At dinner with a client who was involved in a high profile lawsuit with his rival over advertising claims, we asked if he wished he’d played it safer.
His response: “If the guy in your position at your competitor doesn’t know your name, you’re not doing it right.”
As we’ve said before, clients often ask to be pushed or made “uncomfortable” with a bold brand refresh. And while we don’t advocate for boldness for its own sake, we’ll fight for it if it makes strategic sense for the brand.
We do this because playing it safe in a brand refresh can actually be dangerous. Once a “safe” brand ends up launching, an organization craving inspiration feels disappointed. Customers have no reason to take a closer look at the new value you could bring them. Stakeholders scratch their heads about the effort spent for merely incremental change. A competitor grabs the opportunity and claims the space you could have.
This danger in safety is hard to avoid. Most organizations have evolved to play it safe, unable to see the risk in doing so. That’s what bureaucracy does best.
So, before your brand refresh gets beaten down by committee review and misunderstood by skittish executives, make sure everyone understands the stakes. That there’s danger in creating something that’s new but still stagnant. In doing something too cautious and undifferentiated. In an outcome that puts you on par with the competition instead of inspiring its envy.
Not every bold brand move needs to lead to litigation. But if there’s an understanding that “safe” can lead to stagnation — or worse — the case for boldness is airtight.
In The Indelible’s longstanding tradition of making dated movie references, let’s close with a quote from the 2004 film Troy. Achilles, preparing to battle an intimidating foe, is approached by a boy who would prefer to play it safe.
“I wouldn’t want to fight him,” the boy says.
Achilles responds, “That’s why no one will remember your name.”
Or, as we say around The Indelible’s offices, make your mark.
