Labeling an idea polarizing can be the quickest way to kill an idea. Businesses usually avoid ideas that are polarizing, whether new products or campaigns. It’s always easier to launch the next flavor of vanilla.
But there’s power in polarization. By trying to appeal to everyone, you won’t necessarily appeal to anyone in particular. In a world of clutter, the last effect a brand can afford to create is indifference.
Many product categories turn into a sea of sameness over time. But it’s hard to out-vanilla vanilla.
Guy Kawasaki, chief evangelist of Canva and early Apple exec, once suggested:
“Don’t be afraid to polarize people. Most companies want to create the holy grail of products that appeals to every demographic, social-economic background, and geographic location. To attempt to do so guarantees mediocrity. Instead, create great products that make segments of people very happy. And fear not if these products make other segments unhappy. The worst case is to incite no passionate reactions at all, and that happens when companies try to make everyone happy.”
I often draw cartoons about the challenges of navigating idea killers because I think that’s where some of the most important work happens. There are many ways to kill or water down ideas and it’s always easier to critique than create. The path of least resistance leads to work that is dull and unremarkable. It takes a lot of effort to run the gauntlet of idea killers to prevent that from happening.
Here are a few related cartoons I’ve drawn over the years:
