MAKE AN ENEMY

26. Make an enemy

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• Many much-loved brands got that way by publicly identifying their enemies.
• Why would that be so?
• Because it’s often easier to articulate a brand’s values by talking about what it stands against than what it stands for.
• And if you want to bond people in a group and rally them to a cause, the quickest way is to name an adversary.
• Just look at sports fans when their team is up against a rival.
• This doesn’t mean, however, that your enemy has to be a competitive brand.
• In fact, it might be better if the enemy is an idea or a belief.
• Politicians and religious groups understand this and use it all the time.
• So there’s no reason why brands shouldn’t.
• The corollary to this is that you can make an idea really attractive to one group of people by showing them that another group hates it.
• Remember that hate is a powerful thing.
• And for an audience watching from the sidelines, it’s definitely more entertaining than love.

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