How breaking a taboo also can build your brand and business
The odour after no 2. Acne problems. Periods. Erectile dysfunction. The fear of dentists. It’s something we keep to ourselves, or is it? More and more companies are building a brand and a business by breaking taboos.
Why? It’s a relatively clever and easy way to get your company started and off the ground. Your message is clear and defined, along with the need you’re addressing. Also, you target audience is defined who you can engage in your mission.
Welcome to taboo branding!
To inclusion and beyond!
What’s taboo or not is defined by the culture and society. Yet, more and more people want to be able to speak more candidly. Especially younger generations want to rebel against decades of hushing and shushing.
New brands benefit from positioning themselves as active and “woke”, breaking taboos and striving for more inclusion, diversity and openness in society.
Here, new brands have an advantage. They tackle taboos in a refreshing way, while large corporations prefer to keep quiet, afraid of offending someone.
How to go about it?
~Pourri was born from an ambition to solve “the #1 problem with going #2”, the not so pleasant smell. The brand nicely frames an embarrassing situation in a humorous way. They almost do it as a stand-up comedian would. The humour creates attention and positive associations with the brand. Ultimately setting itself apart from the competition.
Peace Out Skincare takes another approach, a confident approach. Having skin problems would often urge one to hide. Peace Out Skincare does the opposite. They are open about it. They emphasise that you’re not less valuable because you’ve got some dots on your cheek. The brand’s visual identity also helps build this position, being cool and far from clinical.
Culture is King
Every brand can learn one thing from these taboo brands, their cultural awareness. They understand what’s going on and how to respond accordingly. They can tap into a current and emotional topic that resonates with consumers — essentiel branding knowledge for any company that wants to become popular.
By continuously immersing yourself and your brand in the culture, you can create commercial growth. Unfortunately, many brands forget this. They lose hold of the zeitgeist because they are too slow to revisit and innovate their relevance after 3–5–10 years. The times they are a-changing, and also what is considered taboo.
To understand the cultural zeitgeist, you need to understand where society is right now and where it is moving? Which trends are growing and fading? Which pitfalls should you avoid, and what political and societal topics can your brand engage in? Or rather, which taboo is right for your brand?
Are taboos also good business long-term?
Breaking taboos is a grassroots movement, but it’s also a race. One brand after another is launching at the speed of lighting, all with an ambition of normalising a topic. They develop products and educate the market. And they succeed in their mission once they’ve broken a taboo. But then what?
In many cases, a taboo is not sufficient for a brand position long-term. Often, large conglomerates will launch their product when they see a growing market. At the same time, it’s also becoming harder and harder for brands to scale their business. They face difficulties translating a taboo into a more extensive product portfolio or growing their business beyond the initial target audience.
Taboo branding is a great tool for creating awareness. But it becomes much more difficult when good intentions meet business. Warby Parker’s Co-CEO, Neil Blumenthal, says, “It’s never been easier or less expensive to start a business, but it’s also never been harder to scale one.”
