I won’t lie — it’s been one of those weeks.

I left the house twice (a personal record). Had a real-life meeting. And even swapped out my favorite gray hoodie for “real clothes”.

Why? Because a lot’s been happening, in the best way.

I opened the doors to new PMM Camp members (24 hours left if you’ve been eyeing it) and I kicked off a new podcast mini-series with my friend Daniel over on The Marketing Millennials.

Today, I want to talk about the pod! It’s called Go-To-Market Plays, and each week Daniel and I will break down one GTM move in 10 minutes or less. Quick enough to listen on your coffee break, helpful enough to implement right away.

In this week’s episode, we tackled contrast marketing.

And today, I’m going to break down the play for all of you 👇 (Or listen to the full episode here if you prefer the audio version!)

GTM Play: Contrast Marketing

When Daniel asked me to bring a GTM play to the pod, this one was a no-brainer.

Because it goes back to something we talk about all the time as PMMs: it’s not enough to be better, you have to be different.

That’s the heart of this play. It’s not about proving you’re superior to a competitor. It’s about highlighting your differences to make your audience feel like your product is built just for them.

The classic example of this is Mac vs PC (more on that in just a sec).

Too many brands over-index on trying to close the gap between themselves and the category leader. They chase feature parity. They compete on price point. They water down their messaging.

But, it’s easy to get caught up in competition. And then, before you know it, you look/sound/feel exactly like everyone else. You’ve lost what made you special in the first place.

Great marketing doesn’t hide or minimize the differences — it amplifies the differences.

That’s the magic of contrast.

It creates clarity. It gives your audience a reference point. And it lets them instantly see which product was made for them, and which one wasn’t.

Now, back to Mac vs PC.

Apple could have competed on specs against Microsoft. But instead, they made it about identity. They personified the brands:

• Mac was the cool creative.

• PC was the stiff corporate.

They launched the “Get a Mac” campaign, a series of TV commercials featuring two characters. Mac was played by Justin Long, and they made him young, casual, laid-back, effortlessly cool. PC was played by John Hodgman, and he was stiff, awkward, and buttoned-up.

Apple didn’t just say Mac is better. They made PC look outdated and uncool.

This wasn’t about price. It wasn’t about features. It was about belonging. If you were a creative, a designer, a cool tech-savvy person — then you wanted to be a Mac person.

And that’s the power of competitor contrast marketing. Apple made it easy for customers to choose sides.

How to Run the Play

Want to do this for your own brand? Here’s how:

• Find your opposite — Study your biggest competitor. What do they stand for? Then ask: how are we the opposite of that?

• Turn their strength into your advantage — Every strength has a shadow. If your competitor is big, they’re probably slow. If they’re cheap, they may also be low quality. Find the angle, and then flip it.

• Make the contrast obvious — Be bold. Use messaging, design and distribution to draw a clear line. If you do it right, customers won’t just choose you — they’ll reject the alternative.

And remember, the goal isn’t to be better at the same game. It’s to make the customer feel like they’re choosing between two different games entirely.

CAMPER ESSENTIALS

🎧 Playlist: Grab the full GTM Play on this week’s episode of The Marketing Millennials.

🛠️ Tools: Have you heard of Sublime? They call themselves a “second brain with a soul.” I’m curious enough to give it a try. If you’re a user, send me your best tips.

🗓️ Events: Learn how to build a custom GPT at PMM Camp’s AI Office Hours with Jess Petrella. RSVP inside the community to save your spot (April 17 at 9am PT/12pm ET).

Now back to my regularly scheduled calendar…and hoodie.