In the dynamic world of advertising, brands are staying ahead with their marketing strategy to beat the ongoing tough competition in the market. One such smart move marketers use to grab user attention is controversial posts and updates that spark a debatable war on social media. Recently, the boAt Vs Apple controversy gained maximum coverage with a face-off between two successful ventures in the smart wearable industry. If you want to read the whole context behind the controversy, here is a detailed blog for you.
Table of Contents
What’s The Controversy?
To comprehend the whole boAt Vs Apple Controversy, look closely at this ad image placed above of boAt wireless earbuds published on the front page of The Times of India that sparks controversy. Word choices like “Think Better” and “Don’t be a Fanboy” create a sense of targeting Apple’s wide dominance in the earbuds segment.
With this controversial advertisement, boAt tried to segment the audience by claiming its earbuds offer better bass, Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), and battery life than Apple’s AirPods. However, the rival brand, Apple, does not reply with any comments.
Social Media Users Interactions: boAt Vs Apple Controversy
As the advertisement goes viral on social media, users are ready to support their favourite brand with funny takes and memes. This advertisement has reportedly gained over 60,000 views on social media, with hundreds of users criticising boAt’s advertisement and its products in the comments. Here are a few screenshots of trending posts from X:
(Credits: X)
Rise Of Controversial Marketing!
boAt’s advertisement took a direct jab at Apple by comparing the features of Apple products and Boat’s offerings. This paid media ad was also deliberately made controversial to establish the brand position as the most affordable and accessible alternative to Apple. It highlighted features of battery life, price, and functionality, attempting to divert consumers towards boAt’s products.
Apart from this boAt vs. Apple Controversy, you will find another example that constructively defines the theme of controversial marketing. Such strong moves from the backend marketing team might lead to backlash and swipe up all the appreciation. The same goes for the boAt campaign; it got mixed responses based on individuals’ experiences with respective products. However, it always allows brands to stay on the trending list for a while and eventually make their campaign successful with high visibility.
Raising the bar of social media, brands are actively contributing to controversial marketing tricks to gain online presence and divert more focus on the brand’s products. In order to stay ahead with multi-faceted digital marketing, businesses are competing in campaign wars to stay ahead with new trends.
Pros & Cons Of Controversial Marketing
With the boAt Vs Apple controversy, the brand gathered both positive and negative takes from the audience, and it sparked a long debate on social media. This showcases a good example of controversial marketing; in that context, let’s understand the pros and cons of controversial marketing:
Pros
- It builds a strong online presence where brand content goes viral and creates brand awareness.
- This controversial marketing triggers emotions in users that help marketers assess customer opinions.
- It helps to leverage sales, and more traffic diverted to the website leads to more conversions.
- More popularity gained on social media to gear up with marketing coverage with likes, reshare, and followers.
Cons
- It might be offensive to users, and the brand may lose potential customers.
- Sometimes, it can impact brand reputation in a negative manner that might affect business operations.
- In a few cases, user attention might divert to controversial matters rather than focusing on the actual product. So, even if the campaign goes viral, it does not convert customers.
Controversial World Of Advertising!
As brands invest in their online presence through social media marketing and other strategies, controversial marketing is rising to help businesses showcase their products. Marketers and PR agencies are actively scaling these ideas to target more customers who are not directly related to the product segment but can be converted into potential customers.
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