Playing It Safe Is Killing Your Brand

Daily Maverick

15-07-2025

In an age where attention is the new currency, playing it safe may be the most dangerous strategy of all.
This is the argument made by Adam Morgan, founder of the global strategy consultancy eatbigfish and pioneer of the 'Challenger Brand' concept. In his Cannes Lions presentation, 'The Eye-Watering Cost of Dull Media', Morgan reframes mediocrity not just as a missed opportunity, but as a measurable and compounding business cost. His thinking has ignited conversations across industries and territories, and it's landed in South Africa too.
'Increasingly, we see organisations becoming paralysed by risk aversion,' says David Blyth, CEO of Delta Victor Bravo (representatives of eatbigfish in Africa). 'What Adam's work shows, is that the real risk lies in being forgettable.'
The core argument is that choosing 'dull' doesn't just lead to missed opportunities, it ends up costing more.
Dull Work Underperforms and Drains Resources
According to Peter Field and Les Binet (IPA – Institute of Practitioners in Advertising), creative campaigns that are bold, emotionally resonant, and distinctively branded are over 11 times more efficient at driving long-term commercial success than non-awarded work. Yet, as Adam Morgan notes in an interview with Contagious (source), brands that rely on dull, forgettable campaigns often end up spending up to £10 million more in media just to match the impact of more interesting ones.
Despite clear evidence in favour of creativity, the industry is regressing, with the proportion of creatively awarded campaigns dropping by nearly 50% over the past decade. Supporting this, research from Amplified shows that 60% of ads across formats in the U.S. and 75% in the U.K. aren't even looked at, while in the most 'dull' media formats, 90% of budgets are spent on ads that earn less than 2.5 seconds of active attention. The cost of dull is no longer just a creative issue, it's a business one.
A Compounding Cost
There is a worrying dynamic in the economics of dull work – the cost doesn't just stop at poor performance. Forgettable creative work forces brands into an expensive cycle – having to spend significantly more on media to make the same level of impact as more distinctive campaigns. This erosion of mental availability means brands are not just underperforming – they're overspending to compensate for being ignored.
The Cost of Dull in South Africa
In South Africa, the risk of being dull is equally pronounced.
'This is a market defined by both intense competition and resource constraints,' says Blyth. 'The brands that break through are those that make bold, strategic choices – not those that try to be all things to all people.' Across many categories, brands fall into the trap of chasing mass appeal. In doing so, they default to vague messaging and generic visuals, hoping to offend no one, but also inspiring no one.
In Blyth's words, this pursuit of broad appeal leads to 'bland work that becomes wallpaper,' eroding brand memorability and impact over time. Instead, he advocates for a Challenger Mindset, a way of thinking that helps organisations reframe constraints as creative springboards, question outdated assumptions, and get closer to the customers that matter most. 'It's not about shouting louder,' he says. 'It's about having a point of view as a brand and expressing this in a sharp, meaningful way that clearly spotlights a brand's relative difference.'
In South Africa's maturing consumer landscape, where consumers are increasingly values-driven and discerning, the brands that thrive will be those brave enough to pick a fight with outdated conventions and stand for something with clarity and conviction.
Why Dull Starts in the Boardroom
The leadership challenge sits at the heart of dullness. Safe, boring work doesn't start in the creative department. It starts in the boardroom, where risk aversion is often baked into decision-making structures. Great ideas get watered down by layers of approval or are killed because they make someone uncomfortable. But comfort and effectiveness are not the same thing.
Real leadership lies in creating the conditions for bold work to flourish. That means empowering small, cross-functional teams to take calculated creative risks – individuals with the internal permission to challenge conventions for the betterment of the business. These teams aren't reckless, they are deliberate disruptors, operating within the organisation to unlock progress, create energy, and shift the culture from within. Businesses must learn to reward bravery rather than punish failure.
The CMO's Role in the Cost of Dull
The responsibility for dull work often lies with the Chief Marketing Officer. Not because they're uncreative, but because they haven't made interestingness a strategic imperative. Too often, creativity is treated as a garnish – something added at the end of a strategy process, rather than embedded from the start. Brands need to stop seeing creativity as a cost centre and start treating it as a growth driver.
This is especially relevant in South Africa, where marketing teams are often asked to deliver results with shrinking budgets. In this context, bold work might seem like a luxury. But, the opposite is true – brave work is more efficient, more memorable, and more commercially effective.
Meaningful Difference, Not Just Noise
Challenger brands strive to be meaningfully different, ensuring their distinctiveness aligns with what they want to be famous for. Distinctiveness without this intent, is just noise. The best Challenger brands use creativity in service of a clear and compelling narrative. They don't try to win by mimicking the category leader. They win by making their own rules, by being relevant in unexpected ways, and by connecting emotionally with their audiences.
The Call to Bravery
At its core, The Eye-Watering Cost of Dull is a wake-up call to stop wasting money on work that blends in and start investing in ideas that stand out. It reminds leaders that safe choices often come at the highest price. It challenges everyone to see boldness as a strategic necessity.
'Being dull isn't neutral,' says Blyth. 'It's actively hurting your brand. In a world drowning in content, the brands that will survive and thrive are those with the courage to be interesting.'
The cost of dull is real – and it's rising.
Don't miss your opportunity to hear from Adam Morgan live. Join eatbigfish Africa for The Eye-Watering Cost of Dull event on 7 August at the GIBS Auditorium in Johannesburg, or attend online. DM