Follow the Leader? Not.

In most cases, if you are the company who is the leader in the category – the last thing you do is acknowledge in any advertising or marketing efforts that you compete with other firms.  The business/biblical analogy is like David and Goliath: in advertising circles Goliath doesn’t promote David’s existence.

But if you are number two -- like Avis Rental Cars in the 1960s – your advertising genius acknowledges your position and your determination to “try harder.” It may not make you number one in sales– but it puts you in the conversation especially when the big guy is “top-of-mind” for most consumers.

Visa card did this successfully too, in their early advertising rivalry with American Express. They reminded consumers and cardholders that when they travel the world for specific stores, restaurants, even events or locations like the Olympics or the US Open, take the Visa because the venue didn’t accept American Express.

It was a bold marketing move hitting Amex at its greatest weakness – the higher fees Amex charge vendors for processing purchases with their prestigious card.  Visa moved customer thinking – suddenly it wasn’t so important how COOL your card was – but how USEFUL your card should be.

Recently, things have heated up in the telecommunications category with the proposed merger of AT&T and T-Mobile. Sprint is hitting hard with a series of print ads that suggest the best unlimited plan is the plan that truly is unlimited. And Sprint says they’re the only ones with it.

This posting is not endorsing any company or suggesting that one firm’s plan is better than another. This posting is strictly about the positioning technique Sprint is using to set itself apart.  The Sprint ads claim that once you hit a specific amount of usage the competitors (AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon) either slow down the speed of your data or they charge you extra.  

Sprint, on the other hand, claims that their one charge makes the offer UNLIMITED -- end of discussion.

The morale? If the number two or number three company can carefully communicate a product’s point of difference – and exploit it in advertising to distinguish it from the leader(s) in the category – it will get consumers talking.

It will get consumers to ask new questions and change their evaluation of products before they buy.

It will get consumers to stop assuming that the biggest is the best.

And if it gets the (No. 2 or No. 3) product noticed, it could mean positive competition for better products, better offers and possibly lower prices.

But that’s only if you believe that advertising encourages, not discourages, competition in the first place.