When I was a kid, it seemed the only thing I really wanted to do was get older. So when I made it to 27 I knew without all shadow of a doubt I had freedom. I thought I had the freedom to do what I wanted, when I wanted and how I wanted. Ha! Silly me. The greatest freedom I had was when I was a kid.

It made me think about companies particularly in regards to marketing. When you are a young company, in the process of establishing your brand, you have freedom. The sky is the limit in how you plan, innovate and market who you are to your ideal (and not so ideal) customers. You can choose to be edgy. Once you’ve grown and reached a level of brand maturity, you can become stagnant. We see the stagnation in your marketing efforts and sometimes, oftentimes, in your innovation.

Radical thinking produces radical results!  

Will radical results always work? No, not necessarily but they are good press, often go viral and become trends talked about in social media right up to the time your next radical result is revealed.

The Box

Back in the 80s/90s, the phrase “out of the box” was a cool idea. It was so cool it became a little cliché. Next was “beyond the box.” Now that was huge! My question is…who said there had to be a box in the first place? Free range, baby! Cage free!

Brand Limits

Why are brands limiting themselves? There’s always the board or legal when you get to a certain level which mostly coincides with market share and stockholder dividends. But brands, particularly well known brands who take a bit of a risk are the ones that people flock to. I’ve also noticed that the brands that take risks, brand freedom if you will, are also following their consumers. They have a true understanding of who their loyal consumers are and jump on the bandwagon early of the growing trends.

A great example of this is in the social media arena. Brands that jumped into Facebook, Twitter, even Instagram early were able to place a stake in the ground and roll with the ever growing social population. But they had to stay active and they had to become a little radical to stay trend worthy. Today, a social media presence is expected and some consumers won’t give you a second thought if you aren’t where they are. Period!

You can’t be everything to everybody

Granted, you can’t be everything to everybody but you need to be willing to accept that and find your niche.  And it doesn’t hurt to step out of the comfort zone every now and again, to test the brand freedom waters.

Come on in! The water feels just fine.