Table of Contents

Introduction............................................................................................. 2 Objective and Significance .....................................................................4 Case 1: Rin vs. Tide.................................................................................... 7 History .................................................................................................... 7 Marketing Warfare...................................................................................7 The Ad Campaign.................................................................................... 8 Marketing Strategy.................................................................................. 9 Case 2: Horlicks vs. Complan...................................................................11 History................................................................................................... 11 Marketing Strategy................................................................................ 11 The Ad Campaign ................................................................................. 12 History..................................................................................................... 15 Case 4: BMW vs. Audi............................................................................... 19 Case 5: Pantene vs. Dove.........................................................................26 Case 6: Jet Airways vs. Kingfisher Airlines................................................30 Findings................................................................................................. 33 Conclusion............................................................................................. 35 References, Bibliography and Webliography.........................................36

Introduction
With growing competition there is a greater need to attract and retain consumer attention hence companies rely on marketing techniques that compares the products or services of one undertaking with those of other competitors. Its basic aim is to deliver superior customer value and it is designed to highlight the advantages of the goods or services offered by the advertiser as compared to those of a competitor. The customers are continiously bombarded with general information. Its difficult for a marketer to remain in the mind of the competitor. Marketing warfare fare drives sales by comparing the features or services of a brand with that of its closest competitor for a better product offering.

Marketing warfare fare strategies or competitive advertising are types of strategies, used in business and marketing, that try to draw parallels between business and warfare, and then apply the principles of military strategy to marketing situations, with competing firms considered as analogous to sides in a military conflict, and market share considered as analogous to the territory which is being fought over. This usually takes place in a mature, low-growth market, and when real GDP growth is negative or low, business operates as a zero-sum game because one persons gain is possible only at another persons expense. Success depends on battling competitors for market share.

It started with the notorious cola and detergent wars, and then led to corporate biggies in the consumer product space washing their dirty linen in public. Comparative advertising is not a new phenomenon in corporate India; it has ruffled many a feather in the past. Though there is no compelling evidence in support of the proposition that such advertisingwhere one brand makes random attacks or disparaging comments about its rivalshelps brands in any way, leading companies continue to indulge in such tactics.

In the past decade, there have been several instances of leading brands taking to authorities in retaliation against what they thought was offensive advertising on the
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part of their rivals. Leading textiles firm Raymond Ltd, for instance, found footwear retailer Metro Shoes Ltds new commercial in bad taste. The commercial showed a man wearing a suit with no shoes on, followed with a tag line that said: The Incomplete Man. This got Raymond upset because it was in direct conflict with its decade-old sloganThe Complete Man. Raymond, in an official communication to Metro Shoes, alleged that the advertisement is a clear evidence of mal-intent and deliberate denigration of the Raymond brand, with the ad being poorly executed. It asked Metro Shoes to either withdraw the advertisement or face legal action.

In retaliation, Metro Shoes went to the Advertising Standard Council of India (ASCI), a self regulatory body of the advertising industry, asking it to settle the controversy. The idea was to convey that a person without shoes is incomplete. There is no mal-intent behind the ad because Raymonds product line is completely different from ours, said Sohel Kamdar, vice-president, Metro Shoes. ASCI is looking into the matter.

In a similar episode, 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 others part. First, Wipro Ltd got an injunction from a Hyderabad court on an ad by Godrej, which claimed its soap brand Godrej No. 1s 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 Godrejs own brand Ezee. The Punjab court, where the company filed the case, passed an interim injunction restraining Wipro from continuing the controversial ad.

Organizations engage in marketing warfare s to generate massive attention, engage their audiences and attract large number of eyeballs. Its main aim is to make certain claims that they are better than their competitors. Also its a creative way to show that competitors claims are invalid and rubbish.

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Objective and Significance

The objective of this study is to identify the marketing strategies adopted by leading brands during a situation of a marketing warfare. The aim was to study the marketing warfare and identify what and how the organization manages to grab the customers attention. We will read about a brief history about the brand, the reason for the marketing warfare taking place, the actual competitive advertisements and the marketing strategies used by the companies. On the positive side, the brand gives their customers reasons why they are better than the other products. They make their brand stand out from amongst the clutter. Dropping the name of a competitor can be a way to capitalize off of the accomplishments of another brand, and take it in a fresh (or at least different) direction. The brand lets the market know that they are part of the market. One negative aspect of this kind of ad campaign is that the brand is putting the competitors brand in the minds of the potential customers. Depending on the nature of the campaign, it could be looked upon as a lack of class on the companies part if they are insulting their competitors in the ads. This can negatively impact the business. On the face of it, such aggressive tactics may seem damaging for brands, specially the aggressors, but some marketing experts say it actually helps them get immediate consumer attention. One potential danger with competitive campaigns is that they may have an adverse effect upon the whole category of goods/services concerned. However, an arguably successful example of negative advertising was the long-running series of ads run by Apple against PCs (represented by a tired, conservative, behind the times, nerdy man who was contrasted with a more lively, trendy and with it Mac guy). The campaign worked because it was done in a light-hearted way. It was pitched against a product type rather than an individual manufacturer and the market was binary, (eg, there were just two operating systems you could choose from- Mac or PC), and so to the extent that the campaign succeeded in making one doubt PCs it must be to the benefit of Macs (eg, Apple).
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Brand owners should avoid being seen as mean-spirited, eg, the market-leader picking on a plucky new entrant. On the other hand, new entrants often have the least to lose and the most to gain from a comparative campaign, provided it is based upon a genuine product innovation or superiority, and keeps its nose clean in legal/regulatory terms. Above all, always do plenty of market testing before proceeding with such a campaign to ensure that the consumer response is what you are expecting.

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We will now look at a few cases from advertising history both Indian and international. India is a highly competitive market. Hence to break thru and stand out from the crowd a lot of brands rely on competitive advertising. The cases we will read about today are: 1. Rin vs. Tide 2. Horlicks vs. Complan 3. Coca Cola vs. Pepsi 4. BMW vs. Audi 5. Pantene vs. Dove 6. Jet Airways vs. Kingfisher Airlines

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Case 1: Rin vs. Tide History Rin is a product of HUL. Rin was launched in India as a bar in 1969 with the iconic lightning. Rin powder was launched in 1994 as Rin Power White. The advertising campaign 'Zara Sa Rin ' which means 'Just A Little of Rin' achieves superlative whiteness. This was hugely successful in establishing a superior brand image in the consumer's mind. During early 2000, Rin had two variants Rin Shakti and Rin Supreme. Shakti was a low priced detergent cake and Supreme was the premium variant (Product line extensions). Somewhere down the line, HUL dropped Rin Shakti. Then in 2004, Rin Shakti was re launched as Rin Advanced.

Tide is manufactured by Procter & Gamble. The brand in India was launched with only two types of products namely Tide detergent and Tide bar. Consumers believe that white clothes once dirtied or stained can never look new again. Tide wanted to change this very belief of the consumers by bringing to life the Tide Dirt Magnets property. In 2000, Procter & Gamble Home Products introduced Tide Detergent Powder - the largest selling detergent in the world.

Marketing Warfare Initially Tide was trailing behind Rin. But since 2007, sales picked up, and its market share rose, posing a threat to HUL whose share started eroding. In December 2009, P&G Home Products introduced Tide Naturals, a new version of Tide, at a price lower than HULs Rin brand targeted at the rural segment. Competitive intensity had increased after the launch of Tide Naturals by P&G in the mass segment. HUL had responded with aggressive price cuts in Rin and a formulation change and thus the war begins.

In Jan 2004 new Rin powder was launched with double whiteness proposition. Rin was priced at Rs. 42 for 1 kg pack and Rs. 20 for 500 gms and Rs. 10 for 250 grams. Seeing the bold & confident move from Hul and realizing that pricing being of one reason for
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not being accepted by market even P&G slashed the prices of Tide. The Price was brought down to Rs. 23 for 500 gms as against previous price of Rs. 43, Rs. 50 for 750 gms as against Rs. 70.

There was a proxy war going on between Rin and Tide since December 2009. In order to retain its market share, in December P&G introduced a low-cost detergent, Tide Natural, claiming in its ads that it provided "whiteness with special fragrance". The product was positioned against HUL's Rin and Wheel. Tide Naturals was priced significantly lower to the Rin. Tide Naturals was launched at Rs 50 per Kg , Rs 10 for 200 gms and Rs 20 for400 gms. Rin was priced at Rs 70 per Kg at that time.

The reduced price of the Tide variant was an immediate threat to Rin. Since Tide already has an established brand equity, Rin was bound to face the heat. Although HUL had another low priced brand Wheel priced at Rs 32/Kg, Tide was not in the same category of Wheel.

Rin had to cut the price to resist the market share erosion. HUL was facing steady erosion in the market share in most of the categories. In the detergent category itself, the brand faced a market share fall of 2.5% in December 2009. With P&G starting a price war, HUL had to react and it did by cutting the price of Rin by 30% to Rs 50 per Kg.

The Ad Campaign The Ad Campaign Rin launched a commercial in 2010 comparing Rin and Tide naturals. The ad shows two mothers waiting at a bus stop for their children, who are returning from school. They spot each other's shopping baskets - one woman's basket sports a packet of Rin, while the other has purchased Tide Naturals. The Tide lady looks proudly at her purchase and brags about Tide's 'khushboo aur safedi bhi' offering (fragrance combined with whiteness). The Rin lady simply smiles.

When the school bus rounds the corner and drops off the two children, the Tide lady's boy is wearing a visibly dull shirt, while behind him emerges a boy clad in a spotless
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white shirt, who runs past the shocked Tide lady, over to his 'Rin' mother. To make things cheekier, the boy asks his mother, 'Aunty chaunk kyun gayi?' (Why is aunty so shocked?), where the word 'chaunk' could easily be a reference to Tide's punch line, 'Chaunk gaye?' The voiceover concludes that Rin is 'behtar' or superior to Tide, when it comes to whiteness, and at a 'chaunkane wala' price of Rs 25, at that. A super, 'Issued in the interest of Rin users', completes the commercial.

Rin takes a direct dig at Tide

P&G takes HUL to court over Rin advertisement. The practice of pulling down rivals in ones marketing communications is not new in India; yet, the ad took the industry by surprise because it was an open war declared by one powerful company against the other. P&G has filed a case in the Calcutta High Court against Hindustan Unilever's new ad campaign, which openly challenged the superiority of its product Rin over P&G's Tide.

Marketing Strategy The price wars enabled P&G to popularize the brand and increase the penetration. Tide had found its formula highlighting its whitening power against HULs Rin which has the same positioning. On the other hand war entered a new episode when HUL launched its Rin Safedi Ki Challenge campaign. Apart from this there is also a layer of celebrity power in the form of bollywood actor Kajol as an additional punch. Soon after this advertisement, as expected, P&G proceeded to Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), the industry watchdog that regulates all advertising in the
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country, and got a ban on this Ad. It seems, P&G has also filed a lawsuit against HULs disparaging advertisement. As a ripple effect, HUL filed a case against P&G, claiming P&Gs Tide Naturals detergent branding is misleading as it says it has natural ingredients like Sandal and Lemon. And as expected, P&G had to take the back fire as it had to admit that its low-priced detergent brand Tide Naturals contains no natural ingredients.

So, the Madras High Court issued an order to P&G to modify its advertising for Tide Naturals to clarify prominently to consumers that the detergent does not contain lemon and chandan.

The Rin advertisement is clearly the most disparaging in the history of HUL (and in the country as well), which is desperate to check a decline in its market share to rivals and smaller regional players. The rule of caveat emptor wonderfully fits into today's marketing environment. Advertisements, more specifically comparative advertisements are the brainchild of our creative advertisers. These advertisements are just the tools in the hands of people who are designing them, so any complaints or criticisms need to be addressed to and against their makers and not against the tools (comparative advertisements). Marketers and advertisers must remember that it's easy to look at a competitor and find gaps in his product or services. It's harder, but definitely more valuable, to fill these gaps in one's own offering and build real competitive advantages with which you can offer delight to the customer rather than just satisfying them. P&G India always was a laid back competitor in the FMCG market. Despite having the product portfolio and market strength, it never realized its potential. The company was happy with their minuscule market share in the various categories in the FMCG business.

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Case 2: Horlicks vs. Complan History Horlicks has been a popular brand in India since 1930. The Horlicks available has been scientifically developed and specifically caters to the nutritional needs of the Indian diet. Horlicks alone enjoys 50% of the Health Food Drinks market. Although it has been a popular brand in the Indian market since the 1930s, Horlicks underwent a complete revamp in 2003 to further increase its relevance. The modern and contemporary Horlicks offers pleasurable nourishment with a delicious range of flavours including Vanilla, Toffee, Elaichi and Chocolate. Complan was launched in India in 1964. Complan the Complete Planned Food in a Drink is formulated as per the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines suggested for growing children. Complan was first introduced by Glaxo in the United Kingdom, as an essential nutritional supplement for soldiers at the frontlines during the Second World War. It was introduced to India in 1964 by Glaxo Laboratories and Heinz came to India in 1994 by taking over the Family Products Division of Glaxo with powerful brands such as Complan, Glucon-D, Nycil and Sampriti. Complan is one of the most popular milk food drinks available in India. It is coined from the words COMplete and PLANned. Marketing Strategy Earlier Horlicks believed, white drinks are for the entire family in contrast to the browns, whose prime target audience is children. It targets mothers for its nourishment and children for its great taste and variety. Horlicks initially positioned itself as food for convalescing and a nutrient supplement for kids only. Later on it introduced other variants to reposition itself from children segment to other segments. It repositioned itself as complete nutritional drink. It again improved itself to TALLER, STRONGER, and SHARPER. It soon came up with Junior Horlicks, Mothers Horlicks and Horlicks Lite thereby pulling in new customers.

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Complan mainly target growing children because children need adequate and balanced nutrition to help them achieve their maximum growth potential. Complan is also ideal for busy adults (especially housewives and rushed office-goers), expectant and nursing mother, elderly people and athletes. Complan proclaims itself as a Complete Planned Food for growth with 23 nutrients. Later it gave up its comparative positioning & tried to match the product claim & the customer needs. It repositioned itself as a drink fulfilling the nourishment needs of people who cannot or do not eat enough.

The Ad Campaign Complan had never been an aggressive player compared to the market leader Horlicks. This explains the reason why such a powerful brand is languishing in a distant position of 15% market share compared to the 60% share of Horlicks. While Horlicks has been breaking new grounds with a series of variants aiming at the entire family segment, Complan was lying low all these years. The major happening for this brand in 2008 was the launch of the new flavour Kesari Badam. In the promotional front, the brand was in a low key mode continuing with the extension of its earlier campaign focusing on Extra growth.

Complan has put a direct comparison with Horlicks by showing Horlicks brand on the ad and then comparing the various attributes. In most of the comparative ads, the name of competing brands will not be directly mentioned to avoid litigation. The ads will

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either use letters or dummies for comparison. The ad copy asks the readers to choose between the "low cost health drink " and " Complete Growth. Then the ad talks about why Complan is better than Horlicks by comparing both in the parameters like main ingredients, protein content protein quality and number of nutrients. The ad also reinforces the new positioning Grow Twice Faster ". Complan is also ran a TVC around the same theme. The TVC is almost a Cut- Copy of the Horlicks earlier campaign of Taller, Sharper, and Stronger ". The ad shows the before-after results of two samples and claim that Complan users grow two times more than the non-users. The ad spoke of the high price of Complan and was claiming that Horlicks had more than 23 nutrients but costs less than Complan. The Complan boy goes on to say, Mine makes me Taller' with the show of measuring up the height on one's shoulder at the Complan ads, the Horlicks boy replies, Mine Makes Me Taller, Stronger & Sharper . The Complan boy then says, Mine Costs Rs. 170 and the Horlicks boy replies, Mine Costs Only Rs. 131. Horlicks thus highlighted the nutritional content and price gap between the two brands, and showed Horlicks as a better and more inexpensive health drink. In another TVC the as starts by a mother wondering - "Is it true that Complan makes kids grow faster (than Horlicks)?" It bugs her so much she decides to check it out for herself. She goes out and collects a bunch of other concerned mothers like herself. All of them march towards The Centre for Health and. An official looking doctor greets them. The man raises both hands to pacify the mob of mothers.

"We've done scientific tests" he assures the mothers. "We gave one group of kids Complan and another group of kids that other drink. And we found that the kids who drank Complan grew twice as much as the other kids". While the doctor is talking, scenes of doctors measuring the height of kids are shown. Later the concerned mother looks at the camera and joyously announces: "Get ready for your kids to grow twice as fast!"

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The advertisements talked about how their respective brand was better than the other and showed the competitor's product in bad light when compared to the company's products. In September 2008, Heinz moved the Bombay High Court objecting to advertisements of Horlicks which highlighted the nutritional content and price gap between the two brands, and showed Horlicks as a better and more inexpensive health drink than Complan. The advertisement showed the competitor brand clearly while making the comparison. Heinz later followed up with its own ad comparing Horlicks unfavourably with Complan. This prompted GSK to file a case in the Delhi High Court in December 2008 claiming that the ad released by Heinz disparaged its brand by calling it low priced, and thereby damaging its reputation. Experts felt that in their quest to outdo their rivals, advertisers resort to comparative advertising and at times ends up denigrating the competitor brand. Some analysts felt that companies resorted to comparative advertising to gain publicity and to increase sale. Though both the companies backed their claims with scientific research data, they were still locked in a legal battle. Issues of disparaging ads by rival companies were often resolved by the ASCI. But with constant mudslinging at each other, the two companies decided to battle it out in the courts instead.

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Case 3: Coca Cola vs. Pepsi

History Coca-Cola is a global corporation selling the worlds largest soft drink concentrates since 1886. It returned to India in 1993 after a 16 year hiatus, in the same year, the Company took over ownership of the nations top soft-drink brand and bottling network. Ever since, Coca-Cola India has made significant investments to build and continually consolidate its business in the country, including new production facilities, waste water treatment plants, distribution systems, and marketing channels. PepsiCo gained entry to India in 1988 by creating a joint venture with the Punjab government-owned Punjab Agro Industrial Corporation (PAIC) and Voltas India Limited. This joint venture marketed and sold Lehar Pepsi until 1991, when the use of foreign brands was allowed; PepsiCo bought out its partners and ended the joint venture in 1994. As of 2005, The Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo together hold 95% market share of soft-drink sales in India. Coke is still the market share leader in soft drinks. The War When Coke re-entered India, it found Pepsi had already established itself in the soft drinks market. The global advertisement wars between the cola giants quickly spread to India as well. Internationally, Pepsi had always been seen as the more aggressive and offensive of the two, and its advertisements the world over were believed to be more popular than Coke's.

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Pepsi beat Coke in the Diet-Cola segment, as it managed to launch Diet Pepsi much before Coke could launch Diet Coke. After the Government gave clearance to the use of Aspartame and Acesul fame-K (potassium) in combination (ASK), for use in lowcalorie soft drinks, Pepsi officials lost no time in rolling out Diet Pepsi at its Roha plant and sending it to retail outlets in Mumbai. Pepsi and Coke fought the war on a new turf. Pepsi filed a petition against Coke alleging that Coke had 'entered into a conspiracy to disrupt its business operations. Coke was accused of luring away three of Pepsi's key sales personnel from Kanpur, going as far as to offer Rs 10 lakh a year in pay and perks to one of them, almost five times what Pepsi was paying him. Sales personnel who were earning Rs 48,000 per annum were offered Rs 1.86 lakh a year. Coke launched Thumps Up in blue cans, with four different pictures depicting macho sports' such as sky diving, surfing, wind-surfing and snow-boarding. Much to Pepsi's chagrin, the cans were coloured blue - the colour Pepsi had chosen for its identity a month earlier, in response to Coke's 'red' identity. There were frequent complaints from both the players about their bottlers and retailers being hijacked. Pepsi's blue painted retail outlets being painted in Coke's red colour overnight and vice-versa was a common phenomenon in the 1990s

Coke also turned its attention to Pepsi's stronghold. Coke doubled its reach to a reported 5 lakh outlets, when Pepsi was present at only 3.5 lakh outlets. To reach out to

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smaller markets, interceptor units in the form of mobile vans were also launched by Coke in 1998 in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal .However, in its rush to beat Pepsi at the retail game, Coke seemed to have faltered on the service front. For instance, many shops in Uttar Pradesh frequently ran out of stock and there was no servicing for Coke's coolers. Marketing Strategies One important thing must be noticed that Thumps Up is a strong brand in western and southern India, while Coca Cola is strong in Northern and Eastern India. With volumes of Thumps Up being low in the capital, there are likely chances of Coca Cola slashing the prices of Thumps Up and continue to sell Coca Cola at the same rate. Analysts feel that this strategy may help Coke since it has 2 Cola brands in comparison to Pepsi which has just one. Thumps Up accounts for 40% of Coca Cola Companys turn over, followed by Coca Cola which has a 23% share and Limca which accounts for 17% of the turnover of the company. Coca Cola India has positioned Thumps up as a beverage associated with adventure because of its strong taste and also making it compete with Pepsi as even Pepsi is associated with adventure, youth.

Coke may have gained an early advantage over Pepsi since it took over Parle in 1994. Hence, it had ready access to over 2, 00,000 retailer outlets and 60 bottlers. Coke was

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had a better distribution network, owing to the wide network of Parle drinks all over India. Coke has further expanded its distribution network. Coke and its product were available in over 2, 50,000 outlets (in contrast with Pepsi's 2, 00,000). Coke has a greater advantage in terms of geographical coverage. It must be remembered that soft drinks purchases are an "impulse buy low involvement products" which makes promotion and advertising an important marketing tool. The 2 arch rivals have spent a lot on advertising and on promotional activities. To promote a brand and even to spend a lot on advertising, the company must be aware of the perceived quality of the brand, its brand power (if at all there is) since consumers make purchase decision based on their perceptions of value i.e., of quality relative to price.

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Case 4: BMW vs. Audi BMW and Audi are two German rivals that have always been fond of taking shots at each other thats nothing new. But this rivalry has spawned a new battle where creativity and ad budgets are the weapons. They have fought battles on all fronts - on ground activation, mobile, social media, and magazines.

Billboards It all started with a billboard in Los Angeles, CA. This seemingly innocent ad along Santa Monica Blvd. started a steady game of advertising one-upmanship that has included different media, and has even spread around the world.

The battle began in California last April when Audi erected a billboard for the new Audi A4 with the caption Chess? No Thanks, Id rather be driving.

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But that billboard soon changed with the more snarky addition of Your Move, BMW.

Sure enough, BMW did make a big move, with a new billboard directly across the street. Adorning the new BMW M3, the ad simply said Checkmate. Even though it wasnt purchased by Los Angeles BMW, it was still a topic of conversation.

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Audi responded with a new billboard showing the incredible Audi R8. The caption on the billboard read Time to check your luxury badge. It may have expired.

Video strategy (broadcast, online, mobile) Both automotive brands developed comprehensive broadcast, online and mobile video programs. Audi's broadcast and online video placements centred heavily on major sports events -- which meant Audi outspent BMW on network television. Audi launched its "Green Police" commercial in this year's Super Bowl. The spot itself garnered a lot of buzz, getting more than 2.2 million views to date on YouTube. But the commercial was also teased with a series of Green Police mock PSA videos on a YouTube Green Police channel. One spot advocated avoiding "napkin abuse" to save a billion pounds of napkins from landfills each year. Audi immediately followed with a substantial presence during NBC's Winter Olympics coverage. In addition to the standard commercial buys, Audi -- a U.S. ski team sponsor -- produced a documentary about the U.S. Ski Team called "Truth in Motion" that aired on NBC prior to the Games on Jan. 30. Audi also promoted the team through webisodes distributed on sites such as Facebook and Blip.tv and in Audi's monthly newsletter. Other video buys this year included March Madness and the FIFA World Cup. Finally, for this year's involvement with the American LeMans car race, Audi worked with Speed network to produce real-time streaming of the race on SkyGrid, an app that aggregates real-time news for Apple's iPad.
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BMW's 2010 Joy campaign kicked off in the Winter Olympics. Spots included 60second executions showing how BMW brings drivers "Joy" in driving and in fuel efficiency. BMW integrated the message in the Games by sponsoring NBC's "Olympic Moments of Joy" segments. On the digital side, BMW executed "Joy" with homepage takeovers on NBC-owned sites that connected BMW branded "Golden Moments of Joy" videos and the "Golden Moments of Joy" section on NBCOlympics.com. NBC's Olympic iPhone app and the MSNBCOlympics.com site also featured "Joy" infused banners and pre-roll video. While Audi's television buy was more centered in network TV, BMW ran a much heavier skew on local broadcast and cable. In contrast to Audi's sport-skewed schedule, BMW bought around news -- FOX News, CNN, CNBC and MSNBC -- and general entertainment on networks such as TNT, TBS and USA. Online and Social Both companies have a significant online display presence, but BMW out voiced Audi in this category in terms of sheer impressions with nearly four times the load. They also had a higher ratio of rich media content. Over a third of BMW's impressions served over the past year were rich media display placements versus less than 5% for Audi.

The company's YouTube page has been branded the new BMW TV. It features a collection of BMW television ads, branded short-form videos and racing and driving footage of all of the company's models. The featured video shows the travels of 12

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Canadian BMW enthusiasts who were given the chance to drive their favourite BMW models on the high speed motorways across Europe. Audi took a big position in Yahoo during the FIFA World Cup and was the exclusive sponsor for Yahoo's coverage of the entire month long sporting event. Both ran schedules on endemic automotive sites such as Edmunds.com, AutoWeek, Auto Trends, Car and Driver and Auto Trader.

Audi's Facebook page currently features an online petition to bring Audi's TT RS model into the U.S market. Its YouTube page has several driving videos of Audi models and some of the company's most recent commercials. To generate buzz for its Green Police Super Bowl spot, Audi hosted the "Audi Efficiency Challenge" during Super Bowl weekend. The challenge pitched influential journalists against NFL players, including Chad Henne of the Miami Dolphins and Osi Umenyiora of the New York Giants, in a race to determine who could achieve the best fuel-efficiency in the Audi Q7 TDI clean diesel SUV while driving from Audi headquarters in Herndon, Va., to Miami. Each participant's progress was tracked on Facebook and Twitter.

Mobile Mobile apps have become a new plaything for marketers and, you would have to believe, a worthwhile channel to engage a significant number of the right target

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customers. Kudos to both BMW and Audi for maintaining a rich depth of related apps and podcasts on the iPhone, iTouch and iPad platforms. They produce a variety of podcasts, video content, brand experiences and related news content for their enthusiasts. I feel BMW has a slightly richer level of content through BMW magazine's iPad apps and BMW TV podcasts. The BMW Z4 features a 360 degree view of the new Z4 roadster, which does a nice job for the brand. I also liked its Motorsport Le Mans 2010 app which was populated with some rich content.

Audi's A4 Driving Challenge driving simulation, one of its most popular gaming apps, had good graphics but, I have to admit, leaves me a little dizzy. While video and interactive experiences are the vogue, I would have liked to have seen some quality audio. I'm sure many drivers who are able to connect their iPods to their cars' audio systems would be open to listening to some content that adds to their driving experience. Magazine To promote the Joy launch, BMW ran a series of spreads in January issues of Conde Nast titles such as Bon Appetite, Conde Nast Traveler, GQ, Vanity Fair, W, Wired and The New Yorker. A notable print execution of the campaign was a custom four-page spread in Vanity Fair's March Hollywood issue featuring vintage images of Elvis and his BMW 507 under the title "Joy is Timeless."

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Much of Audi's print focus has been centred around its Sportscar Experience Driving School. Audi tends to focus on endemic automobile and racing publications. Film sponsorship and product placement Audi activated a marketing promotion around "Iron Man 2" that included prominent product placements for the R8 Spyder and the A8 sedan. Related marketing efforts included "Iron Man" themed spots in movie theaters, on late night TV and a presence on Fandango.com and Movies.com. An episode of "Entertainment Tonight" integrated the R8 Spyder by featuring Robert Downey Jr. and director Jon Favreau discussing the vehicle as well as host Mark Steines covering it in a segment. Audi also sponsored the re-launch of Marvel.com, which showcased the car via a digital comic book. Audi's social media aspect of its "Iron Man" marketing came about in the "Tony Stark Innovation Challenge" contest, which promoted the movie's theme of technology as a force for good. Consumers were challenged to submit two-minute videos containing ideas for inventions that promoted cleaner living to TonyStarkInnovationChallenge.com and then promote the videos on Facebook, Twitter and MySpace in order to garner comments, discussion and consumer ratings . "Iron Man 2" was not the only movie with an Audi. Tina Fey and Steve Carrell's characters stole the R8 Coupe from Mark Wahlberg in "Date Night," while Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz drove the S5 Cabriolet in "Knight and Day."

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Case 5: Pantene vs. Dove History Pantene is a brand of hair care products owned by Procter & Gamble. The product line was first introduced in Europe in 1947 by Hoffman-LaRoche of Switzerland, which branded the name based on panthenol as a shampoo ingredient. It was purchased by Procter & Gamble (P&G) in 1985 in order for P&G to compete in the "beauty product" market rather than only functional products. Dove launched first in the US in 1957; is one of the leading brands of Unilever globally. Dove has its footprint in 80 countries worldwide with a range of superior products from bar, lotions, body washes, face care and creams. It is the leading bar brand in UK, US and Canada. Introduced in 1993, it is the fastest growing hair category brand in India. The shampoo market in India is estimated to be ` 2,500-3,000 crore. The shampoo market is India is categorized according to the benefits they provide. Mostly consisting of three kinds of shampoos cosmetic, herbal and anti-dandruff, the shampoo market in India has managed to tap users of the various segments according to their requirements and preferences. The Ad Campaign The top shampoo brands in India include Sunsilk, Clinic Plus, Dove and Pantene. The company that leads the shampoo market in India is Hindustan Unilever Limited. The top three most sought after brands Sunsilk, Dove and Clinic are produced by HUL. The company holds a 44% market share in the Indian shampoo industry. It is said that HUL earns almost 8% of its revenue from the sale of these products The other recent brand that has taken the Indian personal care industry by storm is Pantene. Since its very inception the brand was a best seller. A product of FMCG giants Proctor and Gamble Pantene has slowly and steadily managed to capture quite a large amount of the Indian market. Proctor and Gamble the second top shampoo brand in India holds a market share of around 25% in the Indian shampoo industry.

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The story starts on July 23, when Mumbai woke up to hoardings that screamed: A Mystery Shampoo!! 80% women say is better than anything else. P&G, it was later found, was planning to unveil the new Pantene on August 1. It was a high-profile multimedia effort using hoardings, TV and the social network. Actors Katrina Kaif, Neha Dhupia and Shilpa Shetty were crowing on social network sites about how good the shampoo is, and posted their transformed looks on various sites, and how happy they were to sign on this brand as endorsers, and how soon the mystery would be out.

In 2008 P & G did something similar in the US for Pantene. The campaign was hijacked by HUL, and exactly five days later, and well before Procter & Gamble could unveil its Pantene brand, a new set of hoardings appeared in Mumbai declaring There is no mystery. Dove is the No. 1 shampoo. The thunder of the mystery seems to have been stolen. It was a very futile and unfortunate event for Proctor & Gamble.

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With HULs new ad campaign hitting the media last week, other shampoo majors are expected to take action against HULs television campaign which shows how dandruff returns after washing with leading shampoos, predict industry analysts. Call it the clear case of comparative advertising. Last year, HUL had launched a comparative ad campaign with the ad line Dove is No. 1 Shampoo to take on P&Gs Pantene's relaunch advertising campaign in multi -media. Clearly, an ad war is brewing in the branded shampoos sector. When the suits at HUL found out, they saw an opportunity to score a point. They ambushed P&G. On July 28, even as the P&G hoardings stood tall on its skyline, Mumbai woke up to another hoarding that was upfront, and suggestive of its source of inspiration. It said: There is no mystery. Dove is the No.1 shampoo. Dove is one of the four brands in HULs shampoo portfolio.

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Procter & Gamble has three shampoo brands in India: Pantene, Head & Shoulders, and Rejoice. And Dove is one of the four brands in HULs shampoo portfolio, the others being Sunsilk, Clinic Plus and Clinic All Clear. Ironically, the leadership claims of both companies on the hoardings rests on their own research that too limited. For example, the P&G 80% contention is based on a Thailand consumer test done by P&G Japan in October 2008 among 1,200 women. Similarly, HULs claim on Dove is based on winner hair care category, survey of over 30,000 people by Nielsen. A company official said Dove is the leader in the top-end shampoo segment with sales of Rs 200 crore in 2009-10. People in the industry say companies are getting aggressive on the advertising front because consumer spends on relatively discretionary purchases have been subdued due to food inflation. Growth in the overall shampoo market has slowed from 17% in 2008 to 11% in 2009 and 9% in 2010 (till May). The marketing and advertising wars are expected to intensify as neither company wants to lose market share in emerging markets, which are still recording growth and have untapped potential.

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Case 6: Jet Airways vs. Kingfisher Airlines History Jet Airways is one of Indias premier private airlines. It was incorporated as an air taxi operator on April 1, 1992. Jet Airways started its commercial airline operations on 5 May 1993 with a fleet of four leased Boeing 737-300 aircrafts and 24 daily flights serving 12 destinations. In January 2006, Jet Airways announced its decision to buy Air Sahara, the only other major private airline, making it the biggest takeover in Indian aviation history. Kingfisher Airlines began its operations on 9 May 2005, following the lease of four Airbus A320 aircraft. The inaugural flight was from Mumbai to Delhi. On June 15, 2005, it became the first (and only) Indian airline to order the Airbus A380. Ever since its launch in May 2005, Kingfisher Airlines has blazed a trail of innovations and introduced a range of market-firsts that have completely redefined the whole experience of flying. By elevating its customers to a level of being guests and not just passengers, Kingfisher Airlines has endeared itself to consumers. Kingfisher Airlines was the first Indian airline to introduce in-flight entertainment (IFE) system on domestic flights. Jet Airways is positioned as a global airline with the highest international standards but with a touch of India. They have retained many of the familiar elements of our corporate identity, but have contemporized them to make the brand more relevant to global markets. The airlines set prices above the market price benefited by its brandimage to reflect the quality of their service. Jet Airways charges a premium price for providing frills and extra comfort to the customer. They provide options like first class, executive and economy. The Ad Campaign The Brand Kingfisher has been made synonymous with `Good Times in India. Coherent and clear positioning has also enabled Kingfisher Airlines to differentiate itself in a market. Kingfisher has implemented this positioning by making service and hospitality their main focus. Kingfisher has opted for value for money to charge lower

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by operating cost cuts. They follow low and simple fare structure while offering great service. Jet Airways bought over Air Sahara and embarked on a Rs 10 crore campaign to announce its change, (we have changed It said) Jet Airways, which spends up to Rs 50 crore a year on marketing, has increased its budget after it bought and rebranded Sahara into JetLite.. It expected to communicate the new and improved Jet. But it didnt expect to be in the non-enviable position of having to see its competition hijacking its campaign right from under its nose tips. Everywhere in Mumbai streets especially, right above the we have changed Jet ad at Cadbury Junction, which is around two kilometers from Jet chairman Naresh Goyal's residence, KF and its war managers put up another hoarding which proudly proclaimed we made them change!!!!

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Jet leads with a 31% share while Kingfisher has 10.5%.( Well I am not sure about the exactness if this numbers, still). But its ad agency M&C Saatchi preferred to ignore the issue of competition and embarked on the much touted. Jet was forced to withdraw the campaign, and start a new one saying " Take Off To New York Daily ". Not to be left behind, taking the war of words forward, Kingfisher Airlines again changed its hoarding which stated, Theyve flown from here to New York.

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Findings
As you all know that Every coin has two sides Similarly comparative advertisements are important and beneficial from the consumers and producers point of view only to the extent it is providing information about the product and making them aware. On the other hand comparative advertisements are not beneficial if advertisers comparisons are false & misleading. Comparative advertising has been increasingly implemented through the years and the types of comparative advertising range from comparing a single attribute dimension, comparing an attribute unique to the target and absent in the referent and comparisons involving attributes unique to both brands. The contributing factors to the effectiveness of comparative advertising include believability, which refers to the extent a consumer can rely on the information provided in comparative advertisements, the level of involvement, and the convenience in evaluation, provided by spoon feeding the consumer with information that does not require extra effort in recall. Comparative advertising is generally coupled with negativity, as evidenced by early industry condemnation. Stating reasons such as participation in comparative advertising damaged the honour and credibility of advertising. Studies have suggested that negative information can be stored more effectively, thus generating the impact that any advertisement is purposed for, and more importantly, strong recall. On the contrary, such negativity can either be transferred directly to the brand and the consumers impression of the brand, various studies through the years have proven that comparative advertising has been responded to negatively Some of the relevant observations regarding comparative ads are given below: Comparative ads are perceived to be beneficial to the consumers since more information is provided to him by the competitors. Comparative ads are encouraged in certain markets like USA by the regulators because it increases transparency and provides more information to consumers.

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The comparative ads generally result in counter arguments which often create such a noise that it discounts the original argument/information. Consumers tend to discount the claims by both the competing brand because of the arguments.

Comparative advertising strategy is more effective for smaller brands rather than established large brands. By challenging a larger brand through comparative ad , the small brands tend to derive more acceptance and awareness than the larger brand.

Comparative ads are found to be more effective for categories where consumers tend to use their analytical mind. Comparative ads tend to fail where consumers use imagery while evaluating the brands. For example, products like automobiles use comparative ads extensively and with effectiveness

There are also studies which show that male consumers are more attracted towards comparative ads compared to female consumers.

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Conclusion
Competitive advertising involves informing consumers of characteristics of rival products. On the surface, the practice would appear socially benecial (assuming of course that the advertising is not misleading) and should lead to better informed choices. It has though been pointed out that it may relax price competition (and lead to higher prices) because it increases product differentiation. However, this is also true for direct advertising, so a useful theory should also explain when it is used and not. Comparative advertising focuses on intrinsic quality differences in the products sold. If these qualities are quite similar, rms have enough incentive to advertise their own products and comparative advertising plays no role. This is true in a balanced market with rms that have similar market shares. Only if market shares are sufficiently different does comparative advertising come into play. If it is illegal, the strong rm may not need to advertise, and the weak rm may be overwhelmed. If comparative advertising is legal though, the weak rm can improve its consumer base and survive by using advertising that targets the dominant product and compares characteristics. Thus comparative advertising is used by weaker rms targeting market leaders. This is in line with most instances in practice. It enables weaker rms to increase sales, and, in some instances, to survive. The dominant rm effectively parlays its quality advantage into both a high mark-up and high sales, although this is more acute when only one product information is advertised, a case where the weaker rm may be driven out of the market. Some caveats are worth drawing. First, even when total welfare falls, it may be that consumer welfare rises since comparative advertising may be associated with lower prices when quality (or cost) differences are large enough. Second, such lower prices might entail a lower deadweight loss if the model were extended to allow for nonpurchase options. If consumers were not, they might be manipulated by misleading advertising. The legal system may play an important role in ensuring truthfulness in this context.

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References, Bibliography and Webliography

Barigozzi, F. and M. Peitz, 2004, Informative Comparative Advertising and the Competitiveness of Markets Advertising Management: Rajeev Batra, John G.Myers & David A. Aaker: Prentice Hall India. Research Paper on Comparative Advertising: disclosing horizontal match information by Simon P. Anderson and Regis Renault "Competitive Advertising a Creating Controversy to Get Maximum Eyeballs!!" India Business & Technology Hub. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Sept. 2012. <http://trak.in/tags/business/2010/09/20/competitive-advertising/>. "Competitive Advertising | Weirdomatic." Weirdomatic. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Sept. 2012. <http://www.weirdomatic.com/competitive-advertising.html>. Brand Update : Rin Vs Tide , The Strategy: http://marketingpractice.blogspot.in/2010/03/brand-update-rin-vs-tidestrategy.html "Advertisement's War : Pepsi vs Coca Cola, Audi vs BMW." Advertisement's War : Pepsi vs Coca Cola, Audi vs BMW . N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Sept. 2012. <http://www.binscorner.com/pages/a/advertisements-war-pepsi-vs-coca-colaau.html>. "Ambush Marketing: HUL's Last-minute Surprise Foxes P&G." The Economic Times. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Sept. 2012. <http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2010-0729/news/28435323_1_mystery-shampoo-ambush-marketing-head-shoulders>. Answers.com. Answers, n.d. Web. 09 Sept. 2012. <http://www.answers.com/topic/new-coke>. Answers.com. Answers, n.d. Web. 09 Sept. 2012. <http://www.answers.com/topic/pepsi-stuff>. "Best Ad: Advertising War: Coca-Cola VS Pepsi." Best Ad: Advertising War: Coca-Cola VS Pepsi. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Sept. 2012. <http://best-ad.blogspot.in/2008/10/advertising-war-coca-cola-vs-pepsi.html>.

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"Comparative Advertising: The Debate Is Back." Ramblings on Advertising, Apple, Social Media. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Sept. 2012. <http://www.bhatnaturally.com/advertising/comparative-advertising-the-debateis-back/>.

"Dove Flies High; Pantene Waits in the Wings." Dove Flies High; Pantene Waits in the Wings. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Sept. 2012. <http://www.businessstandard.com/india/news/dove-flies-high-pantene-waits-inwings/408550/>.

"Pantenes Mystery Shampoo & Dove: Who Blinked?" Of Teaser Campaigns, Ambush Marketing & Global Ideas |Pantene Mystery Shampoo Dove. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Sept. 2012. <http://www.bhatnaturally.com/advertising/pantenes-mystery-shampoo-dovewho-blinked/>.

"Rin Washes Rivalry Linen with Tide in Public through New TV Ad." The Economic Times. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Sept. 2012 02/news/27605814_1_p-g-s-tide-rin-tide-naturals>. . <http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2010-03-

Marketing Management- By Philip Kotler Advertising Management by Jethwaney and Jain Cola Wars By J.C.Louis Coca Cola Beverages Ltd. - www.coca-cola.com Coca Cola India - www.coca-colaindia.com Pepsi Co India - www.pepsicoindia.co.in Pepsi Co - www.pepsico.com Hindustan Unilever Ltd - www.hul.co.in ParleArgo India - www.parleagro.com The Advertising Standards Council of India - www.ascionline.org

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