The Price of Dull
Why Boring Brands Burn Cash
Introduction
The 2023 Brands Lecture, delivered by Adam Morgan, centers on a pressing issue in marketing: the creeping mediocrity of branding and advertising. Morgan argues that the world is becoming increasingly homogeneous, with brands, advertising, and consumer products blending into a sea of sameness. He calls this phenomenon the global Blandemic—a widespread dullness that threatens to make brands forgettable and uninspiring.
This article explores Morgan's key insights on the dangers of dull branding, the financial cost of uninspiring advertising, and how brands can break free from this creative rut. Along the way, it examines the impact of emotional engagement, distinctiveness, and risk-taking in marketing.
The Rise of the Global Blandemic
Everywhere we look, products and services are starting to feel the same. Whether Airbnb apartments resemble an "Australian Coastal" aesthetic or SUV designs lack any real differentiation, homogeneity is creeping into every aspect of branding.
Morgan argues that this sameness is visible in brand logos, advertising styles, and corporate messaging. Over time, distinct identities have been erased in favor of clean, minimalist, and often dull designs that fail to capture attention or create lasting impressions.
The Cost of Dull: Mediocrity is Expensive
One of the most compelling parts of the lecture is Morgan's collaboration with Peter Field, which aims to quantify the financial cost of dullness. Their research flips traditional marketing effectiveness studies on their heads. Instead of asking how much creativity adds, they ask how much dullness costs.
Their findings reveal that uninspiring ads require six times more ad spending to achieve the same level of impact as engaging, emotionally resonant campaigns. In simple terms, dullness is expensive—businesses are pouring millions into advertising that does not work.
Performance Marketing and the Death of Distinctiveness
Morgan argues that the rise of performance marketing has led to a dangerous shift in branding. Many brands now focus on short-term conversions rather than long-term brand-building. As a result, marketing has become increasingly rational, data-driven, and transactional, stripping away the emotional and creative elements that make brands memorable.
Brands prioritizing efficiency over creativity risk blending into the background, missing the opportunity to form meaningful connections with their audiences.
The Emotional Advantage: Why Interesting Wins
The study highlights the power of emotional advertising. Ads that evoke emotions like joy, surprise, or nostalgia outperform rational, fact-based ads by a factor of six.
Morgan's research also shows that more than half of UK consumers feel nothing when watching ads, meaning most advertising is ineffective. The takeaway is clear—if consumers think nothing, they do nothing.
Ads that lack emotional engagement fail to drive action, and brands that fail to evoke feelings become forgettable.
The True Price of Playing It Safe
For businesses hesitant to embrace creativity, Morgan provides a stark financial warning. Dull campaigns cost brands an additional ten million pounds per campaign to generate the same impact as engaging campaigns.
The choice is evident in today's economy, where brands constantly seek efficiency. Brands can either spend more money compensating for their lack of creativity or invest in better, more engaging storytelling from the start.
The Power of Distinctiveness: Breaking Out of the Bland
To combat the global blandemic, brands must rediscover distinctiveness. This means rejecting sameness in design, messaging, and advertising, leaning into bold, memorable brand assets that make a lasting impression, and embracing creative risk to stand out in a world of predictable branding.
Ardbeg whisky is an excellent example of this. It embraced its smoky, peaty character and created playful, personality-driven marketing campaigns. The result was a brand that feels alive and full of character in a sea of forgettable competitors.
What Brands Can Learn from Reality TV and Storytelling
Morgan draws an interesting parallel between branding and reality TV production. TV producers understand the importance of drama, storytelling, and conflict to keep audiences engaged. On the other hand, brands often play it safe, avoiding controversy or strong narratives in favor of bland, inoffensive messaging.
Brands should think like storytellers and focus on creating narratives that engage, surprise, and entertain.
Are We Guilty of Selling the "Lunchtime Maths Club" Instead of the "Puzzle Club"?
Morgan shares a fascinating story about a UK school introducing a lunchtime maths club. No students showed up, but attendance soared when the same club was rebranded as a puzzle club.
The lesson is that brands often market their products in ways that feel boring and academic rather than fun and engaging. It is not just what you sell but how you position it.
The Four Types of Dullness in Branding
Morgan identifies four main ways brands become dull. The subject is boring, meaning the product or industry feels uninteresting. The perspective is predictable, meaning the messaging does not challenge assumptions. The execution is bland, making the visuals and tone forgettable. The delivery is uninvolving, meaning the brand fails to engage emotions.
Brands must actively fight against these traps to create marketing that surprises, delights, and resonates.
The Future of Branding: Raising the Bar
Morgan closes with a challenge to brands. The bar for engaging branding is much higher than most businesses realize.
The most engaging content in the world does not come from brands—it comes from viral social media creators, filmmakers, and cultural icons. To compete, brands must set a higher standard for creativity and engagement.
Conclusion: The Urgency of Making Branding More Interesting
The 2023 Brands Lecture makes a compelling case for why brands must break free from the global blandemic and rediscover the power of creativity, distinctiveness, and emotional engagement.
The cost of dullness is not just financial—it is strategic. Brands that fail to inspire lose relevance, waste money, and ultimately disappear.
The solution is taking creative risks, telling better stories, challenging assumptions, engaging emotions, and making branding fun again.
The brands that dare to be interesting are the brands that will thrive.