a mosaic of competitive marketing
for inspiration & funsies
Sega's "Genesis Does What Nintendon't" campaign challenged Nintendo's console dominance in the 1980s. Ultimately, Nintendo's enduring characters and gameplay helped it navigate the console wars, securing its place in the hearts of gamers worldwide.
7Up’s "Uncola" campaign positioning the beverage as a refreshing alternative to traditional colas. With quirky ads and a distinctive clear color, 7Up carved out its niche, challenging the cola giants with a cheeky wink, cementing its status as a mainstay in the soda aisle.
The "chicken wars" saw fast-food giants clashing beaks over who had the superior chicken sandwich, until Popeyes ended things with its "Come in Piece" campaign where they 1) announced a new chicken nuggets option on their menu, and 2) bought and donated one million nuggets from competitors
Maybe you don’t have all the bells & whistles of your competitor… but you do have one massively-important differentiator, like DuckDuckGo has. Sometimes that’s all you need.
Apple welcomed IBM to the personal computing fray in 1981 with a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal that oozed confidence and set the stage for the Macintosh's revolutionary approach. It not only defined Apple's rebellious brand identity but also marked the beginning of its journey to becoming a tech powerhouse.
Over the years, companies like Slack, Wise, and Substack have published similar ads aimed at incoming competitors. Audience reception and campaign results have been mixed though, and many believe it to be a signal that a company is scared.
Pusha T wrote the “I’m Lovin’ It” jingle for McDonald’s back in the early 2000s. But he didn’t believe he was compensated fairly given the massive success of the campaign, so he partnered with Arby’s on two McDonald’s diss tracks—”Spicy Fish Diss Track” and “Rib Roast.”
Arby’s diss tracks are unique, but Burger King gets kudos for consistency. They’ve gone after McDonald’s in dozens of competitive campaigns over the years.
Avis turned the tables on its market position against Hertz with the "We're Number 2" campaign in 1963, embracing its runner-up status to highlight customer service and a try-harder attitude. Not only did it boost Avis's profile (their market share jumped from 29% to 36%) but it also redefined how companies could leverage honesty and humility in advertising to compete and win.
Avis’s…
Coca-Cola’s response
Pepsi’s original ad
It’s not just Pepsi vs. Coke anymore. Next-gen sodas are here, and even the CEOs are getting involved (like OLIPOP’s above). Get your CEO involved as often as possible—it makes competitive messaging 1000x more impactful.
Don’t beat around the bush. Be up front about who you compete with! Like Slack did on their homepage back in 2018.
Google’s “Best Phones Forever” campaign began in late 2023 and imagines a world where the Google Pixel and the iPhone stop being rivals and start being friends.
The campaign’s 15 videos have garnered over 300M YouTube views in just a few months.
It’s a playful reimagining of Apple’s classic “Get a Mac” campaign, which is attributed to helping Apple achieve a 39% sales increase back in 2006.
Most companies use comparison tables to show their products’ features. But these assets are even more powerful when they’re used to explain your point of view, like Boring Mattress Co. and Magic Spoon do here!
2002
2016
The browser wars saw Netscape and Microsoft vying for internet supremacy in the '90s, beginning with Netscape's Navigator launch in 1994 and Microsoft countering with Internet Explorer. The rivalry peaked with stunts like Microsoft's team dropping off their IE logo at Netscape's campus. The Netscape team toppled the logo with their own Mozilla mascot, holding signs that read "Netscape 72 Microsoft 18” (their market share at the time).
In 2016, Sprint flipped the script by featuring Paul Marcarelli, the iconic "Can you hear me now?" guy, famously associated with Verizon, in their "Paul's Back" campaign. The switch grabbed headlines (it currently has 14M YouTube views) and also highlighted Sprint's improved network.
The Auto Zone
thx Arnav for sharing this one w/ me! 👆
this one too! 👇
According to a study from Ariyh, people are more likely to buy from a brand that they observe publicly praising a competitor.
If you’re challenging a category leader, you should mention them directly in your marketing—like ClickUp did against Jira above! Punching up is a great tactic to poach target customers from competitors. However…
In 1999, Salesforce launched with their "End of Software" campaign, aimed at promoting their cloud-based CRM over traditional on-premises software installations.
…if you’re a category leader, you should never punch down. Remember Hydrox? Of course you don’t. They were the ORIGINAL Oreo. When they noticed Oreo gaining market share, they did the worst thing they could have possibly done—publicly acknowledged them in a marketing campaign. This only educated their target audience of a new competitor, and the rest was history.
The campaign positioned Salesforce as a visionary leader, which they’re still recognized as today. Their foresight not only disrupted the software industry but also laid the groundwork for the cloud computing revolution, impacting how many companies operate and innovate today.
In 2023, Peet’s Coffee accepted rewards points from competing coffee brands for a limited time, promoting it as a “Disloyalty Program.”
These days, they’re investing more in distinction rather than differentiation—namely against space-obsessed giants like Bezos’s Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
