Have brands (and creatives) become more careful?
It can sometimes feel like marketing used to take more risks.
Look back 20 or 30 years, and many campaigns were sharper, bolder and more willing to provoke a reaction. Some of them wouldn’t, and shouldn’t, exist today. Standards have changed, and that’s no bad thing.
But alongside those cultural shifts, something else has happened.
Marketing now exists in a state of constant visibility. Every message is public, shareable and open to instant judgment. Context disappears quickly. Nuance even faster. That reality doesn’t just affect brands; it affects creatives too.
Ideas are often toned down long before they reach a client.
Not because they’re wrong, but because they might be misread. Because they might attract attention for the wrong reasons. Because no one wants to be responsible for something going viral in the wrong way.
So creativity becomes cautious by default.
This isn’t about a lack of talent or imagination. It’s about risk management. Marketing teams are rewarded for avoiding mistakes. Clients are understandably nervous about standing out in ways they can’t fully control. And creatives learn to self-edit.
Over time, that self-editing becomes a habit.
The result isn’t bad marketing, it’s safe marketing. Polished. Inoffensive. And often indistinguishable from everything else.
The brands that still stand out today aren’t reckless. They’re clear. They trust their audience. They back ideas with intent, not just approval chains.
And the most effective creative work still comes from the same place it always has: conviction.
Perhaps the question isn’t whether brands or creatives have become less brave.
It’s whether the environment we’re all working in makes bravery harder, and whether we’re willing to push for clarity and character anyway.
Because memorability doesn’t come from playing it safe. It comes from making deliberate choices and standing behind them.
Author: Lance Corrigan
Creative designer with a passion for visual communication and brand development, and a vision to make a positive impact on the world through design.
