The American company Avis Rent a Car, which provided car rental services, had been incurring losses for fifteen years. In 1962, Robert Townshend was appointed as the new manager. He began his work by searching for talented specialists. The manager went around ten PR agencies with only one proposal: "I have a million dollars for advertising, and I need to get a return of five million from it," but everyone just laughed at his initiative. However, one brave man was found - William Bernbach from the Doyle Dane Bernbach agency.
At that time, another American company, Hertz, was the leader in the car rental market. When the creative agency Doyle Dane Bernbach launched the famous “We try harder” campaign, Avis Rent a Car strengthened its market position. In addition, the “We try harder” ad had a dramatic impact on Hertz’s dominant position, calling its advantages into question. The PR idea was that a company that was not a sales leader should make more efforts, try to satisfy the wishes of consumers better than its competitors. In the advertising project, Avis positioned itself as a trustworthy, ambitious company worthy of second place in the service market.
The final results of the physician database collaboration between the car rental company and the creative agency Doyle Dane Bernbach were brilliant. In 1962, before the "We try harder (because we're only #2)" campaign, Avis had only about 11% of the car rental market in the US, but in 1966, Avis, as announced, took second place in the service market, and reached 35%! Setting a bold and ambitious goal for an advertising campaign is an example of how to achieve a result that will exceed all expectations.
The campaign was so successful that it not only helped to increase Avis sales, but also changed Hertz's position in the services market. In 1966, its management signed a contract with a new advertising agency and tasked professionals with creating an "anti-Avis" project that would stop the successful competitor's advance. But the measures were taken too late. By that time, Hertz had lost 10% of its market to its competitor Avis. Even the headline of the "anti-Avis" advertisement stated that the company, which had not been taken seriously in the past, was now number two on the market.
Advertising campaign for Avis
Brilliant success is not only the result of an effective PR project. The Doyle Dane Bernbach agency interacted with Avis, trying to create an image of a powerful and ambitious brand. According to U. Bernbach, "good advertising of a bad product is always a mistake." He recommended that the Avis management review their working methods and seriously improve the quality of service even before the start of the PR campaign. In order to develop an effective PR campaign, at the preparatory stage, Avis had to answer the question: "Why does a person rent a car from your company?" Doyle Dane Bernbach specialists carefully studied the activities of Avis and car rental for 3 months. The answer was found, which is summarized in the PR slogan: "We try harder than others."
And one more important point. It was necessary to stimulate the involvement of Avis employees in the process of creating a powerful brand in order to count on their support when introducing new working methods. To this end, even before the start of the advertising campaign "We try harder", each member of the team was given an envelope with a copy of the PR image along with their salary. The slogan "We try harder than others" went down in history as a record-breaking long-liver: Avis uses it today. The secret of the phrase's success is that it has become a corporate philosophy. Each Avis employee tries harder and better than others. The advertising campaign is an example of turning a previously unattractive brand into a market leader.
The Avis Rent a Car, Inc. website states: "'We try harder' is not only the most famous advertising slogan of all time, it is a promise to do better today than we did yesterday."