Advertising best practice, evidence and insights

What we know about comparative advertising

Article • WARC Best Practice, November 2019

Summarises the insights from a series of key papers addressing comparative advertising, where a product or service directly compares itself to a competitor to express that competitor’s inferiority.

Wendy's recipe for success on Twitter

News • 22 October 2018

Wendy’s, the restaurant chain, has successfully leveraged the engagement potential of Twitter, the social messaging network, to serve as a “gamechanger” for its brand.

Wendy’s takes to Twitter to taunt McDonald’s

Article • Geoffrey Precourt, Event Reports, Advertising Week, October 2018

Wendy’s, the quick-service restaurant (QSR) chain, has deployed Twitter, the social network, as a powerful tool for building consumer engagement.

L'Oreal boosts sales 44% by rethinking category tropes

News • 14 September 2018

SYDNEY: Cosmetics brand L’Oréal boosted Australian sales of its Revitalift Laser X3 cream by 44% by rethinking the category’s age ‘before and after’ marketing technique, which often fails to achieve cut-through in the ...

How L’Oréal boosted sales 44% in Australia with one campaign

Article • Brooke Hemphill, WARC Exclusive, September 2018

Cosmetics brand L’Oréal boosted Australian sales of its Revitalift Laser X3 cream by 44%, by rethinking the traditional ‘before and after’ shots.

The Effectiveness of Comparative Versus Non-Comparative Advertising: Do "Strictly" Comparative Ads Hurt Credibility of Non-Professional Service Brands?

Research Paper • Fred Beard, Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 55, No. 3, 2015, pp. 296-306

U.S. service-brand marketers have a long history of going head to head using "strictly" comparative advertising.

Practitioner Views of Comparative Advertising: How Practices Have Changed in Two Decades

Research Paper • Fred K. Beard, Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 53, No. 3, 2013, pp. 313-323

A replication of a 1989 survey of senior advertising agency creative practitioners shows that their views remain quite favorable toward comparative advertising that explicitly identifies competitors.

Is there value in comparative advertising?

Article • Millward Brown Knowledge Point, 2009

This Knowledge Point article states that comparative advertising can be effective even when it does not disclose the name of a specific competitor.

Can Comparative Advertising Be Effective in Germany? A Tale of Two Campaigns

Research Paper • Manfred Schwaiger, Carsten Rennhak, Charles R. Taylor and Hugh M. Cannon, Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 47, No. 1, Mar 2007, pp. 2-13

After many years of being legally banned, comparative advertising has recently been permitted in Germany.

All great truths begin as blasphemies

Article • James Dyson, Market Leader, Issue 35, Winter 2006, pp. 18-22

In this article, James Dyson argues and vividly illustrates the case for greater recognition in Britain for inventors and engineers.

Does negative and comparitive advertising work

Article • John Wood, Admap, January 2003, Issue 435, pp. 37-38

This article on negative and comparative advertising asks the question 'does it work?' The author explains that this form of advertising emanated from U.S.

How to manage the intensity of comparison in comparative advertising over time

Research Paper • Jang-Sun Hwang, International Journal of Advertising, Vol. 21, No. 4, 2002, pp. 481-502

Despite the popularity of comparative advertising (CA) over the past three decades, few studies have explored how to develop this strategy outside the USA.

Disk Integrity

Article • Gunnar Waldman, ANA Magazine, Mar 2000

The author discusses the role of the National Advertising Division (part of NARC, the advertising industry's self-regulatory body in the USA) - this is mainly to police competitive claims for truth and accuracy.

Comparative advertising

Article • Brinsley Dresden, Admap, January 2000

An advertising lawyer shows how comparative advertising restrictions vary internationally and are changing in the UK.

Attribute upgrading through Across-Class, Within-Category comparison advertising

Research Paper • Stuart Van Auken and Arthur J Adams, Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 38, No. 2, March/April 1998

Generic product category groups give opportunities for strategic market development. One of the most common objective of this focus is to achieve a competitive advantage over 'within class' rivals.

How does your advertisement compare?

Article • David Rickard, Admap, March 1995

This paper discusses the 1994 Trade Marks Act and its implications for comparative advertising. The new Act allows trade marks belonging to a third party to be used to identify goods and services.

Verbal Strategies for Indirect Comparative Advertising

Research Paper • William Neese and Ronald D Taylor, Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 34, No. 2, March/April 1994

A study of comparative versus non-comparative copy, to test a number of hypotheses about the superiority of the former.

Twenty years of comparative advertising in the United States

Research Paper • Prof Thomas E Barry, International Journal of Advertising, Vol. 12, No. 4, 1993

US advertisers have been using explicit comparative advertising now for two decades. There is less use of the comparative format in countries outside of the US, including EC countries.

OBSERVATIONS: Comparative Advertising in Magazines: Nature, Frequency, and a Test of the "Underdog" Hypothesis

Research Paper • Tahi J. Gnepa, Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 33, No. 5, September/October 1993

A study of comparative advertising in magazines. Hypotheses tested were: a) that the intensity of comparative advertising varies with the life cycle of the product; b) comparative advertising may be counterproductive, especially when used by the leading brand.

Comparative Advertising: What Have We Learned in Two Decades?

Research Paper • Prof Thomas E Barry, Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 33, No. 2, March/April 1993

A discussion of comparative advertising (where brands are advertised through directly comparing against/attacking other brands).

An investigation of factors underlying practitioners' attitudes toward comparative advertising

Research Paper • Prof Jeffrey J Stoltman and Prof Darrel D Muehling, International Journal of Advertising, Vol. 11, No. 2, 1992

The use and relative effectiveness of comparative advertising has been extensively studied and reported on in the marketing and advertising literature.

Adlaw: new EC proposals on comparative advertising

Article • Ross Denton, Admap, September 1991

Describes the new EC Directive, amending directive 84/450/EEC on misleading advertising. If the proposal for this Directive is passed by the Council and implemented by Member States, there will be new rules to define trademark issues better, and permit (with safeguards) reference to competitors' marks.

Comparative advertising: European Commission's draft directive

Article • Ross Denton, Admap, December 1990

No European country, apart from the UK, currently allows comparative advertising. The EEC's draft directives, although restrictive, may have the effect of allowing comparisons across Europe if they are not misleading or unfair, and have little effect on the UK.

Comparative advertising: the advertising industry’s own brand of consumerism

Article • Stanley Tannenbaum, Classic Speeches - 4As, 1976

Speaking at the 4A's (the American Association of Advertising Agencies) 1976 Annual Meeting, Stanley Tannenbaum, of Kenyon & Eckhardt, discusses what comparative advertising offers the consumer, as well as the legality and ethics of named comparative advertising.

Comparative advertising: the advertising industry's own brand of consumerism

Article • Andrew Kershaw, Classic Speeches - 4As, 1976

Replying to Stanley Tannenbaum at the 4A's (the American Association of Advertising Agencies) 1976 Annual Meeting, Andrew Kershaw of Ogilvy & Mather Research, cites the group’s research to argue that comparative advertising falls short of traditional advertising methods, and may damage a brand's image.