--- title: How the Competitiveness of the Election has Impacted Business Acumen description: Trying to win customers by bashing competitors will not yield long-term success. Strong business acumen skills will build a strategy & value proposition. image: https://www.advantexe.com/hubfs/business-competition.jpg --- [![logo-advantexe-150.png](https://www.advantexe.com/hs-fs/hubfs/logo-advantexe-150.png?width=150&height=123&name=logo-advantexe-150.png "logo-advantexe-150.png")](https://www.advantexe.com) ![blog-banner-2022](https://www.advantexe.com/hs-fs/hubfs/blog-banner-2022.png?width=973&name=blog-banner-2022.png "blog-banner-2022") ### The Advantexe Advisor Blog - providing a deep and applicable understanding of the system of business. # How the Competitiveness of the Election has Impacted Business Acumen By Robert Brodo | Nov 4, 2020 8:16:40 AM | [![Share on Facebook](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/facebook-24x24.png)](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.advantexe.com%2Fblog%2Fhow-the-competitiveness-of-the-election-has-impacted-business-acumen%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dfacebook) [![Share on LinkedIn](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/linkedin-24x24.png)](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.advantexe.com%2Fblog%2Fhow-the-competitiveness-of-the-election-has-impacted-business-acumen%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dlinkedin) [![Share on Twitter](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/twitter-24x24.png)](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.advantexe.com%2Fblog%2Fhow-the-competitiveness-of-the-election-has-impacted-business-acumen%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dtwitter&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.advantexe.com%2Fblog%2Fhow-the-competitiveness-of-the-election-has-impacted-business-acumen%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dtwitter&source=tweetbutton&text=How%20the%20Competitiveness%20of%20the%20Election%20has%20Impacted%20Business%20Acumen) [![Share on Pinterest](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/pinterest-24x24.png)](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.advantexe.com%2Fblog%2Fhow-the-competitiveness-of-the-election-has-impacted-business-acumen%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dpinterest&media=) [![Share on Email](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/email-24x24.png)](mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.advantexe.com%2Fblog%2Fhow-the-competitiveness-of-the-election-has-impacted-business-acumen%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Demail%20&body=Check%20out%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.advantexe.com%2Fblog%2Fhow-the-competitiveness-of-the-election-has-impacted-business-acumen%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Demail) Regardless of your political beliefs we can all agree that we have seen and heard things in this election ![business-competition](https://www.advantexe.com/hs-fs/hubfs/business-competition.jpg?width=300&name=business-competition.jpg)season (and the past for years) that most people never expected or imagined they would see in their lifetimes. The vitriol and nastiness were unprecedented and the lack of civility extremely discouraging. But this blog isn’t about politics or the outcome of the election. It is about how this competitiveness and deterioration of decorum has impacted business and the skills of [Business Acumen](https://www.advantexe.com/blog/defining-business-acumen). **A Bad Lesson from Politics: Tearing Down Business Competitors in Social Media** There used to be a general rule of marketing that suggested you never ever mentioned your competition in a marketing campaign. This was for several reasons. First, you never wanted to give the competitor free press or validation that they were even a worthy competitor. Second, you were afraid of saying something that could be libelous and end up in a lawsuit. But social media changed everything. With a few keystrokes, you can “bash” a competitor and change perceptions. Most tweets aren’t creative, aren’t thoughtful, and lack any sense of true [Business Acumen](https://www.advantexe.com/blog/business-acumen-skills-5-most-important-elements-of-a-learning-journey). Let’s examine two recent examples. You don’t get more competitive than hamburgers and cars. In the first Tweet, Wendy’s is directly taking on McDonalds and in the second, BMW is taking on Mercedes. Wendy’s goes right after McDonald’s “weakness” of shipping frozen meat (versus Wendy’s “fresh” meat) and BMW is toying with Mercedes saying that Mercedes automobiles want to “dress up” as their favorite superhero (a BMW). ![wendys-businss-acumen](https://www.advantexe.com/hs-fs/hubfs/wendys-businss-acumen.jpg?width=550&name=wendys-businss-acumen.jpg) ![bmw-business-acumen](https://www.advantexe.com/hs-fs/hubfs/bmw-business-acumen.jpg?width=528&name=bmw-business-acumen.jpg) **Why is the Intensity Rising?** Because the world has changed and will keep evolving. A powerful, negative message like Wendy’s can be delivered in 3 letters – TFW – which of course stands for “That Feeling When” that goes viral as opposed to an expensive TV campaign. But beyond the marketing efficiency, I think there is also another reason: negativity sells. It is clearly in our politics and that is now never going to change. It’s almost expected and there is a certain sadness to the lack of creativity. **Why You Should Respect the Competitor** In Advantexe’s approach to building Business Acumen and Business Leadership skills, we teach participants to respect competitors. Name calling and taking competitors for granted in business is a recipe for disaster. As long as that competitor has a value proposition and is doing business with customers, they are viable. Competitors can change [strategy](https://www.advantexe.com/blog/do-you-have-a-business-strategy-or-a-list-of-tasks). They can merge. They can be acquired. **Using Business Acumen Skills to Differentiate and Win** Trying to win by bashing your competitor will not yield long term success. It’s a short-term gain that will be lost when a better value proposition comes along and surely, a better value proposition will come along. In much of our work, we build the [Business Acumen skills](https://www.advantexe.com/blog/five-questions-to-test-your-business-acumen-skills) that help contributors and leaders set strategy and then execute that strategy through operational decisions. A strategy if founded on a positive group of factors that include quality, brand, service, and of course price. Understanding customer needs and delivering a value proposition to meet their needs is the only way to be successful in business. In summary, if we must have negative competition, let’s leave it with the politicians. In business, lets embrace what we know to be true; that having a differentiated value proposition that delivers the right message to the right customer will beat the competition every time. [![Why Business Acumen Matters ](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/1153922/ef562d5a-acb6-45df-86ae-098c09e7fcc0.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/1153922/ef562d5a-acb6-45df-86ae-098c09e7fcc0) ![Robert Brodo](https://www.advantexe.com/hubfs/Blogs/rob-brodo-author.png) **About The Author** Robert Brodo is co-founder of Advantexe. He has more than 20 years of training and business simulation experience. 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