The Email Wars

I have been seeing more brands getting aggressive towards their comp in the email campaigns lately. The campaigns are just not marketing about themselves to their opt in lists, but ones that are clearly defining who the comp is and how they are better. Is this something that is a good idea? To me it feels as if they are hurting their brand more than they are strengthening it. 

Think about this in the agency or email world. What if you were to start sending emails to your prospects about how your agency compares to your comp. You are basically going “playground” IMHO on using negative techniques to show how you are cooler or better. It is a play that does not make me feel that you are better if you have the need of slamming another brand in an email or campaign.

Now there is some merit to show how you stack up in some regard, but when you start pulling other comp brands into your messaging it is an all out war you are starting. You can bet that the comp is on this email as well as in your own world your comp is subscribed (maybe with a gmail account) to your lists to keep an eye on what you are doing. So prepare yourself for a negative war, or maybe these other brands will be the bigger person and focus on their relationships instead of lining others up for a game  of dodge ball on the playground and then cheating to win.