The War of the Giants

An ad is a product of painstaking craftsmanship. Various elements, ranging from positioning of the product, clarity of the idea behind the product to visibility of the brand, its persona and the power of communication have to be intelligently weaved together. But while some ads manage to rewrite preset creative benchmarks, some go the wrong way, fall by the side and fail to excite viewers. When it comes to business the adage- Everything is fair in Love and War! - Stands tall. The most prestigious brands exclaiming Bring It On! - They do get it right where it hurts the most. Here is another tale of the battle raging between our forever favorites- BMW and Audi.

This is how it all began-

The most popular billboard war began with Audi displaying its vehicle along with the confronting statement- Your move, BMW. Well our opponents didn’t waste time to put up another billboard next to Audi’s challenging cry saying- Checkmate. Audi feeling a little uneasy with the reply came up with another billboard- Your pawn is no match for our king! – With the graphical presentation of its concept car. BMW running out of place to put another billboard decide to put an end to it brought in an inflated air balloon to place above the existing billboards saying- Game Over. If that wasn’t enough the balloon had the picture of BMW’s F1 Sports Car.

The war still rages on 

http://vimeo.com/9597051

The video above proves it right. The main point here is not how the Auto Giants tried to shut each other, but how the entire concept of comparative advertising is bearing fruits. In many countries the entire concept of comparative advertising is not allowed. The New Yorker quoted a 40 year study that companies that focus on comparative marketing strategies rather than on their profit margin in 66% case go out of business. Consumers are more intelligent than they are given credit for. Comparative ads just confuse the customers when taking their final decision. Clearly, the brand recall is tremendous. Should not these Giants take under consideration the forecasts of the researchers? It has not harmed them yet. Seen from any pint of view- it’s just proven to be one of the best strategies for both the companies. Who doesn’t want a BMW or an Audi to ornament their front porch?

Contributed by:

Gourika Khanna.