10 Examples of “Us vs. Them” Ads that Really work!
Ecom Circle Edition #26
📆 Tuesday, 27th Feb 2024
Hey — It's Rhythm. Thrilled to have you back in Ecom Circle, where I spend my time scaling ecom brands & finding best growth strategies to share with you.
DEEP DIVE 💡In the realm of advertising, there are a ton of different tactics you can use to get new sales and boost your company’s bottom line.
You can run sales, competitions, or any other type of more traditional marketing strategies.
But one extra “hot” tactic that we’re seeing eCommerce brands use more and more is known as “us vs. them” advertising.
And for a few good reasons!
For starters, “us vs. them” ads are simply an easy way to come up with great ad content!
They also focus on the bottom of your sales funnel, which means they’re great for converting those indecisive customers.
And, the best part…
Audiences ACTUALLY respond to them!
Below, we’re exploring everything there is to know about “us versus them” advertising, and showing you some real-world examples of just how powerful this unique tactic can be!
1. Benefits and weaknesses
This ad does a great job by showing the many benefits of what the product has to offer.
But what we really love is the way they’ve contrasted this with the weaknesses of their competitors’ products.
I mean, who wouldn’t want to stay away from something that’s watered down, inconsistent and more than $5 per cup!
Am I right?
2. Promises and social proof
Again, we have an “us vs. them” ad that focuses mostly on the cost difference between two competitive products.
But this advertiser really stepped things up a notch, by including some social proof (more than 8000 Trustpilot reviews), and by promising a 30-day money back guarantee.
After all, if a product is good enough for 8000 other people, it should be good enough for you!
3. Making the smart choice
This next “us vs. them” ad paints a side-by-side comparison of the two products.
Essentially, this is an indirect attack on the competitor’s product.
In the blue corner, you have a probiotic that offers more nutritional value, costs less, is more effective, and can easily be swallowed.
In the red corner, you have an expensive green sludge that tastes bad and that won’t survive the digestive process.
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4. Speaking to your target audience
When creating ads for your products, you should always keep the wants, desires, values, and interests of your target audience in mind.
And that’s exactly what this next advertiser did when they created this simple, yet effective “us vs. them” ad.
Not only do they call out all the so-called nasties that are in their competitors’ products.
But they also speak directly to the wants and desires of their target audience by showing the product to be free from fillers and colorants, packed with vitamins and minerals, and that it’s 100% animal and environmentally-friendly.
5. Highlighting a unique selling proposition
It’s important to remember that an “us vs. them” ad doesn’t need to explain EVERYTHING that makes your products different.
Instead of taking a broad focus, this next ad focuses on a single, extremely relatable pain point:
The fact that EVERYBODY hates when milk curdles in their coffee!
The ad speaks directly to a problem, and shows people how to solve it!
This goes back to knowing your target audience, and finding unique selling points that speak directly to their wants and desires.
6. Solving your customer’s pain points
This next ad is simple, and doesn’t just focus on a single competitor. Instead, they focus the comparison on their products versus the skincare industry as a whole.
Essentially, they highlight the weaknesses that can be found in traditional skincare products, and then contrast them against the benefits and superiority of the Omnilux brand.
First, the ad leads with the problems, and then it positions the product as the solution.
7. Letting your viewers decide
This ad literally takes you through the decision-making process, which is a great way to let people decide for themselves which product they prefer.
When it comes to lunch, we all have a few similar things in mind:
Does it have nutrition?
How long does it take to prepare?
How much does it cost?
And by walking you through each of these decisions, the ad lets the viewer see for themselves which product best suits their lifestyle.
8. Pain points and pricing psychology
This next ad chooses a simple pain point: that a lot of instant meals don’t offer much in terms of nutritional value.
It then goes on to explain how much more their product offers in terms of nutrition compared to basic ramen and similar instant meals.
Finally, they also highlight the product’s pricing points into an easy to understand figure of only £2.66 per meal!
Talk about great value!
9. Speaking to a lifestyle
We’ve often mentioned how important it is to know your target audience.
And this ad is just another example of why knowing your audience can help you highlight your products in the best way.
By knowing that a lot of their target audience turns to greasy takeout food when dealing with a post-rave hangover, this advertiser was able to paint their product in much prettier colors, positioning it as the solution to the user’s problem.
10. Seeing is believing
Finally, we have another ad that compares a brand’s product to the many weaknesses and downfalls of an entire industry.
Instead of comparing their products only to their competitors, Genusee starts by highlighting a lot of the issues that are commonly found in the eyewear industry.
Then, one at a time, they contrast the benefits of their products, giving the viewer a better understanding of why their products really are the better choice.
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Want to craft your own success story with personalisation? wide.ai is here to help you 👇
️
We have partnered with wyde.ai to help our subscribers in taking their performance marketing to the next level. Book a meeting with them now and supercharge your marketing ROI for your business through the power of AI Copilot ⚙️