Mom, the brands are fighting again
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Comparison advertising is getting more confrontational as brands work harder to catch consumers’ attention, while the general tone of social media lowers the barrier to trading insults. Attack ads, of course, are almost as old as advertising itself.
But the back-and-forth, and often taunting edge of today’s online discourse is increasingly seeping into advertising, both in its digital and traditional forms. Home-rental company Vrbo, for example, this month put up billboards describing itself as “Airbnb’s hotter, cooler, friendlier long-lost twin that never has hosts." One of the billboards was placed within view of Airbnb headquarters in San Francisco. The ads were an escalation in a continuing Vrbo campaign that showcased uncomfortable rental properties with standoffish hosts—but hadn’t previously called out Airbnb by name.
The ads addressed frustrations that travelers associate with all vacation rentals, not just Airbnb’s, according to a spokesman for Vrbo, part of Expedia Group. Whether the ad made an impression on consumers or not, Airbnb noticed. CEO Brian Chesky shared a photo of the billboard on his Instagram account along with an image of a laughing face.
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