Signs That Your Brand is Fearless

Brands have become inescapable. They’re interrupting your podcasts (is anyone actually a Patreon member?), they’re somehow “sponsoring” big plays in Sunday’s game, and they’ve found a cozy, permanent home in all our pockets by way of that great homogenizer/noise factory, Social Media.

And yet, with all that competition, some brands manage to cut through; fearless brands who aren’t afraid to take a flyer on something new and unexpected — maybe even something a little transgressive. The point is, they get your attention by breaking your expectations. It’s a calculated risk, but when it’s done right, it feels right, and it feels effortless.

Here are four magic ingredients that fearless brands have in common:

1. Fearless brands know who they are.

They’re masters of the one-line pitch. They provide a clearly defined product and don’t spend their time and money explaining and re-explaining themselves. Their vision is singular, their POV is strong, and their identity is fully realized. In other words, they know exactly who they are and what they’re about. It’s fertile soil for confidence, and confidence is king. It’s the magnet that pulls your audience in and holds them close until they become your cheerleaders.

Take Liquid Death for example. They put water in a can because cans actually get recycled. Simple. Done. Now comes the brand: a killer name (literally), playfully bad-ass taglines like “the thirst mutilator”, a logo that would make even the blackest of black metal bands jealous, activations and collabs that make me jealous, and a market niche that would make anyone jealous — all executed (you get it) to flawless perfection with two skeleton middle fingers firmly raised to the rest of the industry. They’re not just selling water, they’re selling an experience. They’re selling a statement. Every can of Liquid Death screams, “We are the Dark Lords of hydration” without a hint of apology.

2. Fearless brands know the difference between fearlessness and recklessness.

While they share a certain raw appeal, there’s one huge difference: fearlessness is strategic. It comes from a place of deep understanding and meticulous planning — another recipe for confidence. Recklessness, on the other hand, is a cheap sideshow. It’s FTX and their big-name celebrity endorsements and Super Bowl ads for what amounted to a well-funded Ponzi scheme. Sure, it’ll grab your attention for a moment, but the schtick soon wears thin. You can’t build on recklessness. It requires constant reinvention. Fearlessness is made to be built on.

In 2022, fancy-pants gym Equinox launched its “We Don’t Speak January” campaign, disallowing new membership sign-ups on January 1st. On its face, it looked like an own goal — a seemingly reckless move that sidelined them on the biggest money-making day of the year. Why’d they do it? Because they don’t cater to the half-hearted New Year’s resolution crowd. The move made an undeniable statement that Equinox is for serious fitness fans only. They put their money where their mouth is and, rather than losing business, drew record attention to the brand and increased monthly sign-ups by 25%.

Which leads nicely to the next point…

3. Fearless brands understand their audience.

It goes without saying that effective brands have a good sense of who their audience is and what they want, but fearless brands go deeper. They know what their audience loves, how to deliver it, and that their relationship requires a bit of vulnerability. They create emotional connections based on mutual understanding, like having an inside joke with a friend. Whether or not it’s funny doesn’t matter. You love it because you share it. And other people not getting it is part of the fun. More on that in a minute.

One of my favorite recent examples is the DEN Files Campaign at the Denver International Airport. They wholeheartedly embraced the conspiracy theories of hidden tunnels, lizard people, demon horses, and the occult associated with the airport’s construction and turned it into a joke that diffused the extra stress caused by having to navigate an international airport while it’s being renovated. They effectively turned an inconvenience into an asset by understanding their audience, taking them on a ride, and going on that ride with them by capitalizing on rumors crisis comms would tell you need to be swept under the rug. Double diffused.

4. Fearless brands are okay with not trying to please everyone.

This is the big one, and definitely the least comfortable. If you know who you are, know what it means to be fearless, truly understand your audience, and then act accordingly, you’re not going to be everybody’s cup of tea. And that’s just fine. Good, even. If you’re busy trying to reach everyone, you’ll never delight anyone. Fearless brands focus on their people.

Bad Dad Brewing Co. in tiny Fairmount, Indiana (the birthplace of James Dean and one-time home to Jim Davis) gets it. When they tapped us to help build their brand, then make sure everyone in their distribution area knows who they are, we knew the normal beer marketing playbook wasn’t going to help. So, of course, we covered the state in billboards of gym socks, sweat bands, and worn-out tighty whities. No message, no CTA, sometimes their name even appeared upside down. And it worked. Not only did sales take off, they got picked up by concert venues and professional sports arenas across the state. Then we followed it up the next year by doubling down on the concept, featuring our own scintillating spokes-dad it on delivery vehicles, on-premise advertising, digital, and more outdoor. Concerned letters came in and sales kept climbing.

This one minute story from Seth Godin about David Chang in the early days of Momofuku really sums up why not trying to please everyone is so important.

Caution: Branding can’t fix a bad product.

A fearless brand identity is powerful, but it can’t save a product that doesn’t deliver. The best branding in the world won’t make up for a bad experience. And bold advertising might grab some attention, but at the end of the day, the product has to back it up. For fearless brands, product and identity have to work hand in glove. The overlap (or lack thereof)  between the two is so important, in fact, that it plays a vital role in our research process.

Let’s sum this up.

I don’t think I can say it better than Seth Godin at the end of his Momofuku story, so here you go:

“Pick your customers, pick your future. That is how you actually build a brand. You stand for something — for someone. You are not trying to make everything for everyone. If you’re not willing to do that, then you don’t have a brand. You’re just a commodity provider.”

I’ll add this: Be fearless…purposefully.