How and when to attack

The harsh political season has spawned a new round of attack ads from marketers, says Laura Ries in her branding blog. In this post, Ries describes when you should and shouldn't get nasty. "In general, the leader should never attack or name the competition," she writes. "Instead the leader should promote the category. By attacking a competitor or responding to an attack ad, the leader only legitimizes the competition and the existence of a choice. Neither is good."