’s fun (and who doesn’t love that!)