Chapter 7, Additional Case 2: Comparing and Contrasting Effectively
Chapter 7, Additional Case 2: Comparing and Contrasting Effectively
One of the fundamental techniques used in advertising is comparison and contrast. This case asks you to think about the use of comparison and contrast in advertising on a website.
You work in the marketing department of Ford Motor Company. In studying the Chevrolet website, you discover a new feature: head-to-head comparisons between Chevrolet products and their competition. Your supervisor has asked you to analyze this feature of the Chevrolet site and compare it to Ford's own head-to-head comparison feature.
To complete this case, perform the following tasks:
- Study Chapter 7, focusing on basic principles of comparison and contrast.
- Study the head-to-head comparisons between two or three Chevrolet cars and trucks and the similar models from Ford, using the vehicle-comparison features on both sites. (See, for example, the pages on the Aveo, Impala, Silverado, Suburban, or Tahoe.)
- Consider the following:
- What criteria are used in the comparisons?
- How are the comparisons organized?
- Are the comparisons balanced and fair, giving equal weight to the strengths of the competitor's products? If you think some aspects of the comparisons are unbalanced and unfair, are those aspects typical of how every company emphasizes its own products' strengths, or do they seem intended to mislead readers?
- Which vehicle-comparison feature, on the whole, does a better job of highlighting the strengths of the company’s products?
- Write a 500-word memo addressed to your supervisor that evaluates the effectiveness of the comparison site and recommends whether Ford ought to revise its vehicle-comparison feature. (See Chapter 14 for a discussion of memos.)