Why audiences crave distinctiveness in culture more than ever

by Jamie Lennon

Taking a cruise through Prague in the Czech Republic, tourists will glide along the snaking Vltava and underneath picturesque bridges, observing rows of baroque & gothic facades lining the river. On disembarking, passengers will be left with a general impression of Prague’s old world grandeur. However, ask any one of these passengers to recall a specific building in particular, and, more often than not, you will get the same answer: the Dancing House.

With its caved-in silhouette and skewwhiff windows, this 1990s twisted deformity of glass and steel sits proudly among a mile of pretty but otherwise indistinguishable 19th century facades. The Dancing House’s breaking of convention, its asymmetry, its total incongruity and disregard for its neighbours, marks it out as distinctive from the rest and in turn memorable for anyone who passes it. The reason is primal: our brains are prediction devices that reward pattern recognition. When everything follows the same formula, the outlier commands attention.

THE CONNECTEDNESS PARADOX

The paradox of this limitless digital era is that we’ve built a global village where every house looks the same. Spend 10 minutes on TikTok and you’ll hear the same twenty songs, no matter the visual content. Similarly, Spotify’s vaunted Discover algorithm seems intent on looping listeners back to the same handful of tracks, no matter how far you try to wander. Design trends have seen brand logos pared back, colour removed, serifs sanded down, while packaging design has embraced a sterile minimalism. As for brand tone of voice, one could be mistaken for assuming all brand marketing was crafted by the same risk averse creative team, whispering in a voice that is upbeat, inoffensive, forgettable. Standing out has never been more vital and the opportunity has never been greater.

ATTENTION BY CONTRAST

Seeking refuge from the homogeneity, audiences are increasingly drawn to different: something that stands apart from the predictable and the conventional. Take, for example, the unexpected successes in alternative cinema and television, where niche shows and offbeat films are flourishing. The global virality of Squid Game, a South Korean survival series that had audiences arguing if subbed (english subtitles) or dubbed (english dubbing) was the purer form. Or Everything Everywhere All at Once, a sci-fi/comedy/action/family/drama, deemed too absurd for wide appeal, going on to break box office records and sweep the Oscars. In the world of brand design, adland darling Engine Gin achieved their success by entirely flipping the script: taking something classic, refined and familiar, and branding it with the raw energy of a motor oil can — loud, irreverent, and full throttle. Dare I mention Brat? British Airways, whilst vastly different in terms of output behaved with similar defiance in 2024. The airline’s striking use of simple yet bold imagery cropped and stretched across large scale OOH sites stood opposed to competitor campaigns and articulated something new with a confident clarity.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

In creative circles, the value of distinctiveness is often framed as a question of taste, a chasing of trend, an act of fashion. But make no mistake: difference sells. According to Kantar’s brand valuation analysis (Kantar Brand Z 2023) brands that are perceived as meaningfully different command far greater pricing power, grow faster, and are more resistant to disruption. Distinction is not a stylistic flourish but a strategic asset. In a marketplace flooded with near-identical offerings and algorithm-shaped content and media plans, the brands that dare to go against the grain are remembered, chosen, and paid for at a premium. Familiarity may breed comfort for the marketer and the faceless internal forces, but the audience will and does go begging. If recent trends have taught us anything, it’s to dance when others are standing (or stand when others are dancing).

Jamie Lennon, Client Director