Marketing is quickly converging with design, and suffers from the same lack of imagination. Every site is being redesigned to look like every other site. Twitter copies Facebook, Facebook copies Twitter, LinkedIn copies Medium, and I could go on but you get my point. In marketing and in design, if you don’t stand out, you don’t have a brand. Before we die of boredom cloning every single site design and marketing campaign ever, doing what everyone else has done before, how about we don’t.

When in doubt, do the opposite.

George: “My life is the complete opposite of everything I want it to be. Every instinct I have in every aspect of life, be it something to wear, something to eat… It’s often wrong.”
Jerry: ”If every instinct you have is wrong, then the opposite would have to be right.”
–Seinfeld, “The Opposite” (1994)

1. Do the opposite to get creative. When nobody agrees on anything. Come up with the worst possible solutions and ideas. What would be the worst product, the most horrible marketing campaign? Ride the camaraderie and turn your bad ideas into gold. Bring on that chicken salad.

George: I always have tuna on toast. Nothing’s ever worked out for me with tuna on toast. I want the complete opposite of on toast. Chicken salad, on rye, untoasted … and a cup of tea.

2. Do the opposite to gain perspective. Have you considered every opportunity no matter how unlikely? Afraid your ideas can’t possibly work? It’s worth poking at that fear and evaluating risks. What can possibly go wrong? What exactly are you afraid of? Can you put your ideas out into the world, and get feedback. You might be wrong in the best possible way.

George : My name is George. I’m unemployed and I live with my parents.
Victoria : I’m Victoria. Hi.

3. Do the opposite to have fun. Look at your competitors. They’re busy copying each other, and that’s a mistake. Who wants to be just like everyone else? When print media conglomerates were chasing digital, Monocle has done the opposite by embracing print and launching physical retail stores. Instead of being the “Uber for X” how about anti-ubering. What’d that service idea would be like? It’s fun to look at the trends of the day and contemplate the alternate futures.

Victoria : Who are you, George Costanza?
George : I’m the opposite of every guy you’ve ever met.

Doing the opposite reveals what you typically can’t see: your own box. Your comfort zones, assumptions, darlings and conventions. Your baseline, a solid ground you can stand on.

Use your worst ideas to do your best work.