‘Never write a headline that sends your audience looking for your competitor’
Yesudas S Pillai has shared his observations on a front-page newspaper advertisement by The Leela Palace, reflecting on how brand messaging can influence consumer attention and interpretation
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Published: Jul 8, 2026 3:58 PM | 2 min read
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- Yesudas S Pillai, an advertising and marketing strategist, critiques a recent advertisement for The Leela Palace Bengaluru, highlighting how its headline may inadvertently promote competitor Oberoi Hotels & Resorts.
- The ad claims "Ranked No. 2. India’s Finest. World’s Best," which piqued Pillai's curiosity about who holds the No. 1 position, leading him to discover that Oberoi Hotels is ranked first in both city and resort categories.
- Pillai notes that while the ad features The Leela Palace Udaipur, the headline generalizes the ranking to the entire Leela brand, which could mislead consumers.
- He emphasizes the importance of storytelling in marketing, suggesting that acknowledging a brand's journey and resilience can be more impactful than making bold claims, and advises against headlines that prompt consumers to seek out competitors.
Yesudas S Pillai, advertising and marketing strategist, Investor & Founder at Y&A Transformation, shared his perspective on a Leela Palace ad, using it as an example to discuss how headlines can shape consumer curiosity and brand perception.
Below is his complete post shared on LinkedIn:
A Leela Palace ad The Leela Palace Bengaluru that inadvertently sold Oberoi Hotels & Resorts.
One of the first things I saw when I opened the newspaper this morning was this front page advertisement.
“Ranked No. 2. India’s Finest. World’s Best.”
It made me pause. If you’re telling me you’re No. 2, can you simultaneously claim to be India’s finest?
Naturally, my curiosity took over. Who is No.1 then?
A few minutes of scrolling later, I found the answer. The rankings showed The Oberoi, Mumbai as India’s No. 1 city hotel. Further down, The Oberoi Amarvilas, Agra was ranked India’s No. 1 resort. The Leela Palace Udaipur was ranked No. 2 in its category.
The advertisement in my opinion had achieved something its creators probably never intended.
It made me discover, and admire, the competition.
Now, to be fair, the image in the ad is of The Leela Palace Udaipur, and the ranking refers to that property. But the headline elevates that achievement into a claim about the entire Leela brand.
That is where storytelling becomes important.
What fascinated me even more was the small print. It mentions that Leela was voted No. 1 in 2020 and 2021, slipped to No. 3 in 2023 and 2024, and has climbed back to No. 2 in 2026.
To me, that’s the real story.
A premium brand that lost ground, worked hard, and climbed back. There is humility. There is resilience. There is aspiration. There is momentum.
Instead, the communication chooses a tone that borders on certainty, almost as if the ranking doesn’t matter because “we are India’s finest anyway.”
The result?
The first question in my mind wasn’t, “Should I stay at Leela?” It was, “Who beat them?”
That’s a reminder for all of us in marketing. A brand isn’t built by making the biggest claim.
It’s built by making the audience feel something. Sometimes, acknowledging the journey is far more powerful than declaring victory.
And the simplest rule of all: Never write a headline that sends your audience looking for your competitor.
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