Introduction
Businesses often use a strategy of painting their opponents in the market in a bad light. This ploy is known as negative marketing. This is an aggressive marketing strategy, in which one brand wants to make their product to be perceived better than others. Negative marketing campaigns are not often appreciated in general. Negative marketing campaigns are often perceived as unethical. Most businesses that implement negative marketing are well-established corporations, with a large loyal following of customers.
Negative Marketing Campaigns
Although negative marketing is perceived as immoral, it indeed turns some heads. Negative marketing can even manage to lure in new customers for the product or service offered by the brand. Negative marketing campaigns leave a long-lasting impression on the minds of the consumer. They would probably always choose to avoid the product that is being painted in a negative light. However, destroying a brand’s reputation, which in most cases, took years for them to build, is unethical. However, bringing out the flaws of a product and educating the consumers why your product is better than others, if done in the right way, can produce miracles in marketing.
Examples of Negative Marketing Campaigns
iPhone vs Samsung is a classic example of negative marketing campaigns. iPhone released a video ad, of iPhone 6 plus, which demonstrated a couple conversing comfortably at night. After a while, Samsung released a video advertisement, showing a similar scenario with a couple talking during the night, but with a lot of light in the background. This advertisement meant to appeal to the viewers that Samsung S6’s camera is better than that of the iPhone 6 plus.
Another advertisement launched by Pepsi was launched to expose Coca Cola in poor light. A boy first dispenses Coca Cola cans and steps on them to dispense Pepsi cans from the dispenser. This was meant to give out a message that Pepsi was superior to Coca Cola.
Marketing Strategies
Many other negative marketing strategies are often implemented to bring down the rating of a product. A competitor may pay for posting negative reviews of another product. Such reviews are often posted across the web, which misleads many consumers.
Many strategies can be used to fight such attacks. The mentions of your brand across the internet can be monitored and analyzed by visiting Mentions.com. If you find out that reviews are not legit, flag, and report them. Contact the customer support team of the platforms in which those negative reviews were posted. You can also boost your product or services by utilizing blog posts, influencers, and reviewers online. Quote positive reviews for your product from legitimate sources and win their trust.
Conclusion
Reacting to negative marketing should be implemented very carefully. A Public Relations team plays an inevitable role in fighting negative marketing. Advertising and creative teams can often come up with witty responses in the form of advertisements, without creating a sense of hostility between the competitors. If the competitor challenges your product or service based on quality, instead of slamming them, pull out stats and facts, and prove them wrong.
