Insurgency

While thinking about strategy for a client recently, a thought struck me about how successful, modern mainstream brands (think Jet Blue, Axe, even Fox News) now behave. They act like insurgents.
They have a powerful belief system that drives them; they ignore the dogma of the category about how to behave; they act (and are often organized) in a decentralized 'cell like' structure; and they continually surprise people (and their competitors) as they don't wear a uniform (it's no longer about uniform message, look and feel or behavior).
As much as I'm tired of using Apple as an example (it's used far too often), I think Steve Jobs' recent Commencement address at Stanford hits the nail on the head: "Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary".
A lot of this thinking lies at the heart of Adam Morgan's work in 'Eating The Big Fish' and 'The Pirate Inside'. But somehow the thought of insurgency is imho more powerful - it's about a decision or need to break with the rules the leader is trying to make everyone play by, and a deliberate decision to rebel. Maybe it's time we studied the insurgents through history to understand how they behave in order to build stronger brands. Any thoughts?

Comments

[Noah Brier]

The hard part about being an insurgent is holding on to the attitude. How does JetBlue maintain an attitude of revolt when they've become the status quo that new budget airlines try to emulate? Apple's able to maintain this position because their market share is so small, but even looking at them lately, there have been a lot of questions about the quality of their new products as they widen their target audience.

Interesting post, I enjoyed it, thanks.

[Marketing tips blog]

Great post! That really is how good companies become great.

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Insurgent brands have become the part of the life now. It seems that they are invicible