Most of the business advice tells you not to make enemies. I am here to tell you the opposite: if your brand has no enemy, you do it wrong.
This does not mean that you have to create conflicts because of the conflict. But there is power in opposition. If you are so clear for something that you are inevitably against something else, you create clarity. And in this very messy marketplace that clarity is not only useful, it is essential to survive.
The problem with playing safe
When brands try universal attraction, they usually reach universal mediocrity. People think you are ‘good’. Fine pays the bills, but it does not create category leaders.
The figures prove it: distinguishing brands see one 62% Higher ROI Then campaigns that miss a distinctive character. That is no small difference between being remembered and being forgotten. Distinguishing brands put an interest in the ground and say: “This is what we are for”, whether it is through visuals, tone or messages. Brands that chase a universal attraction, usually sand from their edges and become forgetful.
The companies that break through today are not those who avoid conflicts. They are those who are brave enough to choose a side and fight for it.
Why your enemy is not your competition
Competition is tactical. It is about market share, functions and prices. Your enemy is philosophical. It is a way of thinking, a series of values or a specific worldview that your brand exists to challenge. Consider giving your company an enemy in this way:
- Larger than a competitor: Your enemy transcends individual companies.
- Ideological: It represents a philosophy or approach with which you resist.
- Galvananization: It gives your audience something to meet.
- Clarifying: It forces you to define what you really stand for.
The psychology of taking parties
As people it is obvious for us to choose teams and stay with our tribe. Our brand choices become part of our identity, of the coffee that we drink to the telephones we wear. It is those brands that establish a clear psychology of the US-versus-Them who win. They give customers the feeling “They get me.” This creates tribal loyalty in which the brand becomes part of someone’s persona – and they will defend it at all costs. Here are some examples of how some of the most memorable brands have recorded an enemy:
Apple versus just Apple positioned itself as the ultimate creative company and called competitors ‘Orwellian’ in his 1984 campaign and ‘boring’ in the Mac versus PC advertisements. It established its core as the creative side of humanity and never staggered. Of course, it is now 1000 times larger, but his dedication against ‘normal’ remains unchanged.
Southwest Airlines versus complexity The enemy of Southwest was the complexity of airlines. Buy a rate, grab a chair and take your bags with you. No extra costs, no caste system with 11 entry groups, no material guilt about your life choices if you were not in the top five. Outsiders called this process a ‘cattle call’, but Southwest changed a deaf ear into the noise and the core continued to grow.
However, Southwest recently announced that it will take on traditional airlines in 2025–26 and left its differentiating enemy. We will see how the loyalists respond now that there is nothing that separates Southwest from his competitors.
Create your enemy
Ready to find the natural opponent of your company? Here you can read how you can do it strategically:
Step 1: Identify your natural opposition
What way to think or do business is your company back naturally? What does your founders and leaders frustrate about industry? Which cultural perspective does you seem crazy?
Step 2: Articulate the deployment
Why is this opposition important? What is the risk when the “enemy” world view wins? In his Mac vs. PC advertisements positioned Apple the competition as from the touch and non-aligning, making the deployment crystal clear by throwing itself as the creative outlet for the future.
Step 3: Rally your core
Communicate your position in a way that makes your ideal customers feel and understood. They should think: “Finally, someone finally understands.” Dairy brand Tillamook collected his core by leaning in quality above a scale, but more apologetic charging for real ingredients and a small batch approach, even when that meant that price-sensitive shoppers losing price-sensitive shoppers.
Step 4: Accept the considerations
Not everyone will like you. That’s the point. Oatly came out of the gate and immediately challenged Big Dairy with his attitude “Like Milk, But Made for Humans” and accepted that traditionalists would alienate to build a cult supporter among vegetable loyalists.
Why this now works more than ever
Differentiation is survival. People are overwhelmed by choices and increasingly loyal to companies that are authentic and targeted. Having a clear enemy offers both.
Your enemy does not try to destroy you. Instead, it saves you from irrelevance. Without something to be against, there is no reason for someone to stand with you.
Remember: you will never win without your enemy. Your enemy always wins without you.
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