Why Every Brand Should Have Its Own Weird Little Dance
Let’s talk about choreographed brand behaviour. Not brand values, or mission statements, or vague notions of tone. I mean literal moves. Step, pivot, swing. A brand’s dance.
You’ve seen it before. Think about the Cadbury Gorilla drumming to Phil Collins, or the old-school Briscoes lady’s hand-wave as she introduces another sale. These are not just ads, they’re repeatable performances. Physical codes that lodge themselves inside our lizard brains. And when done right, they become part of the brand’s toolkit. Everyone in the room knows what to expect, but still leans in to see it land.
I spent two hours last week rewatching Telecom’s ‘Yellow Treehouse’ campaign. Remember that? The whole thing was essentially built on the act of making something slightly absurd but emotionally charged—a restaurant in a tree. What stuck with me wasn’t the treehouse, but the theatrical build-up, the human choreography: driving stakes into the ground, lifting beams, passing planks. It wasn’t a product demo. It was a brand learning to move.
Most brands play safe with stillness. They explain, display, and hope for recall. But action, even strange and charming action, creates memory. So here’s a call to arms (and legs): give your brand a peculiar motion. Something a kid could parody. Something your CFO finds mildly uncomfortable. In a world bloated with words and strategy decks, a brand that moves weird is a brand that wins.
You’ve seen it before. Think about the Cadbury Gorilla drumming to Phil Collins, or the old-school Briscoes lady’s hand-wave as she introduces another sale. These are not just ads, they’re repeatable performances. Physical codes that lodge themselves inside our lizard brains. And when done right, they become part of the brand’s toolkit. Everyone in the room knows what to expect, but still leans in to see it land.
I spent two hours last week rewatching Telecom’s ‘Yellow Treehouse’ campaign. Remember that? The whole thing was essentially built on the act of making something slightly absurd but emotionally charged—a restaurant in a tree. What stuck with me wasn’t the treehouse, but the theatrical build-up, the human choreography: driving stakes into the ground, lifting beams, passing planks. It wasn’t a product demo. It was a brand learning to move.
Most brands play safe with stillness. They explain, display, and hope for recall. But action, even strange and charming action, creates memory. So here’s a call to arms (and legs): give your brand a peculiar motion. Something a kid could parody. Something your CFO finds mildly uncomfortable. In a world bloated with words and strategy decks, a brand that moves weird is a brand that wins.