Highlight your enemies. Really.

Hello, creative souls!

Sun Tzu’s Art of War says, “Keep your friends close, Enemies closer”

This war strategy comes into play in an extremely unlikely scenario - good ol’ advertising. Many brands have become mammoths by openly identifying their enemies, or sometimes even creating one. Politicians and religious groups use this strategy all the time. The reasoning is fairly simple - more on this later, but for now:

Want brand loyalty? Create a villain.

While this polarizing effect might quite literally be running the world to the dumps while employed by governments and politicians, it just might stick for brands—when done right.

In today’s ad, Ray Gardner, the spokesperson for Tango, responds to Sebastian, a French exchange student, who didn't enjoy the new blackcurrant Tango flavor. Gardner apologizes and explains that Tango aims to satisfy all drinkers, even visitors. He defends the effort behind the blackcurrant flavor, mentioning a friend's three-year dedication to it. As visuals escalate, Gardner questions Sebastian's commitment and understanding, suggesting he doesn't grasp the dedication involved with a twist of underlying French vs British rivalry. In a dramatic, confrontational tone and an ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS escalation, Gardner challenges Sebastian and others who doubt the flavor to confront him, asserting his pride in blackcurrant Tango.

Heck, this ad is so brilliant, it has it’s own Wikipedia page.

Why this works - the psychology

At its core, the mechanism behind this framework is fairly simple: ‘Create a villain’, But why does this work? Because it's often easier to explain a brand's values by talking about what it opposes rather than what it supports. Well, here are some examples:

• Us vs Them - Apple vs IBM: Remember 1984? Apple passionately positioned itself against the mechanical, impersonal nature of IBM. “Think Different” is a core tenet of the company, with all its creative and artistic values. In creating an enemy out of IBM, they’ve managed to highlight their values. Us vs Them highlights two companies that are intrinsically different in their values.

• Same, Same, but different - Pepsi vs Coke: This one is for the ages—and this brand war is a huge reason behind my interest in advertising. Decades later, they’re still going at it with creativity, wit and humor peaking! The cola wars operate on the fundamental idea that though both the companies are similar in terms of product and values, one of them is slightly better, and the audience and loyalists are left to choose. A similar example for this would be the automaker battle - BMW vs Audi vs Mercedes.

• Us vs the problem - Nike: Nike didn’t take on Adidas. They took on the core problem that they are solving. Laziness. Complacency. Don’t sit around doing nothing, whatever it is, Just do it. Nike in that sense isn’t just for athletes. It’s against the traits that make you lazy. A similar example would be Dove, that stands against unrealistic beauty standards.

Ideas corner

Before diving into the ideas, there are some key ideas brands need to keep in mind while thinking of a campaign with an enemy:

• Maintain a balance, don’t alienate any sections of your audience

• Humor works best for these campaigns

• Stay authentic - only do it if there are strong opposing forces to your company’s values

• Monitor public sentiment - think long term. You don’t want your ad aging badly.

As for the ideas…

• A coffee brand could tap into the age old coffee vs tea debate and make an enemy out of tea or tea drinkers. Or mock them - Coffee drinkers are awake, tea drinkers are just… tea drinkers.

• A smartphone brand could take on their more expensive competitors by talking about how they can do the same thing, for cheaper.

Bringing it back to our ad in focus: "They made a villian of an everyday consumer, who doesn't get it". If you want to unite people and rally them to a cause, the fastest way is to point out a common enemy. In fact, it's often more effective if the enemy is an idea or belief.

But with great power comes great responsibility: Remember, hate is a strong emotion. And for an audience watching from the sidelines, it's usually more interesting than love. Just don’t misuse the opportunity and create a mess.

Figment is written by Abbhinav Kastura, a writer/producer who has spent a decade making impactful internet videos and Guru Nicketan, an advertising nerd, B2B Marketer, stand-up comedian, and a film buff.