Marketing, the Law of the Opposite
The Law of the Opposite
One of the most effective marketing laws to have competitive advantage in the market is the Law of the Opposite. It consists in using the leader’s strengths in the market as their weakness. This law has been used repeatedly throughout the years, helping brands to position on the market. The main idea is to compete with the leader by being different; an alternative to what the market’s leader is offering, so the consumers that don’t want to follow the leaders have an option to choose. One classic example is how Pepsi marketed itself as a “choice for the new generation”, when Coca Cola is an old and established brand, which keeps their traditional flavor. A successful campaign was introduced by Volkswagen “Think Small” in 1960, created by the advertisement group at Doyle Dane & Bernbach. The campaign intent was to change the perception of an entire group of consumers, Americans. The car market in North America was dominated by big cars. The focus of the advertisement was to highlight the fact that Volkswagen cars were small. It was planned to show the product as it was and consumers saw that as prove of honesty and an alternative to the people that don’t agree with the status quo. The cars didn’t compete with the standard of American cars, they were just another type of cars. A more recent example is how Apple started to compete with PC’s, showing in the commercials two people. PC’s were represented as old fashion, geeky, very unpopular type of guy. Apple’s guy on the contrary was young, informal, easy going and very friendly person. They show their competitor weakness but in a friendly manner. PC’s were unstable, slow, virus infected, and managed poorly multimedia files. Apple took all the characteristics that made PC’s weak compared to Mac, make the costumers aware of them and at the same time highlighted the characteristics they have that make them different and a better alternative. Phrases like PC’s are better for work and Apple for
One of the most effective marketing laws to have competitive advantage in the market is the Law of the Opposite. It consists in using the leader’s strengths in the market as their weakness. This law has been used repeatedly throughout the years, helping brands to position on the market. The main idea is to compete with the leader by being different; an alternative to what the market’s leader is offering, so the consumers that don’t want to follow the leaders have an option to choose. One classic example is how Pepsi marketed itself as a “choice for the new generation”, when Coca Cola is an old and established brand, which keeps their traditional flavor. A successful campaign was introduced by Volkswagen “Think Small” in 1960, created by the advertisement group at Doyle Dane & Bernbach. The campaign intent was to change the perception of an entire group of consumers, Americans. The car market in North America was dominated by big cars. The focus of the advertisement was to highlight the fact that Volkswagen cars were small. It was planned to show the product as it was and consumers saw that as prove of honesty and an alternative to the people that don’t agree with the status quo. The cars didn’t compete with the standard of American cars, they were just another type of cars. A more recent example is how Apple started to compete with PC’s, showing in the commercials two people. PC’s were represented as old fashion, geeky, very unpopular type of guy. Apple’s guy on the contrary was young, informal, easy going and very friendly person. They show their competitor weakness but in a friendly manner. PC’s were unstable, slow, virus infected, and managed poorly multimedia files. Apple took all the characteristics that made PC’s weak compared to Mac, make the costumers aware of them and at the same time highlighted the characteristics they have that make them different and a better alternative. Phrases like PC’s are better for work and Apple for