A Good Rivalry Can Elevate Your Brand.
By Gavin Kilduff, Abhishek Borah, Johannes Berendt, and Sebastian Uhrich
When Pepsi tweeted “We don’t have Pepsi, Coke OK? #SixWordHorror” back in 2019, it wasn’t just making a joke about beverage options. The soft drink giant was tapping into something more powerful: the narrative appeal of brand rivalry.
While most marketing advice warns against negative messaging about competitors, our recent research, published in the Journal of Marketing Research, suggests that when it comes to true rivals—brands with a storied history of going head to head—the rules change dramatically.
We analyzed Twitter data (now known as X) from 100 brands from 2020 to 2022. Our sample included 20 product categories, from soft drinks to mobile carriers to sports teams, and we also conducted controlled experiments with thousands of U.S. consumers. We found that referencing a rival competitor in marketing messages generates significantly more consumer engagement—and purchase intentions—than mentioning any other competitor.
Read the full Harvard Business Review article.
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Gavin Kilduff is an Associate Professor of Management and Organizations at NYU Stern.