marketing teardown: 👊🆙 punching up

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hey, marketer! 

first off – happy halloween for those who celebrate 🧛 🧟 🎃

I hope you’re stuffing your face with your favorite candy (or adult bev?)  right now, but I have a question:

what makes someone an underdog or a bully?

well, it comes down to status – in fact, seth godin did one of the best breakdowns on status roles I’ve heard.

but status is extremely important – and for those who are ~ low ~ status, there’s a unique opportunity to position your brand against your big dog legacy competition. 

in this week’s deep dive, I’m tackling the tricky maneuver called punching up.

today's treasure trove

• what is punching up?

• stellar examples of punching up

  • ben & jerry’s

  • beehiiv

  • avis

what is punching up?

this term comes from comedy – but essentially the “punching” part means taking a proverbial “shot” at someone else, and the “up” part refers to status.

punching up is the act of a low status brand (or individual) taking a shot or making fun of a higher status brand.

recently, I covered manufactroversy and how some brands intentionally go at each to stir up engagement, which ends up mutually beneficial.

punching up only works one way, though. it is inherently subversive. when the high-status party punches back or down, it looks petty and off-putting.

why though?

it stems from our desire to relate to the “little guy” – we root for the underdog, because that’s often how we see ourselves.

stellar examples of punching up

ben & jerry’s

in the early days, before ben & jerry’s was the household name it is today – it was literally two guys making ice cream with their friends.

but they had enough success that they caught the eye of legacy rival haagen-dazs (owned by pillsbury) – and haagen-dazs tried to cut deals with stores to restrict them from selling ben & jerry’s.

ben & jerry’s sued haagen-dazs for infringing on competition, but of course, how could their tiny company shell out for legal fees against a food giant?

they couldn’t – so they took to the streets with a guerilla marketing campaign taunting pillsbury.

literally buying ad placements in newspapers and magazines of the doughboy strangling a pint of ben & jerry’s. and of course, holding signs like the one above right in front of the pillsbury office.

they might not have been able to win a courtroom battle, but they could win people’s hearts.

beehiiv

okay, this one is close to my heart since I use beehiiv for this newsletter ( 😉) – but it’s also a very recent example.

to set the scene – beehiiv is an up-and-comer to the email service provider (esp) industry, and convertkit is a longstanding, well-known incumbent.

convertkit recently rebranded to simply “kit” – and beehiiv hijacked their rebranding efforts to cheekily run their own “versus” campaign and not-so-subtly obscure the kit logo.

they knew kit would be gaining massive attention, through paid and organic traffic, and they are riding those coattails

avis

you probably know this one (as it’s one of the most popular ad slogans of the 20th century), but it’s a clever punching up in two ways:

1. they admit they’re only #2 in the industry – so they’re far ahead of many other competitors, yet still position themselves as an underdog

2. they don’t name the company that’s #1 – one of the catch 22’s of punching up is that it often means naming the industry leader (giving them free advertising)

amazing. 🫰snaps to the ad company that came up with that one..

wrap up

punching up is a phenomenal marketing campaign style – but it takes a bold brand to pull it off.

it starts a war, as one-sided as it may be, your brand should be prepared for any blowback. that’s why it works better when there’s a clear incumbent but they’ve stopped innovating a long time ago.

thanks for reading this week and I hope you have a spooky halloween – and if you have an amazing costume, I’d love to see it 😀✌️,

tom from marketer gems