Your owners both went to Hollywood to exploit your strengths. In Michael J. Fox’s Height’s case, it was an ability to pass as younger while being able to take direction like a veteran actor. In Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Accent’s case, that was actual physical strength.

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Interestingly, Accent and Height, you were both seen as weaknesses at different points. You both became strengths. One of you went on to be largely forgotten, and the other practically trademarked.

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MJF’s Height, you were no fun to have around in high school. Sixteen year-olds who pass for twelve don’t exactly have an easy time of it. But damned if you didn’t get Michael his first acting gig, revealing yourself as a secret weapon he hadn’t known he possessed. Which of course led to his next acting gig, and the next, and the next. The rest is Back to the Future. 

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Along the way, you became less relevant to Michael’s brand. Sure, there was the odd short joke in a sitcom and roles in which he played younger. But it wasn’t “the diminutive Fox this, the short-statured actor that” in news coverage anymore. You opened the door, and you’re still hanging around. But his personal brand evolved—and continues to—despite, not because of you.

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Arnold’s Accent, you were seen as a barrier, not a gateway, to cinematic success. Arnold cut an impressive figure and possessed a huge presence. But you made him unsellable for being almost unintelligible. Speech coaching, language training, nonspeaking roles were introduced. 

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Then, Arnold figured out that you made him distinct. There were plenty of Stallones and Seagals out there. But none of them had your sound. At once foreign and familiar, you gave Arnold a point of difference that made The Terminator work. “I’ll be back” sounds ridiculous when anyone else says it (see: Michael Scott in The Office). “It’s not a tumor” wouldn’t be a thing if Sly had tried it.

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Soon you were inseparable from Arnold’s brand. You became the subject of parody to the point that the imitators were becoming famous in their own right. Hans and Franz pumped you up and nearly got a movie deal of their own. 

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Had you been coached out of him and replaced by some version of midwestern folksy, Arnold might’ve ended up governing a fry station at In-and-Out instead of the state of California.  

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So: you never know which strengths might turn out to be weaknesses, or simply too common to be special. Nor do you know which weaknesses might in fact be the key to differentiation. 

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As we think about helping brands stand out, we’ll be sure and question convention and remember you both as examples of the success doing so can bring. 

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Indelibly yours,

Mike, Matt, Thom & Jeff