Disrupt or Be Dull: The Creative Blueprint for Entrepreneurs As UK markets grow more crowded, creative strategies are the way forward. Brandpie's Rik Haslam discusses how entrepreneurs can leverage bold moves, stay authentic, and avoid the digital pitfalls that many fall into.

In a world where disruption is key, Brandpie's Rik Haslam, Executive Creative Partner at Brandpie shares insights on how UK entrepreneurs can break through the noise.

As the UK market becomes more saturated, what's the most effective way to disrupt an industry with a creative brand strategy?
Disruption can be defined in two main ways. The first definition is about interrupting a pre-existing state, and the second is about radical change. From a brand perspective, creating change by disturbing the status quo requires some form of creative intervention. But that creates a tension. Most sectors have a set of established codes governing how businesses that operate in a particular sector show up, and how customers expect them to show up. Think of those as the rules of the game.

On the surface, straying from those guardrails seems like a risky thing to do. But that's precisely what's required if a brand is to stand apart from the crowd and get noticed. This is where distinctiveness can be a powerful tool. In most categories, there's often little real differentiation in terms of product or service, which makes disrupting an industry through features and benefits alone extremely challenging. However, by showing up in a distinctive, impactful, or surprising way, brands can stand apart from competitors and ensure they are remembered.

A good example is Liquid Death, whose product is arguably not that different from most water brands, but who disrupted the sector through a rebellious, bold and edgy brand strategy. Some other good reference points are Walkers Crisps, whose use of a distinctive brand asset, i.e. Gary Lineker, helped the brand stand apart, even disrupting traditional flavour description with products like 'Salt & Lineker'.

How do you balance bold, innovative ideas with the need for a brand to be instantly recognisable and relatable in the UK?
Recognition primarily comes from the distinctiveness of the brand assets. Think of Dairy Milk's instantly recognisable purple packaging, the shape on Heinz Baked Beans tins and its '57 varieties' slogan, Red Bull's hand-drawn illustration approach, the attitude that Nike imbues into all its communications, or the purpose-driven messaging of Patagonia.

From logo design to brand spokespeople, visual identity, and sonic branding, these and other distinctive, ownable brand assets help build familiarity and recognition in the minds of customers. Ensuring these assets are relatable is the biggest creative challenge. Market research can help, but there's often a weird combination of logic, intuition and creative magic that makes some ideas connect and others flop.

Traditional research often failed to identify breakthrough ideas, particularly when it came to brand advertising. The Guinness Surfer ad famously stunk in pre-testing before going on to become one of the most successful campaigns of all time. And Steve Jobs reputedly claimed that he didn't test any of Apple's advertising because it was pointless. Today, innovators like System1 are finding ways to more accurately test for emotional connection, though the process is still fraught with uncertainty.

In a world where brands are expected to take a stance, how do you recommend entrepreneurs navigate the fine line between authenticity and being performative?
The answer is simple and clear cut. Don't take a stance on any issue unless it's an authentically held principle and is core to the culture of you and your business. When Dame Anita Roddick launched The Body Shop, she didn't embrace ethical and natural beauty just because she hoped it would sell products. She was motivated by deeply held beliefs. But there is a bigger issue at play here. Being a purpose-driven business doesn't necessarily mean being a cheerleader for social or political causes, it means believing in something. That could be a passionately held belief like BMW's love of the sheer pleasure of driving.

There's also an argument to be made about the connection between brand and purpose. A business could be extremely purpose-driven without feeling the need to communicate that purpose explicitly through brand and communications. Clearly, there's a link. But the true value of purpose for an organisation should be focused on how it acts as an organising principle within the business, in the boardroom, and throughout internal culture.

With consumers becoming more selective, what's your take on brands leveraging nostalgia without appearing out-of-touch?
Nostalgia can be an incredibly effective tool for brands. It evokes memories of childhood and a past 'golden age'. Nostalgia provides reassurance and familiarity. It speaks to comfort and a sense of identity. When brands get nostalgia right, we feel like they 'get us' and they're part of our story. That's why nostalgia is so powerful at creating a sense of connection.

All that said, it's important that nostalgia doesn't just replay the past. It should somehow remake the past in a way that fits the present moment, taking cues from contemporary culture to make itself newly relevant. Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach's reinvention of Barbie is a masterclass in remixing an age-old favourite for a new age, and demonstrates just how effective nostalgia can be from a brand and engagement perspective. For Mattel, the owner of Barbie, that effectiveness meant over $125 million in billings, from box office and merchandise sales, and a 60% operating profit. Gap, Zara, Kendra Scott, Krispy Kreme, Crocs, Burger King, Primark, ASOS, Xbox and Smeg were just some of the brands that leveraged the success of the movie through brand partnerships across fashion, beauty, technology and food.

Nostalgia seems particularly hot right now, perhaps because in volatile times people long for the reassurance of a past that felt simpler. A 2024 report from marketing effectiveness organization Effie UK and IPSOS (the UK's leading research and insights organization) showed that connecting with a brand's history or heritage in advertising results in an 8% increase in attention. The Creative Excellence director of IPSOS UK, Samira Brophy, said, "In 80+ years of measuring how the world feels and 40+ years of advertising research, we haven't seen a stronger confluence of nostalgia…than in the last three-to-five years."

What's one major creative pitfall you see UK entrepreneurs fall into, and how can they avoid it in today's digital landscape?
The biggest pitfall is to think that low-cost digital performance media and an overly heavy focus on measurement and sales attribution is the best marketing strategy, or a reliable route to commercial success. This is flawed for two primary reasons. Firstly, although digital media is effective in terms of allowing you to target your audience, the ability for new brands to actually engage those audiences – to cut through, get noticed and generate brand awareness – is extremely limited due to incredibly low engagement, ad fraud and an ever-increasing ocean of content. Secondly, this approach often means prioritizing content and communications over an investment in the fundamentals of brand-building that pays dividends over the long term.

Clearly this isn't a zero-sum game; both brand building and investment in performance marketing are necessary. Smart entrepreneurs don't neglect either, while also finding ways to use traditional media in innovative and disruptive ways.