First things first, what Is Blandification?
Blandification is what happens when marketing becomes over-optimised into sameness. In modern marketing teams, we thrive to drive measurable results: CTR, CPA, ROAS. When we are pitching ideas, these metrics tend to decide which ideas survive and which die. If something worked before, we assume it will work again. It feels safe. It’s defensible in meetings. It protects budgets.
Safety has a cost. New ideas are often labelled as weird, risky, unproven, or hard to attribute. So they get sidelined. Over time, “what worked” becomes “what we repeat.” So these days, it feels that we don’t optimise for impact anymore. We optimise for approval.
AI doesn’t kill creativity. It Accelerates Averaging
Everyone now uses the same tools to analyse competitors, generate ideas, optimise copy, and predict outcomes. These systems are trained on existing content — on what already works. So we end up reproducing the statistical middle. The result isn’t bad marketing. It’s average marketing at scale.
How Corporate Structures Flatten Ideas
Organisational design plays a huge role. Most campaigns now pass through layers of approval: Legal, Product marketing, Comms & Brand.
Executives. Each group adds reasonable constraints. But collectively, they create friction.
- Risk gets sanded down.
- Edges get rounded off.
- Specificity gets removed.
What remains is something everyone can approve but no one remembers. This is structural, not personal. Even great marketers inside large organisations are forced into safe territory by process.
The psychology behind it
By the time an idea survives all the filters, it’s usually been softened beyond recognition. It feels familiar. Comfortable. Expected.
This triggers change blindness. Even the most loyal consumers will miss gradual or subtle changes in their environment. When brand messaging evolves slowly and conservatively, loyal customers barely notice it. Campaigns “launch” without psychologically registering as new. There is no disruption to attention. No moment of surprise.
Embracing the opposite of blandification (boldification, I guess?)
You can see the opposite of Blandification in one of the most memorable campaigns in 2025: the McDonald’s AI-Generated Christmas ad in Europe which reframed the season as stressful and uncomfortable. The campaign was widely criticised and eventually pulled.
Another example is American Eagle’s Sydney Sweeney denim push.
In both examples the creative wasn’t safe. It sparked debate about beauty standards and brand messaging. Some people loved it. Some hated it. But nobody ignored it.
How to resist Blandification?
1. Ask If You’re Adding Anything New
Before launching a campaign, ask: “Could our competitors publish this unchanged?” If yes, it’s probably time to dind an edge.
2. Run Three Versions of Every Idea
For major campaigns, develop a safe version, a stretch version and a wild version. Most teams only ship the safe one. But many breakout campaigns start as “wild” and get refined, not replaced.
3. Rethink What You Measure
Obviously performance metrics matter. But we can implement means to measure signals of memory, things like
- Brand recall
- Direct search growth
- Mentions
- Organic sharing
- Sales conversations referencing campaigns
If nobody remembers your work, optimisation is pointless.
What Marketers Can Do to Break the Mold
Blandification isn’t solved by “being more creative.” It’s solved by changing behaviour.
- Appoint clear creative ownership. One editor. One decision-maker.
- Protect taste. Empower someone to say, “This is boring. Start again.”
- Use AI as a draft tool, not a voice. Humans should start and finish everything.
- Build a safe for experimentation. Reward thoughtful failure, not just predictable success.
Closing Thoughts
Blandification feels safe and safe is good. However, we live in a moment not only where more and more products and services are commoditised, but also the tools at are our disposal and the corporate structures we are part of, force us to flatten our ideas. The good news is that we can be empowered to create a point of view that is clear and valuable for our audiences. And the most impactful brands are the ones who deliver bold campaigns.
