Rustam K. Lead Designer

How Brands Are Finding Success in Flipping Tired Stereotypes

Marketing has always enjoyed a stereotype, whether it be of ignorant dads or detail-obsessed Pinterest mums. They are simple. They are reachable. When thrown into a marketing effort, they seldom ever need an explanation or a justification.

And consumers are wholly fed up with them.

The brands that are prepared to challenge expectations, shatter taboos, and reach out to new audiences in novel ways will be the ones who succeed in the future. Everything begins with purpose, with brands knowing and articulating their motivations beyond the simple desire to make a profit.

As more and more companies define their purposes, they must aggressively challenge stale beliefs and norms in their message, marketing, and even in their goods.

With effective marketing, brands have a huge amount of potential to affect positive change in the world and destroy damaging preconceptions. Let's look at a few brands that are already doing that and the things that other brands can learn from them about how to live out their purpose.

Who Operates Electric Cars?

In recent years, electric vehicles have advanced significantly, especially in the United States, where large gas-guzzlers formerly seemed to represent the American Dream. Early adopters of the hybrid Prius, which first appeared in the United States in 2000, were quickly lumped into a common stereotype of consumers of environmentally friendly products: tree-hugging hippies who were more interested in flaunting their love of Mother Earth than they were in being able to accelerate properly on the freeway. Thanks to advancements in electric vehicle technology over the past 20 years, not to mention the cult following of companies like Tesla, this perception has progressively changed. However, maybe no corporation has done more to dispel the myth of the eco-friendly electric vehicle driver than Ford, which earlier this year unveiled the Ford F-150 Lightning, an all-electric version of its wildly successful pickup. That's a category-changing move that both fulfills Ford's declared mission to "help construct a better world, where every person is free to move and follow their goals" and bridges the gap between "the tree huggers" and "pickup-loving power junkies."

How Does a Drink Become Extreme?

Similar to how Americans enjoy classifying one another based on the vehicles they drive, they also insist on categorizing people based on the types of beverages they consume. Through their marketing and product creation, corporations have long supported this inclination, urging tired mothers to embrace "wine-o-clock," and reminding consumers that you're not a true holiday enthusiast if your coffee isn't flavored with peppermint or pumpkin spice. One of the worst offenders over the past two decades has been the energy drink category, which insists that athletes can't possibly be serious about performance if they aren't dosing themselves with caffeine, taurine, guarana, ginseng, L-carnitine, and a whole bunch of other stimulants that it's probably best not to Google. Because of this, I adore Liquid Death's marketing. This company is creative enough to reimagine a product as simple as water as the perfect energy beverage for thrill-seekers. However, Liquid Death is more than simply clever advertising. It is fundamentally driven by purpose. "Our diabolical aim is to make people laugh and get more of them to drink more water more often, all while helping to fight plastic pollution," the company's website declares. The message is getting through, too. The business raised $15 million in Series C fundraising during the past year, increasing its total funding to $50 million. Brands that are open to deviating from the norm and trying new things with their merchandise and marketing are increasingly those whose futures are bright. Continued reliance on worn-out clichés in a commoditized society is not only lazy, but also reckless from a corporate and cultural standpoint. Brands can create a better future for themselves and their customers by working with purpose and questioning norms.