In August
2013, Pepsodent, a leading toothpaste brand from HUL came up with an advertisement
that directly attacked its competitor P&G’s toothpaste Colgate with a claim
that Pepsodent Germicheck is 130% better in fighting germs than Colgate. This
ad was only a glimpse of the extent to which corporate biggies in the world of
consumer space can go to in order to provide a longer shelf life to their
products and influence consumer choice. This type of aggressive marketing,
however, is not a new phenomenon in India and has been used actively used in
the corporate world to grab attention and project one’s product better than the
rest.
Comparative
advertising like this is basically a sales promotion technique that compares
the products/services of one undertaking with those of its competitors in order
to generate attention. It makes certain claims to show that their product is
better and that the claims of the rival company are not sensible. Famously
known as ‘BRAND WARS’, these advertisements became notoriously common after
they were used by popular soft drink brands Pepsi and Coca Cola followed by
leading detergent brands Rin and Tide.
The corporate industry is divided when it comes to giving
opinions on such type of marketing. Experts claim that it’s the mad competition
that makes companies use such tactics to prove their products as the best and
these are often harmless. However the past has also witnessed cases where brand
wars have ruffled quite a few feathers and the companies have resorted to legal
interference in this matter.
A famous example is that of Wipro
Consumer Care and Lighting and Godrej Consumer
Products Ltd, both leading consumer products companies, filed suits against
each other in the courts alleging wrongful advertising on each other’s part.
First, Wipro Ltd got an injunction from a Hyderabad court on an ad by Godrej,
which claimed its soap brand Godrej No. 1’s leadership over rivals such as
Santoor soap, a Wipro brand. Wipro cried foul citing the ad to be “unfair,
unethical, incorrect and misleading”. A week later, Godrej challenged Wipro for
advertising its liquid detergent brand Wipro SafeWash, which claimed supremacy
over Godrej’s own brand Ezee. The Punjab court, where the company filed the
case, passed an interim injunction restraining Wipro from continuing the
controversial ad.
Thus comparative
advertising is a double edged sword which can prove to be extremely harmful for
a company’s image as well as its products. Unless used in the right competitive
spirit, it can end up hurting not the rival company but one’s own brand value.
Thus for those resorting to such a forceful tactic, it is important to make
sure that the claims it makes is truthful and will do the company more good
than harm. Considering that the competition is only growing fiercer day by day
one thing is for sure and that is that BRAND WARS are here to stay.
