No Way! Is The New Way

Many of today’s brands are having a hard time capturing new users and fans. In most cases, established rules effectively hold the brand prisoner, and undue attention is paid to the reactions of core fans. When this happens, the brand’s creatives can become stale and inward-looking, and the brand itself more and more inflexible. At some point, even core fans will tire of the brand. Consistent branding is undoubtedly important, but brands also need to incorporate the unexpected to give themselves a jolt.

Amid the flood of information in today’s digital world, attracting ‘Likes’ from fans isn’t enough for a brand to grab attention. What’s needed instead are ideas that trigger proactive “No Way!” responses of amazement from the world.

For this to happen, it’s necessary to disrupt status quo creative processes. But what kinds of disruptions should you be designing — among core fans, among past behaviours, among past messages, and among past media practices — to get people around the world to exclaim “No Way!”?