Rivalry in marketing has created some of the most innovative and smartest implementations of marketing techniques. We often just see some part of rivalry in billboards where each company spends millions to outdo the other. Whether it be in the automotive industry or the Nike vs. Adidas, rivalry in each of these contests provide valuable insight of how to create memorable marketing material. To determine what makes these rivalries so great, we need only look at how each of these companies implement their actions. Each action taken is swift and decisive while still being effective in getting the message across. Being able to apply this in your marketing campaigns provides both quick responses to problems and fix issues fast without having to fully stop all your operations to understand what went wrong. To understand these rivalries, you will need to understand what the rivals responses are, the nature of the rivalry and in which industry they take place.
Types of rivalries
To see how a rivalry spurs clever marketing, we need to understand the nature of the rivalry itself. Rivalries are divided into three categories: friendly, competitive, and fierce. The most common rivalry we see is the friendly rivalry. Most of these types of rivalries tend to be in sports. We will often see words or images that are intended to be humorous. The rivals will try to match the opponent’s actions by another word or image that is a direct counter to the statement made. Studying these types of rivalries is excellent for those wanting to craft better responses in their social media feeds. Competitive rivalries are the older and established competitions that are found in marketing. The Adidas and Nike rivalry falls into this category. Both are operating in the same industry and craft actions to get more influence in their market. These types of rivalries spend millions to acquire ad space, get sponsorship, and get endorsements for their products.
Anyone looking at these types of conditions should pay attention to what responses are made and what actions are used to respond to the competition. The last form of rivalry is the fierce rivalry. This type of rivalry exists in industries where space is very limited and competition is taken very seriously. Companies in this space spend large amounts of resources to find out what the competition is developing. For anyone in a highly heated industry analyzing the strategic partnerships made in these type of industries shows how to make decisions strategically. Finding resources that help you achieve an overall goal, but also achieving it before your competition does is very valuable. Each form has different responses, but each offers a good view of what can be learned. As companies learn more, their relationship with one another evolves. The relationship between Apple and Microsoft has been one that has been very fierce. Overtime however this rivalry has been calmer as Apple has found more competition in companies like Google and Samsung. Rivalries change, but the actions taken shows us some interesting marketing choices executives of the company made to get ahead in their industry.
Industry as a rivalry
The industry in which a company operates in also determines how marketing teams respond. For example, the automotive industry will advertise in more traditional forms of media like TV and local newspapers than an industry like the retail industry which has favored internet marketing. The medium where you focus your marketing in, limits you to what you can message in your space. As a result, companies that compete regularly will have to create innovative ways to use resources. We can see this in how companies display banner ads that are direct responses to company advertisement. The direct responses will vary, but all responses feature the main content of the original ad and will add a variation of the ad. A popular example of this is in Coca-Cola and Pepsi ads. Each company respond to the ads their competitor broadcasts by featuring the same ad and altering the message. This is done with the blindfold tastings where consumers show which product they like better. The other company then shows their ad with a statistic to prove that the statement made in the previous commercial is incorrect. The innovation occurs when the companies use different strategies during big events like the Super Bowl to generate buzz. Within a span of a few minutes you can see the companies synchronizing their social media, commercials, and promotional content all stating the same message. It’s within these moments that marketing strategies and content create a compelling reason to buy into the offer that is presented. Had two companies been in an industry that is more diverse, we would see less need to create innovative marketing, but since the industry is highly concentrated, Coke’s and Pepsi’s actions carry more weight.
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