The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, USA Today and other nationally distributed newspapers have enjoyed a watershed of advertising thanks to Verizon’s aggressive attacks on AT&T 3G network coverage areas. For the past several months, as many as three full-page color ads have appeared in single daily editions of the country’s most prestigious – and costly – newspapers.

In the repeating series of ads, AT&T compares its coverage and network performance specs side-by-side to those of Verizon’s, and appears to come out ahead. According to most experts, AT&T, in fact, does have a technology advantage and covers higher numbers of customers within its 3G network areas. Rightly or wrongly, however, Verizon has captured the high ground by sowing confusion among consumers as to which carrier offers better coverage. As a consequence, AT&T is playing nothing but defense in a costly print, broadcast and online advertising campaign.

What is the lesson for other businesses? The superiority of your technology, product or service is not an absolute as far as the market place is concerned. This is especially true if features, advantages and benefits are complex and not readily understood among buyers or decision makers. Within legal limits, your competitors can make all manner of claims in an effort oversimplify, obfuscate or dumb down the selling conversation. When confusion becomes a marketing tactic, the only strategic response is laser sharp focus on clarity and understanding. Make that your strategy from the get-go, and your competitors will never have the option to use confusion against you.

Once a high-flying leader in home fitness equipment, Nautilus has gone back to basics, streamlining its product line. It also is reducing the number of sales channels to eliminate overlapping marketing efforts. Consumers saw Bowflex gyms appearing in infomercials, being sold at specialty fitness retailers and showing up in aisles at Costco. Myriad variations in features, model designations and pricing all contributed to the ultimate cost of confusion: no sale.

But Nautilus is not alone in learning this tough lesson. From the grocery aisle to the fast food menu board, some of the world’s largest conglomerates have realized the danger of having too many product choices. They’re figuring out that you and I don’t have 10 minutes to spend deciphering the differences among six kinds of Crest® toothpaste, five formulations of Old Spice deodorant or four types of Pantene hair spray to figure out what replaced the one we used happily for years. Now I buy whatever brand has the fewest products to choose from, so long as it does the job.

For another quick-read perspective on the risk of too many choices, check out this post by Derek Sivers, founder of CDBaby.

Bottom line – cut your options and cut your Cost of Confusion.