If I’m religious at all, I’d put myself in the polytheist camp – why shouldn’t deities compete? So this one (church wall, southern George St, Sydney) tickled me for its recognition that (a) religions compete and (b) your fellow travellers can be an issue…
Advertising is just one way firms compete. Along with prices, availability, service levels etc, ads help persuade people to buy your stuff. Then there are “public service” campaigns, like road safety ads, which also compete for our hearts and minds. So my working hypothesis has been that ads are fundamentally competitive. At first, I thought this ad (spotted on an Auckland bus today) was evidence against my hypothesis:
By way of background, AECT is not in competition with anyone. It is a consumer trust that owns 75% of power line company Vector. You too can become a beneficiary of AECT by (a) moving into the right part of Auckland and (b) having your name on the power bill. But AECT doesn’t benefit from you doing this, so where is the competition?
It turns out to be within the AECT, which is preparing a trustee election. This process has already begun, and the voting papers will be out in a couple of weeks. If you are voting, think about this: Would you rather have had $320 and an advertising campaign, or a bigger dividend without a campaign?