Don't Write Off Your History

The weird bits, the wins and the hard fails. They're all yours, and they're something competitors can't take.

One of my long-standing frustrations working with brands is the obsession with the new shiny shiny.

New positioning, new product, new purpose, new markets, new voice. All of which are the exciting part, of course. It's in our nature to crave new experiences and new opportunities. Honestly? I'm as guilty as anyone of chasing them. What frustrates me is how quickly founders and leadership teams seem to want to ignore the past, to only "look forward". Some of the most interesting and meaningful work I've had my hands on during my career has benefited from looking backwards too.

Many brands treat their history as baggage. They smooth over the weird bits, redesign everything in a safe colour scheme and a sans serif and emerge looking exactly like everyone else. Sometimes, though, a brand's history is where its most interesting stories live. Perhaps don't begin by asking "what should we do next?" Begin with "what did we stupidly stop doing?"

A brand's past is rarely a millstone. Perhaps there are strange things you're not proud of. Maybe even a hard fail or two. These things shouldn't be ignored or forgotten, because all the weirdness along the way has helped shape the brand, good and bad.

Some leaders don't see their history as baggage at all. They see it as spent. Old news, even. Nothing of value left in it. But the people you're trying to reach haven't heard it yet.

Past wins often get buried too. The founding stories, the product people still ask about, the awards from years ago. Once they stop being new, they stop being talked about. But whatever attracted people to a brand in the first place rarely stops mattering just because the business has moved on or the people inside it have grown tired of telling the story.

Overcoming challenges shows strength. Changing tack when things go wrong shows adaptability and intelligence. And something will always go wrong, for every brand. How you deal with it shows who you are, and it's why people relate to you.

So please don't forget your past. Don't wish it away either. All those grisly, gnarly, weird bits are what made you. They show a human side and they show grit. Nobody benefits from a relentlessly positive, everything-is-brilliant image. Brands need balance.

Before you throw your history in the bin, mine it. Use it to show longevity, adaptability and resilience and, most of all, a human side others can relate to. That immediate connection might matter more than anyone thinks. When everything increasingly looks, sounds and feels the same, it could be the deciding factor.

The things competitors can't easily copy are the reputation, stories and weirdness a brand has built up over time. That's one of the reasons brand is so powerful. So stop being embarrassed by your past. Modernise rather than delete.

Above all, protect your weirdness. If you're going to forget anything, make it the race to the bottom, and the same beige shit everyone else is pinning their reputation on.

Sometimes you need to stand out like a sore thumb, and have the confidence to own it. The way to do that is often sitting right there in your history, in the stories that made people care in the first place.