We are committed to serving only the Underdog and leaving the industry leaders to the rest of the advertising agency world. After all, there are far more Underdogs in the world than industry leaders. The purpose of this book is to reduce our Underdog Advertising disciplines to writing, to make it available to companies that do not have the luxury of hiring an advertising agency.
Chapter One
Most everyone knows the story, but in case you forgot, David shows up on the scene thinking he can take on the giant. He throws the stone at Goliath's head, the giant goes down, and David walks away with his place secure in history.
The Underdogs’ Poster Boy
The story goes that the armored man carried Goliath's huge shield, but biblical historians generally agree that the shield was so large that two boys probably had to carry it. Indeed, after felling Goliath with a slingshot, David had to borrow Goliath's sword to finish the job.
Chapter Two
Different market situations will require Underdog to focus on different principles, but ultimately a combination of these principles will be the foundation of any successful marketing campaign. The giants in your market will benefit from a large share of their ad spend.
Ten Principles of
If you're not the biggest and strongest player in your market category, you won't get ahead with predictable advertising.
Underdog Advertising ®
The slower build in consumer awareness leads to a slower establishment of a sales message in the prospect's mind. And the slower establishment of a sales message in the prospect's mind results in a slower stimulation to action.
Chapter Three
As overused as principle #1 may sound, an underdog must commit to thinking "outside the box."
Principle #1: Think Outside The Box
Are there any significant differences between your advertising message and what is being said by the rest of your industry. Assuming you can find differences that you can integrate into your advertising message, those differences make your message better than what your competitors are saying.
Big Tex is a 52-foot tall, talking statue that stands at the center of the fairgrounds, greeting the three million plus visitors who attend the state fair each year. Share-of-Voice” is your share of total advertising spend within your product or service category.
Chapter Four
The passage from On War that introduces this chapter identifies "boldness" as the key to defeating larger armies. It is true that the translation is a bit rude, but after all, Clausewitz wrote in German one hundred and fifty years ago.
Principle #2: Take Risks
One company that has taken big risks in its advertising is Jack in the Box restaurants. He blows up the Jack in the Box boardroom for implied reasons of mismanagement.
Chapter Five
That is, you must communicate the right message at the right time to the right people.
Principle #3: Strategy Before Execution
Chances are, the people who will respond to your advertising message are similar to those who already buy your product. The benefits relate more to your customer – what he or she gets out of buying and using your product.
Chapter Six
It is an analytical thinking discipline that guides an advertiser in the development of effective advertising—. Yes, I know it sounds pretty basic, but it's important that you know the product you want to promote inside and out.
Principle #4: Be Contrary
Only when you really know all aspects of the product you are promoting can you find out how and where your product is better than your competitors. When you look at your product or service from a long-term perspective, you probably start to look at it a little differently.
Chapter Seven
Demographics and Psychographics
Know Your Prospect
Needs
Over half a century ago, an American psychologist named Abraham Maslow created his Hierarchy of Needs. Unlike Maslow's hierarchy, these consumer needs are more horizontal; no category takes precedence over the other.
Achievement
Affiliation
Consistency
Diversion
Dominance
Exhibition
Independence The need to be
Novelty
Nurturance
Recognition
Security
Sexuality
Stimulation
Succorance
Understanding The need to learn and
All aspects of your marketing program should be aimed at satisfying only one or two types of needs.
Motives
Influences
And as you list these influences, answer this question: who ultimately makes the purchase decision.
Lifestyle
Economic conditions and purchasing patterns vary dramatically as one travels through the life cycle phases. With a little thought and common sense, you can think through other lifecycle stages and assess who are the most appropriate targets for your product.
Purchase Decision Process
A product purchased via a deliberate choice process requires a lot of information at the point of sale, so that the customer can evaluate and compare the product at the time he or she makes the purchase. Consumer products that are bought on impulse need a strong presence at the point of sale, both in terms of appearance and UNDERGROUND ADVERTISING.
Perceived Risk
Examples of products with high perceived physical risk include snow skis, skateboards and hang gliders. This type of risk differs from "social risk" because it does not take into account what others might think or do.
Chapter Eight
One guess is that your competitors create their ads in a "vacuum"; that is, they don't consider what other advertisers in their product category are doing. The other possible reason is that everyone in the category follows the category leader and copies it.
Know Your Competition
To take advantage of the situation, Asko dishwashers were introduced to the United States in a way that clearly positioned them as different and better than domestic dishwashers that had previously made the US as a result of the contrarian approach (along with a good product and an effective sales force), Asko gained national distribution within the first two years in the US.
Chapter Nine
Karl began his military career at the age of twelve when he first got a job in the Prussian army. At thirty-eight he became director of the Prussian War School, which may seem young for such a position, until you consider that by then he had twenty-five years of military experience.
Principle #5: Select Your Battlefield
If you can't be a dominant player in North America, you better be a dominant player in the United States. If you can't do this in the entire US, narrow down your market to the Southwest, Texas or Dallas, or the street where you live.
Chapter Ten
We end up spreading our marketing dollars so thin that not enough budget is allocated to effectively utilize any opportunity.
Principle #6
Focus! Focus! Focus!
Point #5 – People who shop in the dairy section of the supermarket where you sell. Point #6– People who shop in the dairy section of the supermarket where you sell your milk and plan to buy milk now.
Chapter Eleven
N 1986, A CHAIN OF LOW PRICE MOTELS CALLED MOTEL 6 invited The Richards Group of Dallas, Texas to handle their advertising. Bodett even ad-libbed the tagline that Motel 6 still uses today, "We'll leave the lights on for you," at the end of the audition.
Principle #7: Be Consistent
Whether the Underdog is changing its messaging too often or delivering too many messages on an under-budget, it's hurting advertising effectiveness. -four percent of magazine readers surveyed recalled seeing a Flowtronex ad that was part of the Pump Station Paranoia campaign series.
Chapter Twelve
Principle #8: Demonstrate Value
These are just a few ideas you can use to create additional value for your product or service. If you can answer this question, there's probably something about your product or service that your competitors can't match.
Chapter Thirteen
Typically, the Underdog can move faster than larger companies simply because there are fewer layers of bureaucracy and fewer people involved in making business decisions. And because of Underdog's relative size, he operates under the radar of larger competitors, who either overlook or decline Underdog's marketing and advertising activities.
Principle #9: Speed and Surprise
Armed with commitments from all the other major irrigation system manufacturers, Flowtronex went to Rain Bird to show them the same information. The message to Rain Bird was to participate with Flowtronex too, or be UNDERDOG ADVERTISING.
Chapter Fourteen
Slower building of consumer awareness results in slower establishment of a sales message in the customer's mind, and ultimately a slower prompt to action. Consequently, it is imperative that Underdog has the patience to give the ad program time to work.
Principle #10: Have Patience
If you've ever been fishing, you know that fish don't always bite. If you're not willing to let your campaign run over time, you'll be disappointed most of the time – not to mention you'll lose money by cutting your campaign short.
Chapter Fifteen
The plastic covers on the tables were white with red Coca-Cola logos printed on them. So how do you compete with powerful brands like these if you are an underdog.
Big Dog Branding
So how do you use your brand's functional, emotional and self-expressive benefits to determine your strongest value proposition. Is this marriage between your prospect's needs and your brand's benefits something your competitors can't or won't provide?
Chapter Sixteen
Finally, he printed out a 130-page report on his miniaturized printer, then turned to the cowboy and said, "You have exactly 1,586 cattle here." The cowboy watched as the young man selected one of the animals and bundled it into his Beemer.
Lessons From Junkyard Dogs
The driver, a young man in an Armani suit, Gucci shoes and Ray Ban sunglasses, leaned out the window and asked the cowboy, "If I tell you exactly how many cattle you have in your herd, will you give me one?" The cowboy looked at the man, clearly a yuppie, looked at his peacefully grazing herd and calmly replied, "Sure." And for as long as the show lasted, the Monte Carlo Fan showroom remained packed with curious light buyers.
Chapter Seventeen
We see how David unwittingly used many of the principles of submissive advertising to defeat his opponent.
David And Goliath Revisited
If you're not a big player in your market category, you won't get ahead by being predictable. He focused on the one weapon he was best at - his slingshot - and Goliath never stood a chance.
Underdog Advertising ® Workbook
Are there significant differences between your advertising message and those of the rest of the industry? If you can't effectively cover all of your largest potential audience, reduce your advertising focus to reach a smaller segment of your target audience.