Brand Against the Machine: How to Build Your Brand, Cut Through the Marketing Noise, and Stand Out from the Competition

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Dissident

SOMETIMES YOU'VE JUST GOTTA PICK A FIGHT. It can be a great positioning tool and branding strategy to be dissident and go against the majority. As is the case far too often, the popular majority is wrong. Every now and then someone needs to come along and knock them down a notch.

That person needs to be you.

If you have something to say, then say it. Especially when you know the target audience or community is thinking what you have the guts to stand up and say. People are greatly attracted to someone who is dissident. They love antiheroes.

People respond to those who challenge the status quo.

In the late 1980s, rock music was … well, it was sad. It was all about hair metal bands with makeup. Bands that were constantly trying to perfect the next rock ballad. They loved being celebrities. For them it was about the attention not the music. They had no idea an antihero was about to change the industry forever.

In the early 1990s, a small band from Seattle changed music. That band, of course, was Nirvana, led by Kurt Cobain. Kurt was about the music and not the celebrity. Nirvana's sound was raw and their lyrics were real. Their look was sloppy and called “grunge” for good reason. They were the complete opposite of the hair metal bands.

Kurt quickly became labeled as the voice of his generation because he challenged the status quo. He fought the majority and found massive support from those who felt the same way as he did.

Being outspoken and controversial works.