Every day, we come across things in our roles that make us cringe – some things you may not even notice anymore, and others might make you grit your teeth and your whole body tense up.

In this article, we’ll list our top cringe-inducing things that brand managers around the world have endured, and I’m sure you’ve experienced them in one way or another.

Of course, we’re all about those positive vibes here at NSC, so we’ll also share some handy tips on how you can avoid or navigate these cringy events, so you can keep your marketing sanity for future projects and campaigns.

This is part of our ongoing ‘Creative Cringe’ series of articles, where we explore the worst cringes of creative professionals and how we can deal with them effectively.

Before we dive in, let's discuss what we mean by ‘cringe’ – the dictionary definition is: 
“[to] bend one's head and body in fear or apprehension or in a servile manner.”

For me, the "bend in my head" is the shudder we feel when we see or hear a branding 'faux-pax' in day-to-day life.  
You know, those little things that make you grind your teeth, twitch or pull that awkward I-Don't-Really-Agree-with-You Smile™.

It puts me in mind of one of our favourite comedy shows at NSC: Blackadder. 

In the fourth season, Captain Blackadder (played by the legendary Rowan Atkinson), torments another soldier, Captain Darling (played by another acting legend, Tim McInnerny).

Captain Blackadder repeatedly calls his fellow soldier "Darling" throughout the season – making him dramatically wince and twitch, as if every time he hears it, he suffers an electrical shock. 

Here’s a clip top show what we mean:

We like to think we can hide our cringe-faces better than Captain Darling, but we’ll let our co-workers be the judge of that.

With Captain Darling's cringe-face fresh in our minds, let's dive in...

1. The brand is just the logo, right?

The brand is so much more than just the logo! 

It's everything – your tone of voice, what sort of products you create, the words you use, the staff you hire... Your brand is your business.

The logo, font, colour palette, and general ‘look and feel’ of your brand is your brand identity.

These elements of your brand help visually distinguish you from your competitors, and can influence the perception of your brand in your audience’s eyes.

Your brand identity is part of your brand, but it’s not alone.

Your brand is also your messaging and tone of voice, values, mission statement, positioning (where you sit in your target market), USPs (unique selling points) and target audience.

Your brand is what your customers buy into, not just your product.

How do we avoid this?

Host a workshop with staff about your brand, highlighting your mission statement and values.

These are the things that should always be top of mind when your employees are talking about your brand to customers (or potential customers).

Work on your internal marketing and regularly communicate your brand values to your employees – make it feel like second nature to them.

If your company is based in a building, have posters with your mission statement and values printed around the office.

Remember: not everyone is a branding expert, and they don’t need to be, but in order for your business to thrive, everyone involved should know your values.
For more on branding essentials, check out our guide, Brand Building: The Basics.

2. We’ll work with this influencer because they have lots of followers.

Any person, brand, influencer, or charity that you work with should fit with your brand. 

From the point you sign a contract with them, their actions are now associated with your actions – be they online or in-person.

There’s a potential that they could commit a faux-pas that doesn’t align with your brand values, or say something out of turn to a potential customer of yours.

Or the partnership could cause you to lose potential customers, simply because they don’t like the person or brand you’re working with.

Cancel-culture is huge on social media, and a lot of influencers don’t have much privacy, so even the most well-intentioned comment could lead to them being ‘cancelled’.

How do we avoid this?

Simple: never work with an influencer just because they have a lot of followers.

Cross-check your target audience with their target audience, and research them and their actions.

Read their latest posts, and then read the comments – after all, these are the people who you would be targeting with your collaboration.

Also consider whether your partnership is relevant – it wouldn’t make much sense for a company making alcoholic drinks to collaborate with an influencer known for their content on pregnancy.

Do your research before approaching an influencer.

And pay them what they’re worth – it’s their job.

3. I hired them because I like them.

Unfortunately, nepotism is rife in the business world.

Personality is important when recruiting, but you must consider whether they reflect your brand values.

Any decisions you and brand make should be in the interest of the target audience if you want to succeed.

When making decisions for your brand, remove ‘I’ and ‘me’ from your vocabulary – make decisions as the brand.

How do we avoid this?

Create customer personas to reflect your target audience, and use them to guide your decision making.

Ask questions like “will the target audience like this?” or “that’s how our target audience will speak”.

Any decision impacting your brand should always be made with the target audience in mind.

4. Make sure we stay on-trend.

I’ve seen a lot of trends in my 30 years – trading cards, loom bands, scrunchies (both in the 90s and now, I feel personally attacked that they’re referred to as ‘retro’), overplucked eyebrows (still haven’t recovered), concealer as lipstick, the phrase “whatever, Trevor”… I’ve lived through a lot.

These trends come and go with time, but your brand's core values must remain. 

The leaves on a tree change each season but the roots and the trunk stay.

How do we avoid this?

Build your brands values beyond trendy words, and root them in something more abstract and higher reaching. 

You can adopt certain trends, but don’t set expectations that they’re going to stick around for long – it’s not sustainable.

Consider whether these trends fit with your brand values and your mission statement first, and use market research to get an idea of how long the trend is set to last.

5. Our USP is that we’re the best!

“The best” is subjective, and can’t really be quantified or proven.

Everyone has different ideas of what ‘the best’ is, based on their personal preferences, values, pricing, affiliations, and style.

There is no such thing as ‘the best’.

How do we avoid this?

Focus on your target audience to define your USP.

Craft unique selling points around them, solve their problems and improve their lives – that’s where the magic happens.

Your USP could be based on how/where you sell your products, how your products can be used, your values, your price-point, your employees – any aspect of your brand that’s unique in your sector.

6. I know we launched a year ago, but it’s time for a rebrand.

If you rebrand too often, your brand will never solidify in your audience's mind. 

Rebranding makes your brand structurally unsound, and you’ll need to build it from the ground up each time. 

You want to avoid confusing your target audience by switching up any aspect of your brand too often.

Your audience should be able to recognise your brand if they saw your products, logo, or any part of your brand identity, and if you change them too often, they’ll never be able to grow that recognition.

Rebranding regularly also build mistrust in your brand – keep changing, and your audience will never trust you.

Trust comes from familiarity.

How do we avoid this?

Rebrand wisely, only when necessary.

If you’ve started your business on a budget, and you’ve grown exponentially, then it could be time to update your brand to better suit your brand’s position in the marketplace, and upgrade the look and feel, particularly if you have a bigger budget available.

You could also rebrand if you’re expanding into a new territory, to better fit your new target audience.

Consider the pros and cons of rebranding at this time, and weigh up the negative implications versus the opportunities for growth.

7. We don’t need consumer research, we have sales figures.

We’ve all been in this meeting, right? 

Your senior manager “doesn’t care about the ‘fluffy’ branding stuff”, and are only interested in the sales figures.

The hard facts are useful, don’t get me wrong, but they are only one side of the coin. 

Sales figures alone rarely build a complete picture – numbers on a page don’t explain the ‘why’.

Why didn't the target audience buy this product? 

Why did they buy more of X over Y?

If you don’t understand your target audience, you’ll never understand the ‘why’. 

Understanding the ‘why’ unlocks the ability to create for the future, delivering products that your target audience want, and less of what they don’t.

How do we avoid this?

Start looking at the other side of the coin: the human factors – the ‘why’. 

Build a complete picture of the market and the people in it, and use them both to see where things align.

For example, if your sales dipped (or flatlined) in the last few months, on a sales sheet, it can look pretty daunting, but once you compare that to the impact of Covid-19, it totally changes the narrative, even highlighting an opportunity to make a change to the way you sell and promote your product – perhaps an online focus is necessary right now.

8. Our target audience is everyone.

No brand’s target audience is everyone – even giants like Amazon have target audiences, because not everyone will be customers of theirs.

Even superstores like Tesco, Asda and Walmart have specific target audiences.

They speak directly to those target audiences, further instilling their brand values with every piece of marketing.

How do we avoid this?

Finding your niche is how you find success.

Define your audience with specific interests, related brands, locations, circumstances... as many details as possible.

If your target audience is particularly large, then segment it into more specific customer personas, and speak directly to those personas.

You can’t say something that will resonate with everyone – we don’t all have the same principles, tastes and opinions.

Don’t try to speak to everyone at once, it’s impossible.

Those are our top eight branding cringe-points and how to avoid them!

Feel free to leave your own branding cringes in the comments below, and we’ll see if we can come up with a solution for you.

Or share your stories of how you have overcome your personal cringe-points – reach out to us by using the #CreativeCringe hashtag on Instagram.

You’re more than welcome to ask for advice in the comments below – we’re all about supporting the creative community here at NSC, and will do our best to answer any questions or give out advice.