Develop a Creative Strategy: Break a Category Convention
What is the Break a Category Convention Strategy and when should I use it?
Look at your industry. Everyone is doing the same tired dance because someone’s boss said it worked in 2004. Breaking a category convention is the strategy of identifying that one specific, predictable move everyone else treats like gospel and then doing the exact opposite. You use it when you’re tired of being invisible or when your brand is drowning in a sea of "me-too" messaging. It’s for when you have the guts to stop shouting about features and start acting like a human being. It’s not just being different; it’s being the only one in the room not wearing a stupid uniform. Truly do it now.
How to execute this strategy effectively
First, audit the competition until you want to claw your eyes out. Map every cliché, every stock photo of a smiling woman eating salad, and every "innovative" buzzword. Once you find the pattern, run the other way. If everyone is loud, be quiet. If everyone is high-tech, go analog. For Cadbury, it meant ditching the wacky purple cows and focus on small, quiet moments of human generosity. It requires discipline because your stakeholders will panic when they don’t see the usual tropes. Hold your ground. If you look like everyone else, you’re basically just paying for their ads too. Just do it now!
Example: Cadbury – "Glass and a Half in Everyone" (2018–2024)
Chocolate ads are usually about indulgence, sexy slow-mo pours, or hyperactive joy. Cadbury’s 'Glass and a Half in Everyone' threw that out. Instead of loud branding, they showed a girl buying a bar for her mum with knick-knacks, or an old man returning a ball. No 'tasty' shots. Just quiet, awkward, real generosity. They stopped selling the product’s flavor and started selling the brand’s soul. It’s brilliant because it feels human. Truly yes ok!
Creative Strategy Deconstructed in 4C Framework
Company INSIGHT
Cadbury's long-standing association with 'A Glass and a Half' of milk. They took a functional product truth and turned it into an emotional brand truth about the 'extra' bit of kindness in everyone.
Category INSIGHT
Chocolate marketing was obsessed with over-the-top indulgence, 'food porn' shots, or manic energy. It was all about the 'me' moment of eating, rather than the 'we' moment of sharing or giving.
Strategy:
Shift from selling chocolate as a personal indulgence to selling it as a catalyst for quiet, everyday human generosity.
Customer INSIGHT
People were exhausted by the fake, polished world of advertising and the general coldness of modern life. They craved small, authentic moments of connection that felt real rather than manufactured for a camera.
Culture INSIGHT
A cultural shift toward 'radical kindness' and a rejection of hyper-individualism. In a world that felt increasingly divided and harsh, a brand celebrating small acts of generosity felt like a much-needed breath of fresh air.
Strategy:
Shift from selling chocolate as a personal indulgence to selling it as a catalyst for quiet, everyday human generosity.
Company INSIGHT
Cadbury's long-standing association with 'A Glass and a Half' of milk. They took a functional product truth and turned it into an emotional brand truth about the 'extra' bit of kindness in everyone.
Category INSIGHT
Chocolate marketing was obsessed with over-the-top indulgence, 'food porn' shots, or manic energy. It was all about the 'me' moment of eating, rather than the 'we' moment of sharing or giving.
Customer INSIGHT
People were exhausted by the fake, polished world of advertising and the general coldness of modern life. They craved small, authentic moments of connection that felt real rather than manufactured for a camera.
Culture INSIGHT
A cultural shift toward 'radical kindness' and a rejection of hyper-individualism. In a world that felt increasingly divided and harsh, a brand celebrating small acts of generosity felt like a much-needed breath of fresh air.
Why is Break a Category Convention a Great Strategy?
It stops you from being invisible background noise in a crowded market.
Instant differentiation in a boring category.
Forces the audience to actually pay attention.
Builds emotional resonance through unexpected honesty.
Makes your competitors look like mindless robots.
When you stop doing what’s expected, you stop being a commodity. People don’t remember the tenth brand that promised them 'innovation,' but they remember the one that actually talked to them like a person.
! When not to use the "Break a Category Convention" Strategy
Don't use this Strategy if your brand is so fragile that even a hint of originality might cause the entire board of directors to have a collective heart attack.
Steps to implement: Stop copying your competitors' homework for once.
List every single tired category cliché.
Spend a day looking at your rivals. What are they all saying? If it’s 'quality service' or 'cutting-edge tech,' write it down. These are the chains holding you back. You can't break the rules until you’ve mapped out exactly how boring they are. Don't be lazy; if it’s on a billboard, it’s probably a cliché you need to kill immediately. Most brands are just echoes of each other.
Find the opposite of the norm.
If the category is loud and flashy, try being the quietest person in the room. Cadbury saw a category full of 'joy' and 'energy' and decided to go for 'quiet generosity' instead. It’s about finding the emotional or functional vacuum that everyone else is too scared to fill. Look for the 'anti-message' that still feels true to your brand's core DNA. Don't just be different; be the necessary alternative.
Kill the sacred cows of production.
Throw away the high-gloss filters and the perfect lighting if everyone else is using them. In the Cadbury example, the cinematography feels raw and cinematic rather than 'ad-like.' Stop trying to make everything look like a commercial. If your industry loves stock photos of handshakes, go for a grainy, handheld shot of a real human moment. Authenticity is your only weapon here. If it looks like an ad, people will skip it.
Test the 'cringe' factor with stakeholders.
If your internal team isn't at least a little bit nervous, you probably haven't gone far enough. This strategy requires bravery. When you present an idea that lacks the usual category tropes, people will panic. That panic is a good sign—it means you’re actually doing something different for once. Use that tension to fuel the creative execution rather than watering it down. Comfort is the enemy of any strategy that actually works.
Commit to the bit long-term.
One ad isn't a strategy; it's a fluke. Cadbury stayed with 'Glass and a Half' for years. You have to own the new convention you’ve created until the rest of the category tries to copy you. By then, you’ll have moved on to something else anyway. Consistency is what turns a weird creative choice into a legendary brand platform that actually moves the needle. Don't blink just because the quarterly report looks slightly different.
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