To challenge or not to challenge?
With the London Marathon having taken place this weekend we saw loads of great ads from sports brands. But it was Nike who easily won the award for the most divisive advert: “Runners welcome. Walkers tolerated.”
It’s a line that does what powerful brand messaging is supposed to do – makes a statement you can’t ignore. It knows exactly who it’s for and, just as importantly, who it isn’t. It’s a return to Nike’s performance driven messaging and harks back to their famous “the meek will inherit the earth, but they won’t get the ball” Charles Barkley advert (phwoar, what a time for advertising!).
Not everyone applauds that kind of clarity. In fact, many within the advertising and marketing community have passionately condemned it (a lack of inclusivity and a “tone deaf” attitude). When brands exclude, they run the risk of backlash. The sharper the view, the higher the risk of blunting your mass appeal – or should that be the higher the chance of cutting through?
And yet, contrast the outcry with another brand who were making their mark at the Marathon this year, Flat White or F&ck Off. A deliberately provocative challenger coffee brand who made waves earlier this year by bringing to life an off-hand comment from advertising maestro Rory Sutherland and turning it into a viral real life coffee pop-up shop. What did they sell? Flat whites. What did they do if you asked for anything else? Told you to f*ck off. Their reward? Partnering with Puma at the London Marathon this year, fuelling runners and keeping fans caffeinated.
So why is one kind of challenge vilified (see: Nike), and another applauded (ditto: Flat White or F*ck Off)?
The answer could be context. One is an established global brand, expected to be inclusive, safe and universally appealing. The other: a challenger, with nothing to lose but much to gain by being disruptive.
But why is it we only grant permission to challengers to challenge? Why, once established, are brands frightened of rocking the very same boat they rocked to get where they are now?
This isn’t just a consumer brand problem. We see the same, though often on an even bigger scale, in B2B marketing where conformity can be mistaken for professionalism. Entire categories all doing the same thing; speaking the same language, following the same tone of voice, making the same promises. Never mind rocking the boat – we can’t even see the boat floating in its sea of sameness.
So, the question shouldn’t be “to challenge or not to challenge?”. It should be “what do we believe in and what do we stand for?” and then communicating that without dilution.
Risk takers welcome. Safe players tolerated.
