When Clever Turns Costly - How Memorability Backfires For Top Brands

And How to Be Remembered For the Right Reasons

The Double-Edged Sword of Memorability: When Standing Out Backfires

“Be memorable” is marketing 101.

Whether you're building a product, pitching investors, interviewing, or introducing yourself at a networking event, the advice is simple: stand out or risk being forgotten.

But here’s the question marketers don’t ask often enough:

Is memorability always good? Can “standing out” become a liability instead of an asset?

We’ve all seen examples where memorability cuts the wrong way and when brands become unforgettable for reasons they’d rather forget. In our content-saturated world, attention is cheap, but trust is expensive.

When memorability is achieved at the cost of customer sentiment and trust, it can create more problems than it solves.

Here is a top-of-mind example that inspired me to write this piece.

Artisan AI: A Case Study in the Wrong Kind of Memorable

Not long ago, Artisan, a startup offering AI-based SDR (Sales Development Representative) tools, launched a bold outdoor campaign in San Francisco. One of the ads read: “Stop Hiring Humans.” The entire campaign was formulated around AI being superior to humans and a potential replacement in some shape or form. It was attention-grabbing, deliberately provocative, and hard to miss.

From a pure performance lens, the results looked good. Artisan reported 200%+ lift in brand awareness, increased website visits, and visibility among their intended audience. On paper, the campaign delivered.

But the backlash? Even bigger.

Across LinkedIn, Reddit, and Twitter/X, the reaction was overwhelmingly negative. Sales professionals criticized the messaging as “tone-deaf,” “anti-human,” and even “threatening.” What was intended to be disruptive came off as dismissive of human roles, especially sensitive in an era of economic uncertainty and growing automation anxiety.

The takeaway?

Memorability that alienates your core audience isn’t success. It’s misalignment.

Case-in-point Lesson : Frame AI as Your Wingman, Not Terminator

I genuinely believe AI’s true power lies in amplifying human ingenuity, freeing us from tedious tasks so we can focus on creativity, empathy, and strategy. The companies that win with AI talk about partnership, not layoffs. They will talk about how to empower teams to move faster, scale smarter, and tackle bigger challenges together.

Artisan’s misstep lay in both the product positioning and their tonality. They ended up on the wrong side of customer sentiment. When professionals worry about their future, messages about obsolescence spark panic, not enthusiasm. If they’d focused on how AI lifts people up, they’d have built trust…which brings me to the larger point.

Larger Point: Be Intentional With Memorability

Not all attention is equal. There’s a difference between being memorable and being meaningful.

A flashy campaign might spark curiosity, but if it confuses your positioning, alienates key audiences, or contradicts your values, the memorability becomes a liability.

Before chasing virality, marketers should ask:

1. Who do we want to remember this?

2. What emotion should it leave behind?

3. How will this build long-term equity with our audience?

I checked Artisan’s website to get more context and found that their team acknowledged the feedback and will refine their messaging. That shows maturity but the lesson remains: meaningful beats memorability.

Examples of the Right Kind of Memorability

Let’s look at a few brands that nailed memorability without alienating their audience.

1. Duolingo: Weird, but On-Brand

Duolingo’s TikTok strategy is anything but conventional. The brand’s green owl mascot dances in the office, flirts with Dua Lipa, and jokes about guilt-tripping users into practicing French.

It’s weird. It’s absurd. But it works because it aligns with Duolingo’s brand personality: playful, quirky, and slightly unhinged.

The content is consistently memorable, but also deeply on-brand. And the results speak for themselves: millions of followers, sharp increases in app downloads, and high user retention, all from a strategy built on fun-first engagement.

Key lesson: You can be strange or bold if it aligns with how your audience sees you.

2. Liquid Death: Disruption with Purpose

Liquid Death, the canned water company with punk-metal branding, could have easily fallen into the trap of being “just outrageous.” Instead, they married memorability with mission. Their branding is aggressive, loud, and ironic but the environmental message is real: kill plastic pollution.

From partnering with skateboarding legends to launching satirical horror ads, they’ve carved a distinct space in a saturated market. And crucially, they’re not offending their audience. They’re entertaining them while making them think about sustainability.

Key lesson: Memorability is more powerful when it’s backed by purpose.

3. Grammarly: Calm, Consistent, and Useful

Grammarly takes a different approach. Its advertising isn’t loud or provocative but it’s extremely memorable because it consistently reinforces its core benefit: helping you write better, faster, and more confidently.

Grammarly’s YouTube and podcast ads may not go viral, but they’ve become part of the daily workflow for millions of users. Why? Because the brand invests in reliable, repeatable messaging tied to real-world utility.

Key lesson: Not all memorability needs to be wild. Relevance and repetition build trust and long-term recall.

Examples of the Wrong Kind of Memorability

You don’t have to be controversial to get memorability wrong. Sometimes it’s just a mismatch between what your audience expects and what you deliver.

Pepsi’s Kendall Jenner Ad

I was shocked seeing this tone-deaf campaign trivializing serious and complex social justice issues with a simplistic narrative. Furthermore, the message lacked authenticity and connection to the cause, causing public outrage and ridicule. It alienated the audience, damaging brand trust and forcing a quick withdrawal of the ad

IHOP’s “IHOb” Rename Stunt
This was one of those gimmicks that caught me off guard. Why would a well-loved brand cast doubt on its core identity, risking confusion and alienation among loyal fans ?

IHOP’s switch to “IHOb” racked up massive buzz with 36 billion impressions and a 4× spike in burger sales but it failed to move the needle on purchase consideration. By swapping its pancake‑icon “P” for a “B,” the stunt sowed doubt about whether breakfast was gone for good, undermining the clarity and trust loyal customers expect. What felt like a clever PR ploy came off as a bait‑and‑switch, alienating fans rather than winning them over. They later admitted it was “silly” marketing.

These campaigns failed mainly due to tone-deaf messaging, cultural insensitivity, alienation of core audiences, and poor timing or context awareness. Their memorability was negative, causing damage to brand reputation and trust rather than building it.

The Modern Memorability Equation

In today’s fragmented media landscape, your audience doesn’t just see your message once-they encounter it repeatedly across multiple platforms: social media, podcasts, newsletters, emails, and beyond. This means that any flaw in your messaging doesn’t just happen once; it compounds, amplifying negative perceptions and causing lasting damage to your brand.

Memorability is a double-edged sword: it can build trust and affinity or deepen skepticism and alienation. The difference lies in intentionality.

How to be Intentional - 5 Essential Questions to Ask Before Launching a “Memorable” Campaign

1. What do we want to be remembered for?
   It’s not just about catchy words or visuals-it’s about the emotions and associations your message creates. What lasting feeling do you want to imprint on your audience’s mind?

2. Is our message rooted in truth?
   If your product or promise can’t back up the claim, the memory you create is a falsehood. False memories erode trust faster than they build awareness.

3. Does it respect the current context?
   Understanding cultural, social, and economic realities ensures your message resonates rather than offends. In today’s world, tone-deafness isn’t an option

4. How might this evolve over time?
   Will your campaign age gracefully, or will it become a source of regret and brand damage in the near future? Consider long-term brand equity, not just short-term buzz.

5. Are we optimizing for attention or trust?
   Attention is fleeting; trust endures. Memorable campaigns that prioritize trust build lasting relationships and sustainable growth.

The most successful brands today aren’t simply the loudest-they’re the most meaningful. Brands like Duolingo, Grammarly, and Liquid Death demonstrate that memorability is not about stunts or shock value. It’s about alignment with brand values, authenticity in voice, and fostering trust with your audience.

So, the next time someone says, “Let’s make it memorable,” pause and ask:

Do we chase being memorable…or being meaningful?
Do we grab attention at any cost…or win hearts for the right reasons?
Do we aim to trend today…or to matter tomorrow?

True memorability isn’t a stunt—it’s earned through trust, consistency, and genuine care. Nail that, and your audience will gladly welcome you back time and again.