{"id":1233,"date":"2015-01-22T00:35:33","date_gmt":"2015-01-22T00:35:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thebrandingjournal.com\/?p=1233"},"modified":"2015-01-22T00:35:33","modified_gmt":"2015-01-22T00:35:33","slug":"benefit-billboard-brand-rivalry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebrandingjournal.com\/2015\/01\/benefit-billboard-brand-rivalry\/","title":{"rendered":"The benefit of billboard brand rivalry"},"content":{"rendered":"

For a brand, a well done rivalry can create awareness, as well as presenting\u00a0brand\u00a0characteristics such as confidence, intelligence,\u00a0wit and\u00a0a sense of humour.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Here I’ve\u00a0included two\u00a0of the best rivalries carried out on outdoor billboards. Although these examples may be local,\u00a0social media allows a local rivalry to\u00a0garner national and international attention, and enables\u00a0local\u00a0brand positioning to be harnessed for\u00a0a\u00a0wider audience.<\/p>\n

1) AUDI vs.\u00a0BMW<\/h1>\n

The first involves Audi and BMW in one of the most famous examples of billboard rivalry, which has played out over many of the companies’\u00a0adverts.<\/p>\n

This particular example took place in 2009, when\u00a0Audi placed a billboard advert that looked to show it had upped its game, had become the leading standard for Luxury, and that it was now for Audi’s competitors to catch up.<\/p>\n

\"Branding_journal_billboard_brand_rivalry_1\"<\/a>
“Your move, BMW”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Enter the local BMW dealer. They responded brilliantly by placing a billboard advert on the opposite side of the motorway, introducting a\u00a0chess theme by inverting the black and white colours used in\u00a0Audi’s billboard. It\u2019s a credit to BMW\u2019s marketing teams that they had the nimbleness to approve a\u00a0local\u00a0advert\u00a0so quickly, allowing the local dealer to take charge\u00a0without requiring it to be centralized or part of a national campaign.<\/p>\n

\"Branding_journal_billboard_brand_rivalry_2\"<\/a>
“Checkmate”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This\u00a0is a prime example of BMW using this billboard rivalry to present brand character: sleek; confident; humourous;\u00a0classy. Audi meanwhile also shows confidence; shows\u00a0its prepared to play at the top. Yet it does so in a different style: less regal yet cheekier, and more exciting and energetic fashion. These brand personalities continued to show through when Audi embraced what had now become a game of chess\u00a0by taking the last available billboard space to showcase their ‘king’, the Audi R8 model.\u00a0Yet BMW won this particular roadside duel, getting round the lack of billboard space by placing\u00a0a zeppelin above the billboards, referencing BMW’s involvement with\u00a0the ultimate in car engineering: Formula 1.<\/p>\n

\"Branding_journal_billboard_brand_rivalry_3\"<\/a>
“Your pawn is no match for our king”-Audi. “Game over”-BWM<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This developing game of chess no doubt became a source of fun and intrigue for regular commuters along the motorway, attracting their attention as well as word of mouth and news coverage. All of the intrigue, attention and news coverage will of course have centred around Audi and BMW. For both brands, this was therefore a game of chess that had no loser.<\/p>\n

The fact that this wasn\u2019t the first or last \u2018battle\u2019 between the two companies (as shown by these two examples from 2006) is ample evidence that that neither party views their rivalry as detrimental.<\/p>\n