👋, I’m Kimberly. I’ve been creating obsession-worthy brands for the past fifteen years. And now, I’m giving away my secrets every week in this newsletter.
I'm going to tell you two stories right now.
Story #1
"It was a beautiful day in the forest. The birds chirped in the trees, the sun shone in the sky, and next to the river lay a fat brown bear — snoring contently after his brunch of honey, his body curled around the honeypot next to him.
A honeybadger ran across the grass. He stopped and looked at the fat bear’s honeypot, which was still half full. Sticky golden goodness dripped from its sides.
Then, the honeybadger headed off into the woods to look for his own honey.”
Story #2
"It was a beautiful day in the forest. The birds chirped in the trees, the sun shone in the sky, and next to the river lay a fat brown bear — snoring contently after his brunch of honey, his body curled around the honeypot next to him.
A honeybadger ran across the grass. He stopped and looked at the fat bear’s honeypot, which was still half full. Sticky golden goodness dripped from its sides.
Then, the honeybadger poked the fat bear in the belly.”
Which story do you want to continue reading?
I’m guessing you picked the second one.
Let’s dig into why.
In both stories, the scene is set for potential conflict. There’s a Fat Bear who owns some honey, a Young Honeybadger who loves honey — and the honeypot isn’t being vigilantly protected.
At the end of the first version of the story, the Young Honeybadger walks away — and nothing happens.
At the end of the second version, action happens!
The Young Honeybadger literally pokes the bear… and as an audience, you want to hear what happens next.
Let’s take this story — and apply it to brands.
One brand would be Fat Bear.
Fat Bear has been living in this forest for years. And Fat Bear is happy with the share of the forest’s honey he’s managed to win.
But, Fat Bear has gotten complacent. Some may call him sleepy on the job.
Then along comes the Young Honeybadger brand, which is also trying to capture its share of the forest’s honey.
Young Honeybadger sees an opportunity — and he strikes at Fat Bear.
This kind of action, which I’ll call “Attack Mode,” makes customers want to hear what happens next.
And it can be the most effective form of marketing for a Young Honeybadger brand.
What Makes “Attack Mode” Effective?
Behavioral science calls attention to two primary motivators of human action: hope and fear.
Most advertising speaks to the “hope” side of the equation — painting an aspirational picture of the person we hope to be, the world we hope to live in, or the community we hope to be a part of.
But in reality, fear is the stronger motivator.
We fear losing things. We fear missing out. We fear the future.
We’ve evolved to be this way. When new stimuli enter our minds, they first hit the lizard part of our brain — where our brains mull them over for the most split of seconds and determine how much of a threat they are.
And if the new stimuli inspire fear, they get moved to the front of the line, much like a group of hot girls at a club getting whisked into VIP.
This is the reasoning for the concept of negativity bias, which tells us that things of a more negative nature:
Have more of an impact on our psychological state
Inspire us to act more immediately
Stand out more in our memories
When you’re in Attack Mode as a brand, you’re riling up your competitor by drawing attention to something negative about them.
In this way, it makes your communication more psychologically impactful, more action-oriented, and more memorable.
Conflict Also Strengthens Communities
Yes, I used the “C” word.
Most brands worth their Himalayan sea salt these days are trying to build community in some way. And nothing gets a community going like a good old-fashioned rivalry.
Think Hatfields and McCoys. Letterman and Leno. Edward and Jacob.
Now, think Playstation gamers vs Xbox enthusiasts. Dunkin’ Donuts drinkers vs Starbucks fans. iPhone and Android users.
When fans of your brand come together against a common rival in Attack Mode, the effect is usually in your favor. It’s the divides that bind.
Yet, Brands Shy Away from Conflict
There’s an unfortunate assumption in marketing that it’s bad to mention your competition, especially by name — because this draws attention to them.
Hence, most brands will pull back and shy away from directly engaging with the competition in negative ways.
I’d argue that this tendency to keep it positive has gotten even stronger in the last ten years, at the same time as brands have become more focused on being mission and purpose-driven.
If you look at the majority of brand missions, they tend to center around things like “making the world a better place for people and planet” or “spreading joy” or “empowering people to be their best selves.”
Most missions are light and fluffy like this — highly positive in their vibes and with wide world appeal.
And in finding their positive purpose, many brands have lost their edge.
It’s only natural that if you as a brand have defined your mission and purpose in this way, you’ll question making moves that seem to put you in the “offensive” category.
Because would someone positively trying to change the world be someone who would actively tear someone else down?
But Attacks Don’t Have to Feel Dirty…
For brands who fear going into attack mode, it’s important to note that there’s a difference between going full roaring king-of-the-jungle-style predator — and being either direct or clever about how your brand is better than someone else’s.
By doing things that draw attention to how your goods and services differ or your value proposition wins, you’re not doing anyone dirty.
You’re simply treating the competition like competition.
You’re not approaching them with kid gloves; you’re acknowledging them for who and what they are and seeing them as a worthy force with which to be reckoned.
It can be seen as a sign of respect to go after your competition in this way.
Great Brand Attacks Throughout History
When a brand goes into attack mode and does it well, it is both highly effective at driving consumers to action — and highly memorable, even years later.
Here are a few of my favorites through the years:
Wendy’s: Now and Then
For a sweet-looking little girl with pigtails, Wendy has continued to show that she has serious moxie.
Her highly effective Attack Mode takedowns started in 1984 with an ad poking fun at her fast-food competitors’ puny meat-to-bun ratio as compared to other chains.
In the ad, an actress served a burger with a massive bun and very little meat asks, “Where’s the beef?”
The phrase, and the commercial itself, took off — spawning more commercials, a pop song, and bumper stickers.
More recently, Wendy has made a name as one of the biggest roasters of the competition with her savage and funny jabs on Twitter.
Whether she’s calling out McDonald’s for using frozen beef or coming at her followers for eating at Burger King, Wendy goes there. Her authentic voice and clever humor have gained the brand a tremendous following.
And last week, on National Roast Day, plenty of other brands stepped up the plate and asked to be roasted by Wendy’s.
Read them all here at The Best of National Roast Day. And see more of Wendy’s best interactions through the years on this thread.
Dollar Shave Club
In its iconic ad — the one every marketer would reference for years to come when telling their agencies to “create something viral for us” — the original DTC darling fearlessly called out the makers of other blades.
“Do you like spending $20 a month on brand name razors? 19 go to Roger Federer.
And do you think your razor needs a vibrating handle, a flashlight, a back scratcher, and ten blades? Your handsome-ass grandfather had one blade. And polio.
Stop paying for shave tech you don’t need.”
Although the ad didn’t directly name the competition, it was clearly on Attack Mode—going after the big Gilettes of the world (for whom Roger Federer was the spokesman) to drive home a crystal clear point: you’re paying too much for a bunch of stuff you don’t need.
Mac vs PC
“Hello, I’m a Mac.”
“And I’m a PC.”
In these iconic Attack Mode commercials, Apple pitted the hip young Mac against the old nerdy PC in human form to show all the ways the Mac was better, safer, and (of course) cooler.
Apple made 66 TV spots in the series, which ran over the course of four years and spawned countless imitators.
This example shows how you can keep delivering jabs to the competition if you hit on a winning creative formula.
The Audi vs BMW Billboard Wars
These two rival luxury carmakers took it to the streets of LA for a billboard faceoff that got real personal, real fast.
It started with a billboard by Audi….
…which was replaced days later with a direct jab at BMW.
BMW responded, and Audi swung back.
Fans of both carmakers got in on the action, suggesting jabs.
This playful exchange worked well for both sides and likely strengthened both brands’ communities — involving customers and painting the lines that you’re either a BMW person or an Audi person.
The Pepsi Challenge
Starting in 1975, Pepsi threw down the gauntlet with a head-to-head taste test against its biggest rival: Coca-Cola.
In malls, parks, and other public spaces, Pepsi would set up stations where people would be asked to sip from two identical white cups — one containing Pepsi, and one Coca-Cola — and select their preference.
Pepsi captured people’s reactions and turned them into TV commercials, in which Pepsi claimed that more than fifty percent of testers has picked Pepsi.
The campaign delivered, with Pepsi gaining market share and taking over the conversation with a very simple, understandable, and repeatable message: Pepsi tastes better (at least, on the first sip!).
And the most brilliant part of this ad was its easy repeatability. To this day, YouTube is packed with videos of people doing Pepsi Challenge blind taste tests of their own.
A 5 Point Plan to Get Into Attack Mode
Taking learnings from these examples and others, here’s a handy checklist to check yourself against when you’re ready to shift into Attack Mode with your marketing:
1. Use humor to make your point
Like Mary Poppin’s famed spoonful of sugar, things that could come across as bitter go down easier if you add a little sweetness.
In this case, the sweetness comes in the form of funny — which is why you’ll see many brands adopt of humorous or playful tone in their attacks.
2. Test different mediums for your message
Think about where can you reach your customers at the right time and place for an attack. Is it near a point of service?
The mediums can also inspire your message. For example, Twitter is the perfect place for Wendy’s roasts. And a place like TikTok could be suited for branded dance battles.
3. Focus your attack
The best campaigns retain either a single core message across all the ads (like “Pepsi tastes better than Coke”).
Or, they maintain the characters — and vary the specifics of the message (like Apple vs PC).
4. Make sure any battle you start is one that you can win
In the case of Pepsi, the “first taste” approach was a battle they went in knowing they were more likely to win.
Because Pepsi tastes sweeter, it is more immediately preferable to someone’s palette.
But Coca-Cola tends to win if you ask someone to consume a whole can, as many people get sick of the sweet.
5. Involve your audience
This is a great way to rally your troops around your brand.
Challenges that invite them to participate (like Pepsi) or invite them to create their jabs (like Audi vs BMW) or are ripe for memes (like Apple vs PC) give your attack mode campaign a better chance of lasting longer and reaching more people.
Now, Back to That Honeybadger
After the honeybadger poked the fat brown bear in the belly, he let go of his honey pot. The honeybadger darted in and grabbed it — then he scrambled into the woods, as quickly as his little badger legs could carry him.
The fat brown bear rubbed his eyes, let out a roar that shook leaves from the trees, and took off running after the honeybadger.
This week, I challenge you to go be a honeybadger. And poke your brand’s big brown bear.
If you’re finding this newsletter valuable, consider sharing it with friends, or subscribing if you aren’t already.
About Me
I help early stage founders create the kind of brands that get customers so obsessed, they’ll do your advertising for you.
Based on my experience founding my own consumer brand, I developed The Branding Sprint—a uniquely collaborative, streamlined, and agile approach to brand creation.
Click here to learn more about The Branding Sprint, or schedule a call with me.