Imitate
A wise man once said imitation was the highest form of flattery. When it comes to marketing, imitation may be the lowest form of rivalry. You might think that by creating your own version of your rivals marketing material, you're stealing a march on them. You might even hope to pick up some of their business. But you've got to consider the dangers of blatant imitation. If a prospect was already aware of your rival, how will you look to them?
You might have the better product, or offer greater service. Selling that to a prospect will be difficult if they think you're just a carbon copy of your rival.
Attack, Attack, Attack
The other option is to create marketing content that attacks your rival's product. If you can point out your rival's failings while shining a light on your strengths you can gain some leverage. You have to be really careful with this though. Samsung tried some attacking marketing tactics recently in their ongoing war with the iPhone 5. With mixed results. On the one hand they produced a few tongue in cheek videos that highlighted their Galaxy SIII's key features, while poking fun at Apple fanatics waiting for the latest iPhone release.
The ads were very funny and made a strong argument for the SIII. But they didn't just attack the rival brand, they attacked its fans. The same fans they were hoping to poach. That's the difficulty with this kind of marketing tactic. Even the smartest attack can end up feeling a bit petty.
Challenge Them to a Duel
We're not suggesting you march down to the office with a leather glove and a pair of pistols. But some brands have tried to take on a major rival in blind tests to prove their superiority. The most famous of these is the Pepsi challenge. Since 1975 Pepsi have promoted their product by inviting people to choose between their product and Coke. They regularly report that their product wins in the majority of tests. This may seem good for the brand, but these tests are rarely conclusive and Coke has never seemed that worried.
We saw another example this year when Microsoft pitted it's Bing search engine against Google in an online blind test. The test was marketed under the name 'Bing It On' and Microsoft promoted it by claiming Bing won these tests by a 2:1 ratio. Unfortunately for them, most people who tried it reported the opposite and the test disappeared pretty quickly. The lesson here is that unless you win big, a duel is unlikely to get you much satisfaction.
Out-Innovate
With so many different digital marketing innovations, from social tools to mobile marketing, the best option might be to outthink your opponents. The best way to do that is to see where the gaps are in their marketing output. Does your rival have a strong presence on image sharing channels like Pinterest or Instagram? Is that an area you can exploit? Do they make full use of video marketing?
This may be the most effective method of rival marketing, but it's also the most difficult. There may be a reason your rival hasn't engaged these channels; there may not be any value in producing a mobile app in your industry. The key question with this kind of innovation is, 'why am I using this channel?' Can you define the value without mentioning your rival?
Focus On Your Strengths
The best way to market your brand is to promote your strengths. That doesn't change because a rival has entered the market. If you can identify strengths that you have, that your rival is missing, then all the better. But don't work too hard to find them. The best brands focus on their own branding first, and let their rivals worry about the rivalry. Coca-Cola and Apple are the world's most valuable brands, when was the last time you heard them mention a rival to promote their own product?
Dealing with a strong rival can be a huge challenge. When it comes to marketing against your rivals though, the most important thing may be to stop trying to market against them. Just market your brand instead.
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