How a Category Leader Should (and Should Not) Respond to Competitor Messaging
This just in: Apple is pretty good at marketing.
But even Apple can make a PR mistake.
Last week, Samsung launched its latest iPhone competitor, the Samsung Galaxy IV. Apple put together a couple of initiatives in an attempt to drain away some of the hype. On one front, Apple attacked Samsung. That went poorly, as competitive attacks often do for category leaders. On another front, Apple talked about its product leadership and did very well.
(By the way: You can argue that the iPhone isn't the category leader, because there are more devices running some form of Android out there than iOS. But when you make 70% of the profits in the smartphone category, you're the leader.)
A public relations misstep for Apple
In an unusual move, Apple marketing VP Phil Schiller gave an interview to the Wall Street Journal just before Samsung's announcement. The first sentence written in the story?
Apple is on the defensive.
Schiller's attack backfired, because his attack was the story. His message points were completely lost because the PR move was so out of character for Apple. When a leader attacks, it sends a message that it is feeling jumpy about a competitor. Apple lost the narrative.
Framing the conversation on its own terms
Then Apple did something well, something that marketers for category leaders can learn from. They crafted a page on their web site called "Why iPhone?" It's a textbook example of how a leader should respond to competitive messaging to lead the conversation in an advantageous direction.
Timing
The page launched on the heels of Samsung's announcement of the Galaxy IV smartphone, and stole some of the buzz away from Samsung at a time when Apple doesn't have any new products to announce. Just releasing the page gave the press something else to talk about besides Samsung. It worked.
Evidence of leadership
Apple doesn't just claim it offers the world's best and most popular smartphone. Instead it reinforces its position with data points throughout the page, such as:
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Eight straight J.D. Power and associates awards for customer satisfaction
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The top three cameras used on Flickr: iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, and iPhone 5
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800,000 apps
If you're the category leader, then you have evidence of that fact. Use it to add credibility to claims.
Framing the conversation
Apple uses the page to frame the conversation from its point of view, not to respond to specific competitor messaging points. You won't, for example, read a lot about technical specs on the page -- and specs are something heavily emphasized by competitors. In Apple's view, customers only care about features and benefits, not things like specific computer chip speeds.
So when Apple tells you about the iPhone 5's chip, it doesn't talk about clocking speeds. Instead you read about the benefits of the fast and energy-efficient chip: smooth games, fast browsing and better battery life. Competitors like to tout their latest spec advantages over the iPhone; Apple refuses to play that game and stays focused on customer benefits instead. That's the conversation Apple wants to have and believes that's what customers really care about.
Category leaders and the critical importance of how a conversation begins
Being in front comes with privileges and responsibility. A leadership position affords you extra attention which must be used wisely. What your company does will drive the conversation for the space -- for better or for worse. Apple showed us two great examples of that. When the company acted out of character and attacked the #2 player, it came off looking defensive, nervous and unsure of itself. But when it framed the conversation in its own way, focusing on the benefits of its products and supporting its leadership position with evidence, it received much more favorable coverage -- the kind of coverage a category leader wants.
No, marketers and PR pros don't own the conversation anymore. Which puts even more importance on the way a conversation is started by communications professionals.