This is post #2 of 4 inspired by Chris Brogan.

There’s much to be said for brand consistency.  There are good reasons for rigid rules regarding standard imagery (logos, fonts), core messages, user interfaces.  There’s a calming sense of professionalism that comes from suit-and-tie executive headshots.

But it’s also kind of boring.  Why would you want to bore your customers?

Think about every romantic comedy you’ve ever seen (or been forced to sit through).  Without fail, a female protagonist mourns the loss of spontaneity in a loving relationship.  There are no surprises anymore.

Every company must resist this stasis. 

It can come from little things — like the Obama campaign’s “logos for every interest group” or the funky stuff Google does with its own eponymous logo to mark each holiday. 

It can come from weird things — like Coca-Cola’s Second Life experiments. 

It can come from delightful things — like when upstart treatmaker Tasti D-Lite saw that one of its customers (Rick Liebling) was tweeting from the Empire State Building … and sent up a huge cake, a box of flying saucers, preloaded $5 giftcards and other treats.  This made Liebling and his co-workers everlasting fans.

It can come from revolutionary things — like Apple’s decision to enter the mobile phone market.  (You can pretend like it was a forgone conclusion, but think back 10 years: 1998 marked the introduction of the iMac. The wondrous iPod was still 3 years away.  You can’t tell me you always expected Apple to make cell phones!)

These are examples of going off-script.  Of trying something out of the ordinary, for the sake of being extraordinary — if only for a day.  To see what happens.

America itself seems to have gone off-script, with the historic election of Barack Obama.  Everybody noticed.  Nearly everyone approves.

Think different.

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