A week before the 2011 Super Bowl, an issue of this newsletter discussed how being better than the competition was a losing strategy. Being the best is a winning strategy.

Two Super Bowl ads addressed this concept. Since cars are high ticket items, automobile manufacturers can spend more on their ads than some other companies. About half-way through the game there was an Audi ad which depicted rich people in a rich people's prison. Their cells were elaborately decorated. Two of them were trying to make an escape and finally were outside facing two getaway cars: an Audi and a Mercedes. One jumped in each car and took off. The Mercedes driver found himself back in prison immediately, a prisoner of the old, traditional thinking that Mercedes was the best choice. The Audi driver made a clean escape.

At that point, Audi had used the Mercedes longevity against it. The ad implied that Mercedes were for the old rich. Meanwhile, Audi, with its racing heritage, sleek looks and nouveau riche appeal was the best new approach. They had leapfrogged over Mercedes.

Towards the end of the game, Mercedes ran an ad. Was the timing coincidental? Did Mercedes know what Audi's message would be? In the Mercedes ad, they showed some beautiful vintage Mercedes models, the kind that can stop a grown man's heart. They were racing towards the newest models in the line. And then, there they were. Gorgeous! Sleek!

So, while the Packers won the game and took home the Lombardy trophy, Mercedes won the ad war. Too bad Audi didn't have time for just one more ad, isn't it? They could have leapfrogged over Mercedes.

Wasn't it Vince Lombardy who said, "We never lost a game, we just ran out of time"?

The value of being the best, rather than "better than", is proven by the people who buy the Audi or the Mercedes regardless of the ads - regardless of the sales pitch. They buy because they believe their choice is the best. Otherwise, the last "leapfrogger" wins.

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