And vice versa. There’s someone out there that might want coffee, but decides on Starbucks over Dunkin.
That’s the danger you face when you promote your product or service. Your competitor will benefit instead when that customer picks them. Unless, of course, you are better in that customer’s eyes.
Better can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people: cheaper, not cheap, convenient, exclusive, fast, hand-crafted, better tasting, familiar, nostalgic, original, authentic, and oh so much more.
We build marketing around meanings like these to establish and reinforce them in our senses, and we build brands to embody those meanings. Seeing a green straw summons the smell, taste, and texture of my favorite drink at Starbucks, while an orange straw likely does the same for many people in the northeast US for Dunkin.
Mean something that some people will think is better, and make sure your better is different than others’ better. That’s the key to business, and it’s the first step to advertising to benefit you more than your competitors. Then you have to make sure that your better comes through in any advertising going to anyone who isn’t your most entrenched customer.
Because otherwise, you are inadvertently assigning part of your ad budget to your competitors. And I am sure they appreciate it.
