taste test). 1991)..
             In the indirect comparison, the competing brand will be referred to as the leading brand. A general comparison would be a statement such as the advertised brand has the best performance eg energizer battery advetise itself as having the longest lasting battery life.
             Comparative advertising is useful when a firm does not have the leading brand. In effect, it locates a follower brand as a member of the same category as the leading brand. But if a non-leading brand is to invite comparison, it must offer demonstrable superiority on some characteristic that is important to consumers. Perhaps the most successful use of comparison was the Pepsi Challenge, where Pepsi used a blind taste test to show that it was superior in taste to the category leader, Coke.
             A leading brand in a category typically would not compare itself to the competition. The leading brand is already closely associated with the product category, so such a comparison would be unlikely to enhance brand membership in the category. Identifying competition might also legitimize competitive brands that consumers may not have previously considered as alternatives. In effect, for the leading brand, comparative advertising may be free advertising for a competitor.
             Even with these concerns, leading brands sometimes compare themselves to other brands. They do so because comparison offers a more powerful way to show superiority on some benefit than is possible by simply presenting the merits of the advertised brand. Thus, it is appropriate for a market leader to use comparison when they believe that the increased power of a comparison offsets the potential liabilities of enhancing a competitor's membership in the category.
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