“On Brand” Might Be the Most Dangerous Phrase in Marketing

There are two words capable of killing almost any interesting idea.

Not:

“Legal says…”

Although strong contender.

Not:

“The CEO thinks…”

Also dangerous.

The words are:

“On brand.”

They sound responsible.

Strategic.

Professional.

Nobody has ever been escorted from a marketing meeting for asking whether something is on brand.

Quite the opposite.

It’s basically corporate holy water.

“This idea is funny.”

“Is it on brand?”

“This creator has exactly the audience we want.”

“Are they on brand?”

“This is performing incredibly well.”

“Yes, but does it feel on brand?”

Eventually you start to wonder what the brand actually is.

Because apparently it hates everything interesting.

Obviously Things Should Be On Brand

Let’s get this bit out of the way.

Brands matter.

Consistency matters.

Distinctiveness matters.

Having some idea of who the fuck you are matters.

We’re not suggesting every company should wake up Monday morning and decide:

“We’re goth now.”

Although depending on the category, please call us.

A strong brand should help people make better decisions.

What do we sound like?

What do we believe?

What do we look like?

What kinds of things would we do?

What would we never do?

Useful.

The problem starts when “on brand” stops meaning “distinctively us” and starts meaning “comfortably familiar to us.”

Those are very different things.

“On Brand” Has Become a Vibe-Based Veto

The dangerous thing about the phrase is how little explanation it requires.

“I don't think it's on brand.”

Okay.

Why?

“It just doesn't feel like us.”

What doesn't?

“The tone.”

Which bit?

“It's just not quite there.”

Excellent.

Very actionable.

See you in three days.

“On brand” can become the perfect piece of creative feedback because it sounds strategic while remaining almost completely impossible to argue with.

There’s no specific problem to solve.

No objective being missed.

No audience concern.

No evidence.

Just:

vibes.

Corporate vibes.

The most powerful force in advertising.

Sometimes “On Brand” Means “We’ve Done It Before”

This is where things get properly dangerous.

Imagine everything you've made for the last five years.

The same visual style.

Same tone.

Same casting.

Same product shots.

Same safe little jokes.

Same campaign structure.

Everyone becomes used to it.

Then someone presents something different.

Not randomly different.

Strategically different.

But fresh.

Immediately:

“It doesn't feel on brand.”

Of course it doesn't.

You haven't done it before.

That might be the fucking point.

If your definition of “on brand” is simply:

looks like everything we've already made

then your brand has become a machine for reproducing its own past.

Very consistent.

Eventually invisible.

We Want Innovation

This is one of our favourite contradictions.

“We really want to innovate.”

Great.

Here's something we haven't done before.

“Has anyone else done it?”

Not quite like this.

“Hmm.”

What's wrong?

“We're just not sure it will work.”

Fair.

That's the nature of doing something new.

“Do you have any examples of it working?”

Of this thing nobody has done?

“Yes.”

No.

“That's concerning.”

Right.

So we want innovation.

But only innovation that has already been proven.

Preferably by another brand.

In our category.

With results.

And a case study.

What you're looking for is not innovation.

You're looking for precedent.

Your Brand Guidelines Are Not a Suicide Pact

Brand guidelines are useful.

Until they become scripture.

Logo goes here.

Colour goes there.

Photography should feel warm but premium.

Talent should be aspirational yet relatable.

Tone is playful but never silly.

Confident but never arrogant.

Bold but never controversial.

Human but professional.

Innovative but trusted.

Youthful but timeless.

Great.

We’ve successfully created a personality no human being has ever had.

Then every idea is held against the document.

Can we use this colour?

No.

Can the creator say it this way?

No.

Can we shoot it differently?

No.

Can the logo do that?

Definitely not.

Eventually the guidelines stop helping the brand behave distinctively.

They start preventing it from behaving at all.

Your brand guidelines should protect the important things.

They shouldn't need to approve every molecule.

“They’re Great, But They’re Not Really Our Brand”

This gets especially strange with creators.

You find someone.

Their audience is perfect.

Their content performs.

People trust them.

They're funny.

They understand the platform.

They already talk about things adjacent to your category.

Excellent.

So what's the problem?

“They don't really look like our brand.”

Interesting.

What does your brand look like?

“Well…”

Here comes the mood board.

Apparently your brand is a 28-year-old woman with immaculate skin drinking an iced coffee in a beige kitchen.

She has been busy.

She appears to represent approximately 40% of Australian brands.

Maybe your customer doesn't need every person associated with your company to look like they emerged from the same casting deck.

Maybe different people can like you.

Maybe a creator’s value is precisely that they bring a voice, audience and cultural world you don't already own.

Otherwise, why hire them?

We Want Authentic Creators

Another favourite.

“We want the creator to be themselves.”

Great.

They send the concept.

“Could they change the opening?”

Sure.

“And remove that joke?”

Okay.

“We don't normally use that word.”

Fine.

“Could they mention the product earlier?”

Yep.

“And say the full brand name?”

Right.

“We need these three claims included.”

Of course.

“Legal has rewritten this sentence.”

Beautiful.

Anything else?

“It just needs to feel really authentic.”

Absolutely.

We'll tell them exactly how to be themselves.

The Brand Isn't the Marketing Department

This might be where some of the confusion comes from.

People inside a business spend vastly more time thinking about the brand than customers do.

They know every guideline.

Every campaign.

Every historical debate.

They remember why that shade of blue changed in 2023.

Your customer does not.

They have a much messier understanding of you.

A few memories.

An ad.

A product experience.

Something a friend said.

A creator they saw.

A colour.

A feeling.

Maybe a jingle that's been trapped inside their head since 2008.

That's the brand too.

Actually, that's arguably the bit that matters.

So when someone internally says:

“That doesn't feel like us.”

It's worth asking:

Us according to whom?

The Brand Manager?

The 92-page guidelines?

Or the people we're actually trying to build the brand inside the heads of?

Strong Brands Can Stretch

Think about an actual person with a strong personality.

You know who they are.

They can go to a wedding.

A funeral.

The pub.

A job interview.

A music festival.

They behave differently in each place.

But somehow remain themselves.

Imagine telling them:

“Sorry, you can't wear that. It's inconsistent with your Q2 personality guidelines.”

Brands should be able to do the same.

Your TikTok shouldn't necessarily sound like your annual report.

Your creator collaboration doesn't need to look like your TVC.

Your reactive social shouldn't require the same tone as your investor presentation.

Consistency doesn't mean repetition.

A strong identity should give you more ways to behave, not fewer.

Sometimes the Most “On Brand” Thing Is Breaking the Guidelines

This is where judgement comes in.

A brand might have a rule.

Then an opportunity arrives where breaking that rule creates something much more powerful.

What do you do?

If the guidelines are the boss, easy.

No.

If the strategy is the boss, more interesting.

Why does the rule exist?

What is it protecting?

Would breaking it confuse people?

Would it weaken distinctiveness?

Or are we protecting a convention nobody has questioned since someone from the branding agency put it in a PDF seven years ago?

Rules should have reasons.

If nobody remembers the reason, maybe we're just performing a ritual.

“On Brand” Can Be Fear Wearing a Lanyard

Sometimes the phrase isn't really about brand at all.

It's about discomfort.

The idea feels new.

The creator isn't what we'd normally choose.

The joke is sharper.

The execution looks different.

Someone might ask why we did it.

So:

“I'm not sure it's on brand.”

Much safer than saying:

“This makes me nervous.”

Because nervousness sounds personal.

“On brand” sounds strategic.

Now your discomfort has a framework.

A logo.

Possibly a colour palette.

But creative work should occasionally make the people approving it slightly uncomfortable.

Not because discomfort automatically means something is good.

There are plenty of terrible ideas capable of making everyone in a meeting extremely nervous.

But if you want the brand to move somewhere new, at some point you have to make something that doesn't look exactly like where you've already been.

The Better Question

Instead of:

“Is this on brand?”

Try:

“Does this build the brand we want?”

Tiny difference.

Massive difference.

“Is this on brand?” looks backwards.

Does this match?

Have we done this?

Does it fit the existing box?

“Does this build the brand we want?” looks forwards.

Will people remember us?

Does this make us more distinctive?

Does it strengthen what we want to stand for?

Does it introduce us to the right audience?

Does it create the right feeling?

Is there a strategic reason to do it?

Now we can have an actual conversation.

Maybe the answer is no.

Great.

Kill the idea.

But at least we killed it for a reason.

Your Brand Should Help You Make Decisions

That's what all of this should be for.

Strategy.

Positioning.

Guidelines.

Distinctive assets.

Tone of voice.

They should help creative people understand the playground.

Where are the boundaries?

What's sacred?

What's flexible?

What makes us unmistakably us?

Then let people fucking play.

Because if “on brand” means the work always has to look, sound and behave like the work you've already made, eventually you've built something incredibly consistent.

Same colours.

Same tone.

Same casting.

Same layouts.

Same safe little jokes.

Same everything.

And when the customer sees it?

They know exactly what to expect.

So they scroll straight past.

Very on brand.