In 2009 many companies seemed to be eating humble pie. Many marketing strategies involved candor, owning up to mistakes, speaking directly to the customer, making promises and vowing to keep them. This was largely due to the economic situation in the past year and large corporations asking for bail out money. Many consumers became skeptical of corporations like GM, and began to put up walls in regards to deciding where to purchase their goods from. Well what a difference a year makes. This year companies are fighting for your dollars. No more mister nice guy. Refutation is this year’s big trend.
Refutation is a strategy used by companies where an argument between companies takes place via their marketing campaigns. Fast Food chains have traditionally taken this approach, but a current example is AT&T and Verizon.
Verizon seemed somewhat bitter that they were losing customers to AT&T due to their exclusivity deal with the Apple iPhone. Verizon started broadcasting commercials that targeted AT&T’s lack of 3G coverage. They started saying “there is a map for that” which sounds like “there’s an app for that”. Then AT&T started launching their own campaign where they acknowledge Verizon’s claims; then discredit them and provide facts of their own coverage area while attacking Verizon’s 3G coverage and their phone portfolio. These refutations continue today. The key here to make it a true refutation; that is, they have to acknowledge the competitor and refute the argument.
Dominos Pizza went from being vulnerable and honest to now outing results of a “national taste test” between their new revamped pizza and their competitor Papa John’s. They claim that Papa John’s classic “better ingredients, better pizza” is just “puffery”. Papa John has yet to answer, but I have a feeling it will only be a matter of time.
Another example is Dish Network and Direct TV. Dish network claims they provide the same service as Direct TV at a much lower price. They’ve done this in a series of commercials. The first attack came when Dish Network mentions all of the celebrities that Direct TV has used to in their commercials which include A-list celebs like Beyonce and Christina Aguilera. Dish network makes a good point. Contracting stars of this magnitude is pretty pricey. Direct TV had no comeback for the celebrity endorsements but they do mention in their new commercial that they have more choices as far as packages for sports. Not a great argument, but they obviously noticed the attacks since they mentioned Dish Network specifically.
If you want to predict trends, I think paying attention to the economy is important. Another thing is to really pay attention to commercials. I know not everyone is enthusiastic about watching commercials, but it’s kind of fun to keep track of who is saying what. So is this approach successful? It all depends on the execution and delivery.
I think the best refutation marketing campaigns are the ones that really put things into perspective for consumers; the ones that really make you stop and think. Sometimes the refuter can be too subtle and choose to take the high road, but, I say go for it! It’s a dog-eat-dog world, and in a world where we have so many choices you have to be aggressive and fight for those consumer dollars.
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