In 1962 Hertz was the clear leader in the car rental business, with Avis as one of the brands in the following pack. The Avis 'We try harder' campaign repositioned Hertz: creating a relative, believable, and compelling strength for Avis. The market dominance of Hertz became a weakness and Avis became the 'right choice' in the minds of consumers.

The results were dramatic…

In 1962, just before the first 'We try harder' ads launched, Avis was an unprofitable company with 11% of the car rental business in the USA. Within a year of launching the campaign Avis was making a profit, and by 1966 Avis had tripled its market share to 35%.

Here are some of the ads that helped to 'reposition' Hertz (the market leader) and create a relative, believable, and compelling strength for Avis:

But this case is not just about the power of advertising. It is also an interesting example of how an advertising agency worked effectively with a client to build the brand. There were three steps that the agency took that made the Avis brand far more successful than it might have been.

Together these three steps helped to ensure that Avis was creating a distinctive and motivating brand experience, through all aspects of its brand.

Ask yourself:

•	Are we doing enough, in all aspects of our brand offering, to distinguish ourselves from our number-one competitor?
•	How can we 'reposition' our key competitor and create a relative, believable and compelling strength for ourselves?