Illogical Thinking To Stand Out
Break the Rules
The links are in the newsletter.
Harsh truth.
Most brands are not loved.
Consumers only love a tiny handful of brands, if any. (Research).
The vast majority of companies we buy from are, at best, liked or simply tolerated.
They’re fine.
But they’re forgettable. They’re blending into the background while we go about our day.
If your brand disappeared tomorrow, would anyone care? Probably, no.
And the reason? You played it too safe and logical to spark consumers' thinking differently about you.
But some do break through.
They earn irrational loyalty. Devotion that defies logic or reason.
Customers line up overnight for their product.
Tattoo their logo on their body.
Happily pay a premium without a thought.
These brands don’t follow the usual playbooks of incremental improvements and strategies.
They break rules, defy category norms, and maybe embrace craziness. They dare to move illogically in a world of blandness, playbooks, and rules, which can make all the difference.
I’m explaining why a little “illogicality” might be the smartest thing you can do.
How throwing out the playbook may help your brand stand out, stick in people’s memories, and forge connections that competitors can’t touch.
From Airbnb letting strangers sleep in your home, to Red Bull selling an expensive drink that tastes like cough syrup (yet flies off shelves), and to newer rebels like Liquid Death turning plain water into a punk rock statement – the brands that win are often the ones that make us go “Huh? That’ll never work…” right before they go and prove us wrong.
So let’s challenge some conventional wisdom. (Don’t worry, it’ll be fun.) By the end, you’ll see why a bit of illogical thinking might be what your brand can do to become genuinely distinctive and resonant in today’s crowded market. Let’s dive in.
Logic Is Comfortable – And That’s the Problem
It’s easy to base your work on logic.
Logic is safe.
Logic won’t get you fired.
Logic is “Make the product a little better, the service a little faster, the price a little lower, and success will follow.” Reasonable, right?
The only problem is that Reasonable is excellent at producing competent products, but not so great at producing Attachment.
Why?
Because logical thinking in experiences, marketing and branding leads to the same solutions.
We’re all doing the same market research, analysing spreadsheets, and following “best practices”.
And so we all end up looking and acting the same. The logical approach yields predictable, incremental improvements – a better flavour here, a cheaper price there.
Useful? Sure.
Memorable? Not so much.
Distinctive? Nah.
We’re hardwired to notice what’s different, not what’s slightly better (cognitive ease). This means brands that blend in with norms become invisible, “just another plastic bottle on aisle four.”
And if nobody notices you, nobody remembers you.
So, being logical might keep your brand in the game, but not in the way irrational and slightly weird brands have. To grab people’s attention and imagination, you must break out of the comfort zone of logic and do something different. Maybe, even a little crazy.
George Bernard Shaw said: “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” In CX terms, progress can depend on the brand's willingness to rip up the playbook and try a new approach.
Because if you’re doing what everyone in your category would deem “reasonable,” you won’t change the status quo. To stand out, you often have to do what feels unreasonable.
Why Most Brands Aren’t Loved (And a Few Are)
Let’s face it: most brands leave us cold.
Sure, we might like them or use them, but love? That’s only for a select few. In one study, even among customers who regularly use a brand, only 6% and 27% described themselves as loving that brand. And in many everyday categories – laundry detergent, coffee, insurance, you name it – most consumers have almost zero “loved” brands. We have habitual buying. We avoid cognitive overload.
We have more important things to love: our family, friends, pets…, and the new season of our favorite show.
A banking app doesn’t exactly pull on our heartstrings, does it?
So what’s different about the few brands that are loved? Why do people camp outside Apple Stores overnight, insist only on a Harley-Davidson, or gulp down Red Bull even if they can’t tell you what it tastes like, or gush about how “Disney magic” makes them feel like kids again?
It’s not about features and rationality. Surely, it has to be about feelings.
The illogical brands that people get attached to find ways to tap into our emotions, often by doing things that look irrational from the outside.
Think Apple. Samsung phones probably beat iPhones on functional aspects – the logical stuff. Based on most experts’ rational analysis, Samsung makes a “better” device. Yet Apple customers line up at midnight to buy a new phone they haven’t seen yet. They demonstrably ‘love’ their iEverything, are intensely loyal, and repeat buy. (Yes, it can also be the eco-system they’ve locked customers into, too - but that came later). Apple isn’t objectively superior. But it has built an emotional connection (through design, story, or retail and onboarding experiences) that transcends specs. And transcends the logic of buying a Samsung.
The decision to buy Apple is emotional and irrational, which is why the brand is so powerful. And expensive.
Kevin Roberts of Saatchi & Saatchi famously argues that to reach this level, a brand has to wrap itself in mystery, sensuality, intimacy – things that don’t appeal to the logical mind. When consumers feel an unconditional and illogical love for a product, you’ve hit Lovemark status. That’s where the emotional connection becomes the real point of difference.
And guess what? Once you have loyalty beyond reason, you can defy many of the so-called business rules.
Premium prices? Pay them.
Mistakes? Forgiven.
You can extend into new markets more easily, because your fans will follow you.
So, how do you get there?
By doing things that logic alone would not dictate.
You don’t create “irrational” loyalty with rational strategies.
You make it by surprising people, over-delivering on it, and zigging where others zag. Often, it means breaking the rules of your category – because those rules were designed for ordinary brands, not you.
In short, being bland is all about maintaining the status quo of the category and the way things are done.
This mindset is rife.
But understandable.
There’s a safety net accompanying the status quo. And, of course, the status quo becomes the status quo because, at some point, the status quo made sense. That just sounds like good common sense, right?
Well, not so fast. Your mindset can be different. It can insist on disrupting your business, how you do things, and your entire category. It can seek to create new criteria for choice to change how consumers navigate your category.
Now, this sounds like the opposite of everything we know to be true about ‘best practice’.
But let’s look at examples of how illogical, rule-breaking thinking turned underdog brands or bland category brands into something distinctive, even iconic.
Illogical Thinking to Turn the Playbook Upside Down
Proving It Works in CX, Branding, and Service
We like to think customers are logical. They’re not. And the most loved, most distinctive brands don’t play by the rules—they throw them out.
1. Airbnb: The “Stupid” Idea That Changed Travel
Airbnb didn’t try to make hotels better. It killed the hotel playbook.
Letting strangers stay in your spare room sounded crazy, unsafe, and risky. Potential investors laughed them out of their offices. Hotels sneered. But travellers? They loved it. The founders believed people wanted connection and belonging, not more clean lobbies and pillow mints.
Instead of incremental upgrades, they offered something hotels couldn’t: A chance to live like a local. No loyalty points, no front desk. Just homes, stories, and a sense of being part of the place.
It was illogical—and worked. Airbnb grew into a global brand by tapping into something hotels ignored: the need to feel human when travelling.
2. Hello Toothpaste: “Oral Scare” to Oral Care
In a category obsessed with killing bacteria and fighting gum disease, Hello asked: Why follow the rules of toothpaste blandness?
This simple question led them to rethink the logic of every dimension of toothpaste—from ingredients to language to taste to packaging and brand personality. The question led to natural ingredients, recyclable packaging, and flavours like Unicorn Sparkle. They questioned why we use the same toothpaste both morning and night, so they made different flavours for day and night.
It sounds illogical, but it made brushing fun and different, not clinical. It also helped Hello go from being an outsider to a $350m buyout by Colgate in seven years.
3. Red Bull: The Drink That Shouldn’t Exist
Tiny can. High price. Weird taste. Every focus group hated it.
But Red Bull’s founder ignored the research (who would think of doing that?) and launched anyway, breaking the rules and making illogical moves. Instead of explaining the features, he reversed. Creating a vibe: Parties, students handing out cans, cars with giant cans on top. “Red Bull Gives You Wings” wasn’t a feature—it was a feeling.
It zigzagged around taste and price, zagged into being bold, different, and wild. Red Bull wasn’t ever the best drink; it was the weird one, which made it unforgettable.
4. Liquid Death: Water with a Skull
Water branding is all about purity and streams. Liquid Death said screw that.
They put water in beer-style tallboys, gave it a metal logo and called it “Liquid Death.” The tagline? “Murder Your Thirst.”
It sounds like some illogical moves spelling disaster. A joke that would flop. Instead, it became one of the last decade's most successful soft drink launches. People didn’t just buy it—they shared it, laughed about it, became part of a tribe.
It’s not about hydration. It’s about having the guts to do things differently.
Rule-Breaking CX: Small Gestures, Big Emotions
Illogical thinking isn’t just for branding or edgy marketing—it can also shine in customer service through seemingly illogical gestures.
Chewy sells pet food (about as routine and commoditised as it gets). But they break customer service rules with outrageous empathy. Contact Chewy to return dog food because your dog has died, process the refund and moving on isn’t their style. Chewy will refund you, tell you to donate the food to a shelter, and send you a surprise bouquet with a condolence note signed by a real person (Chewy).
It’s illogical thinking – all that extra cost and effort for one grieving customer? But their stories go viral, and thousands chime in. They’re expensive, but you better believe their customers are irrationally loyal after that.
Restaurateur Will Guidara became famous for what he calls “Unreasonable Hospitality.” At Eleven Madison Park in New York, he empowers his staff to go beyond the logical service rules for guests.
If a table mentioned that their children had never seen snow, his team might create a snowstorm outside, complete with a surprise sledding trip in Central Park after dinner. If a couple missed their beach vacation, the staff might transform a dining room into a mini tropical escape with sand and tiki drinks. Yes, these moments are illogical, but they create powerful connections – experiences guests don’t forget, and they tell everyone about. Eleven Madison Park went from struggling to being the best restaurant in the world due to these stories of over-the-top gestures. Guidara changed the restaurant’s fate by embracing “unreasonable” ideas to delight people.
The lesson here?
What’s interesting about asking illogical questions regarding experience (and product and marketing) innovation is the powerful combination of illogicality and naivety. Ask questions about your experiences, products or category that challenge the things you consider ‘tried and tested’.
It doesn’t matter whether it’s a huge strategic move or a tiny customer-service touch, illogical thinking can create resonance in ways conventional tactics won’t.
We remember the things that made us feel something.
If you’re busy optimising the logical stuff – efficiency, cost, convenience – make sure you don’t overlook the emotional dimension.
That’s why most brands aren’t loved.
Why It Matters
Standing Out = Survival: Doing the same “logical” thing as competitors is a recipe for blandness. Bold, illogical moves can capture attention and imagination in ways incremental improvements never will. If you don’t stand out, you fade out.
Emotional Connection = Loyalty: Emotions are the glue that makes customers stick. Customers return on autopilot when you forge a bond, not because of a habit or a logical checklist, but because they feel drawn to you. That = repeat business, word-of-mouth, even forgiveness for mistakes. Rational won’t buy that kind of loyalty.
Memory = Future Sales: Customers can’t love or choose your brand if they don’t remember you. Creating something defying logic gives you a place in their long-term memory. When it comes time to buy, they recall you.
Pricing Power & Growth: These brands don’t race to the bottom. They command premium prices and still have fans lining up. They quickly expand into new categories (think Apple into watches or Red Bull into media), and their loyal base follows. In short, a competitive advantage that hits the bottom line.
What To Do Next
Question Every “Rule” in Your Category: List the so-called rules or norms in your industry, especially the ones everyone follows without thinking. Challenge them. Ask “What if we did the opposite?” That’s often where your illogical breakthrough begins.
Focus on Feelings, Not Just Facts: Map your customer experience and highlight the emotional highs and lows. Where could you inject something different? Brainstorm ideas around “how do we want customers to feel now?” even if the ideas sound impractical. You can rein in the logistics later.
Celebrate Your Quirks: Do you have something that makes you a bit different—a weird origin story, a passionate founder, an odd product feature? Don’t smooth that out; play it up. Lean into your identity. Authenticity and character beat polish. The goal is to be engaging, not perfect.
Start Small with Experiments: Don’t overhaul everything overnight. Try small “illogical” experiments. Allow yourself to get weird. If it flops, it’s okay – you’ll learn something. If it succeeds, boom – you’ve got proof of concept to do more. Encourage brainstorming sessions; you might be surprised by what comes up.
Trust the Long-Term Vision: Not everyone in your company will get it when you start doing things differently. Be prepared to explain why it matters. Gather data to support your experiment (e.g. a spike in social mentions, or the offbeat product that sold out in two days). It helps to balance the illogic with some logic when selling the idea internally. But most of all, trust your gut and your thinking. Stay the course if you’re clear on the unique space you want to own. Building something truly distinctive and noticeable takes consistency and a bit of courage.
Playing it safe is the riskiest move in a world full of ordinary.
By embracing illogical thinking, you may open the door to extraordinary outcomes that can transform your brand.
So, experiment. Try breaking a few rules, doing something wild for your customers, letting your brand’s personality shine. The companies we recall and stay with aren’t the ones that follow the script; they’re the ones that write their own. Start writing yours.
👉 I’m asking a small favour: It will take a few seconds. If you enjoyed this newsletter and value my work, please consider forwarding it to some of your friends.
PS: Did you notice the new newsletter header? Thanks to RM, one of my readers, who feels that a more edgy, disruptive design suits my content. Let me know if you like it!
Thanks for reading!
Michael
Love this thinking. When everything is bland something diff is needed and a something that goes beyond differentiation or better, which don,t last. Well written.