WHAT IT MEANS

ncreasing influence of consumers over brands and a need for real-time product and service research has resulted in a new marketing concept called “Brand Wars”.

The initiative, spearheaded by Havas Sports & Entertainment, pits consumer brands against each other and obtains real-time, real-world consumer feedback. The findings show how consumers compare and perceive the brands.

The first of these comparisons was aimed at the fastgrowing SA pizza market and #PizzaWars was launched. In the next couple of months #CoffeeWars and #BurgerWars will take place. Havas MD Andrew Ross hopes brands will see the value in this robust research and ultimately pay for their own “war” against competitors.

“Brand Wars started out as an exercise exploring brand perception vs reality. We believe the end results have sparked debate, challenged perceptions and assessed competing brands in an aggressive consumer space,” says Ross.

For the first challenge, standard pizza menu items were ordered from four dominant local companies — Debonairs, Roman’s, Pizza Hut and Domino’s. All orders were made with-