Following on from Apple’s announcement the other week of their new Macbook Pro’s, a machine that does look pretty damn sweet! In fact it made me regret a little the PC that I’m currently typing on, if it weren’t for the few bits and pieces that I want to do on a PC I would have bought one…I’m a sucker for a sexy looking design. Not that I needed much convincing but the PC vs Mac ads seemed to have a taken a turn for the “nasty”. With the ad below making a direct attack on M$ ad spend vs it’s attempts to resolve the issues with vista. Check it out;

 

I have to admit to it being pretty funny, and part of that probably stems from the fact it’s a little bit true. However that said, I don’t hate PC’s and in fact really enjoyed the “I’m a PC” campaign which was much smarter and better executed than the Jerry Seinfield crap they tried to run. They’re also running a second ad that take’s a pop-shot at the latest Microsoft press release about the next version of windows being called “Windows 7″

Now whilst this is great fun, etc, etc it did get me thinking as someone that works in Marketing and Brand; when did negative advertising become so popular? Think back to the day’s when McDonald’s sued Burger King when they ran the campaign with a 6 year-old Sarah Michelle Gellar where she called out McDonald’s burgers and claimed to only eat at “Burger King”

For me it’s something I’ve always shyed away from, there are so many pitfalls that come from having a purely negative campaign. I’m talking front and centre, our product is better that X specific rival for the following reasons or X specific product sucks because of XYZ reasons try product M instead, rather than some of the more standard “more X than any other product”. To openly attack a competitor means that you a) Need a really, really good lawyer B) your product does need to be 100% superior and C) You need to be able to stand up to the response. Why open yourself up the extra scrutiny that comes from negative campaigning, moreover consumers aren’t stupid and not all of them take that well to a product that chooses to “go negative”.  It’s something that’s seen each time a US presidential campaign comes around, candidates go negative against each other, call for an end to negative campaigning, continue to do it, promise not to do it again and then wait 4 years to start all over again. 

There are a limited number of benefits to be gained from negative campaigns. It does give you a very aggressive position and allows you to openly call out your strengths and play up the opponents weaknesses, it gives you a differentiation point that you can quite clearly express without having to be unique. Where as in a traditional campaign you’d look for a unique selling point to set you apart from the competition, this time you can just go they do X we do X ten times better, so if you enjoyed it with them you’ll really enjoy it with us. 

It’s certainly not a route recommended for new starters, it’s one that seems more regularly employed by those well established in an industry trying to make themselves heard against a competitor of similar size and stature. In an internet based world people are going to talk and argue about most things, do you want to fuel that fire with your ad campaign? I can’t get past feeling that a negative approach to a campaign highlights a lack of creativity, a really good & clever campaign around a solid product can generate you so much more exposure, discussion, sales and good will than anything else. I guess my view on this could be jaded by many things, not least the industry I’m in and the products I’ve worked on. 

Either way I think the apple campaign is funny, and sure it got me writing about it and picked up a bunch of coverage across the net but it still feels a little cheap. Like kicking a man when he’s already down with a pitbull around his balls and on fire, why stand over him and point out the flaws that are quite obvious to see. However I don’t think aggressive negative campaigns are going to grow, they leave to much on show and most products won’t stand up to that degree of exposure. Be clever, be creative instead…and before you ask, no not something I’ve ever been quite able to do yet but there’s hope beyond the standard.

I’m now going to go old school with a pen and the sexy FOWA notebook to mull over a random idea to pass the time in the evenings. Expect to see more in the next couple of days…

(Image come from here)