• by Claire Sterling , Yesterday

Forecasting six weeks ahead might feel strategic—but that’s how brands end up stuck in a "Groundhog Day" loop.

Since the dawn of the billboard, marketers have followed linear, structured frameworks to inform their strategies. But today, brands that get noticed blow them up, doing everything theory says not to do. It’s confusing, contradictory, and chaotic, but it works.

Linear frameworks used to work because life was more linear, with fewer channels and brands fighting for the same slices of attention. Define your consumer, map the journey, and let repetition do the heavy lifting: logical and safe -- but dated. And today’s algorithm-driven attention economy doesn’t reward logic. It favors anything weird, interesting, or downright shocking.

Enter chaos branding: strategies that make no sense by traditional playbooks, but work beautifully in the wild.

It’s why Chipotle & BÉIS can launch a viral burrito bag, and Starface can build a brand around making pimples more obvious. Linear thinking can’t possibly keep up with the pace of today’s culture.

The question isn’t whether brands should embrace chaos branding. It’s how to do it without being random. Here’s how to organize your chaos.

Consistency of meaning, not execution

Consistency used to mean repeating the same assets until they stuck. That predictability once signaled trust. But now, unpredictability signals authenticity -- a protected brand idea so clear that the expression can shapeshift or get weird, and still land. 

Brand is your compass, not crystal ball

Consistent brand meaning shouldn't box you in. Linear thinking is "we're X, so we do Y." Instead of starting with who you are, focus on what’s happening right now, and what it looked like if you did it.  Scroll-stopping brands go culture-first, with brand as their filter.

Take PBR’s 6/7 packs. While the 6/7 trend left millennials scratching their heads, PBR made it work by adding a 7th can to its 6-pack. For a brand that’s all about value, it was perfectly timed, unexpected, and on-brand.

Your best ideas could be the “wrong” ones

Author Alex Smith said, “Starting with your consumer kills strategy.” Counterintuitive? Completely. Correct? Maybe. Starting with what people  expect doesn't produce a distinct strategy. It inherits the same rules as your competitors, solving the same problems in a different font.

A direct route to “interesting” is through inversion. Expose a human truth your category tiptoes around. Or lean into a consumer tension everyone else tries to smooth over. Look at Engine Gin. Gin has a reputation for tasting like engine oil. So, the company bottled its gin in an oil can. Why? It’ll never convert the haters, and gin fans don’t need convincing of the taste. Thus, Engine Gin turned the critique into a clever POV. 

Before you decide chaos branding doesn’t fit your brand's tone, know it’s not reserved for the Liquid Deaths of the world. It’s not a personality type – it’s a permission structure.

The goal is not to be unhinged. It’s to thrive among consumers, culture, and algorithms that twist, turn, and pivot faster than we can finish a framework.

And that’s how brands break out of the "Groundhog Day" loop.