It’s rare to see any firm attempt comparative advertising in Britain, but PC World (a UK-wide chain of computer stores) has done just that in an attempt to resist the hegemony of Dell. A recent trip down the high street to buy myself a new laptop revealed PC World’s in-store, side-by-side comparison of why you’d be crazy to buy from its online competitor.
Before I describe what I saw, let me take a moment to explain what makes this so momentous. If you’re reading this in the US, ads that stack the benefits of one product or service against the other won’t be anything unusual. In the UK however, such practices are almost non-existent. When living in the US, my British disposition was taken aback by commercials and print ads for cars that routinely contrasted facts about horsepower, space and amenities.
Looking at the website of the UK’s Committee of Advertising Practice, our comparative advertising rules don’t look too severe. It’s basically just common sense about not being misleading, comparing like for like, not discrediting and so forth. I can’t imagine the US regulations are very different, so the disparity must be due to cultural factors.
That makes a lot of sense. It goes against the grain in Britain to overtly size oneself up against the competition. In this status conscious nation, an assessment measures not only what can be observed, but also what can be instinctively absorbed or assumed. When it comes to almost commoditised goods, like computers and cars, such time-honoured ways of gauging which is best become less useful. Car manufacturers attempt, often successfully, to defy reason with branding. Lack of heritage and a woeful absence of product differentiation have made this more difficult in the computer world.
Of course Americans are as swayed by branding as the British, but with a more direct culture few feel as uncomfortable with a candid weighing up of the facts. (This can trip up US executives selling overseas, who though they may have what is genuinely the best product on the market, lose to an inferior competitor that has paid more attention to matters such as expected formalities and relationship building.)
So, back to the PC World ad. What was striking about this rare British example of comparative advertising was that it went straight for the jugular of Dell’s business model. If you’ve ever bought a computer from Dell you’ll understand what I mean. Its advertising and direct mailings quote impressive offers, but go to the website to select the machine and you’re confronted with a long list of optional extras. Most you’ll not need, but some seem pretty indispensable. The result, once you’ve specced up, is a price that’s significantly greater than what drew you to Dell in the first place.
That’s not to say Dell’s prices end up being unreasonable – usually far from it. What PC World’s marketing has cleverly done is draw attention to the unpleasant notion of hidden costs. Its in-store posters plainly state, and list, that what Dell prices as options, it includes. It’s like those car ads in the US, where one manufacturer compares its generously-specced base model with the “strippo” of its competitor. Factor in the extras and that low sticker price is suddenly less attractive.
That such a minor campaign can stand out from the marketing miasma is remarkable. It’s far too early to say that this could be the start of a change in British advertising practices, but it’s certainly got SwelledHead thinking. Britons should probably expect more of this in the future.
