It’s easy to get caught up in the shock marketing approach of using insult and disrespect to somehow make your client and / or product shine, but think twice before you do it. There may be the odd case when this works, but it’s a fine line between shock and offence.
Take the recent Siri vs. Cortana marketing campaign as an example. It is essentially Microsoft saying “hey Apple your phone AI system kind of sucks”, but the humour with which it’s done somehow carries it over the finish line. Likewise with the wall hugging campaign by Samsung. It suggests iPhone users are at a severe disadvantage when compared to Samsung owners, due to power usage and battery drain. Something like this needs to be clever and based in fact or it’s doomed to fail.
You’re always better to lead with class over snark. Find the positive parts of the product you’re marketing and lead with that. If you need to throw dirt to market something, remember just a little breeze and you might find some of it blowing in your direction and some of it might stick. In the digital space this has a very long trail and can stay around for a lot longer than you’d hope.
“Don’t Be a Dick” image by the talented Jemina Venter
I’ve got this hanging in my office, remember it, it always works.