Adaily's Year of Brilliance #16: Compare and Contrast
This week, we explore how brands create value by Comparing and Contrasting. Since people judge relatively, strategically showcasing differences - between ideas, eras, attitudes, or even your brand versus the category - is a powerful way to highlight unique value. The key is creative presentation and choosing compelling benchmarks for comparison. See more in Adaily here.
Psst! Our AI predicted 75% of this year’s Cannes Titanium winners - looks like creativity has a pattern after all. The edge now? Knowing when to break it. Read the summary here.
1. One of a Kind • Philips OneBlade
DEPT Amsterdam • 2024 • Beauty • Global • Global
Campaign Summary:
Philips' "One of a Kind" campaign for OneBlade reclaimed category leadership by using dramatized customer reviews to contrast its unique qualities against imitators and standard shavers. This approach aimed to differentiate the product by showcasing genuine, unusual user experiences.
The campaign significantly boosted brand strength (+67pts), exceeded brand recognition targets (+36%), and increased sales and ad recall.
2. Life Is Not An Ikea Catalogue • IKEA
TRY Oslo • 2024 • Retail - furniture • Norway • Europe
Campaign Summary:
IKEA's Norwegian campaign directly contrasted the idealized image of its catalogues with the messy reality of everyday life, boldly stating "Life is not an IKEA catalogue." This approach aimed to make the brand more relatable and trustworthy by acknowledging imperfections.
The honest, humorous campaign resonated strongly, leading to record store/online visits and the highest brand appreciation scores ever tested for IKEA ads in Norway.
3. Repair Your Blinker • Adobe
Deutsch Los Angeles • 2024 • B2C app • Global • Global
Campaign Summary:
Adobe Firefly demonstrated its Generative Fill feature by contrasting photos with blinking subjects ("before") against seamlessly repaired versions ("after"), showcasing a relatable solution. This social-first tutorial used humor to highlight the technology's ability to fix common photo issues.
The campaign resonated well, with the "blinker" video gaining 95k+ views on Instagram/TikTok and praise for its practical, creative application.
4. Unique Billboards • KFC
Havas Paris • 2024 • Restaurant • France • Europe
Campaign Summary:
KFC's "Imperfect Billboards" campaign contrasted its unconventional, irregularly shaped outdoor ads with standard billboard formats, mirroring the unique, imperfect nature of its Tenders. This approach aimed to celebrate authenticity and reinforce KFC's handcrafted quality.
The campaign generated significant buzz, with people seeking out and sharing the unique billboards, successfully boosting brand perception around quality and uniqueness.
5. Toxic Influence • Dove
Movement Strategy Los Angeles • 2023 • TV show • United States • North America
Campaign Summary:
Dove's "Toxic Influence" campaign starkly contrasted harmful social media beauty advice with trusted maternal guidance by using deepfake technology to have mothers voice toxic influencer scripts. This jarring comparison aimed to make parents aware of the negative online content their daughters see.
The campaign was highly effective, generating 115.5M organic views and 3.1B impressions, sparking crucial conversations between parents and daughters.
Quick Takeaways: Compare and Contrast
Differentiate Against the Category Norm: Highlight your product's unique qualities by contrasting it with standard offerings or "imitators," as Philips did with OneBlade's "One of a Kind" focus. Think: What makes your product genuinely different from the category standard, and how can reviews or features showcase that contrast?
Contrast Ideal vs. Real for Relatability: Acknowledge the gap between aspiration and reality (like IKEA's "Life is not an IKEA catalogue") to build trust and show how your brand fits into real life. Think: What idealized image can you contrast with a more honest, relatable reality to connect with your audience?
Showcase Transformation with Before & After: Clearly demonstrate your product's problem-solving power by contrasting the "before" state with the "after" state, like Adobe fixing "blinker" photos. Think: What clear problem does your product solve, and how can you visually or narratively contrast the situation with and without it?
Use Your Execution to Create Contrast: Make your advertising itself a point of difference. KFC's "Imperfect Billboards" contrasted with standard ads to reflect their unique product. Think: How can the form or style of your campaign create a contrast that reinforces your brand's message or uniqueness?
Juxtapose Opposing Influences for Impact: Highlight the value of positive guidance by starkly contrasting it with negative influences, as Dove did by putting toxic influencer words in mothers' mouths. Think: What contrasting ideas, values, or sources of information can you juxtapose to emphasize your brand's positive stance?
About Adaily Inspiration
Adaily Inspiration is your weekly dose of creative fuel. Each Tuesday, we explore a powerful creative thinking tool from the Deck of Brilliance (a collection of 52 methods by Juggi Ramakrishnan and Todd McCracken). We break down the tool, show you how to apply it to your marketing, and analyze five award-winning campaigns from the Adaily database that demonstrate its effectiveness. Our goal is to help you generate breakthrough ideas and create campaigns that truly resonate.
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Disclaimer: All campaign descriptions in this post are AI-generated, based on real-life descriptions provided by the authors.
Adaily does NOT produce inaccurate info ("hallucinations"). Your inputs are NOT used to train AI models.