‘Are we sleepwalking into apathy?’

Are we all sleepwalking into apathy? It’s a bold question – one that sparked a thought-provoking debate at our first Uncomfortable Conversation of the year, hosted in collaboration with The Marketing Society and BBH London. In a world overflowing with information yet often lacking action, we came together to challenge the status quo.

A special thank you to Sophie Devonshire, CEO of Marketing Society, for hosting and guiding our discussion on whether we’re all sleepwalking into apathy. Our gratitude extends to Felipe Serradourada Guimaraes, Executive Creative Director & Partner at BBH, and Saskia Jones, Head of Strategy at BBH, for introducing us to The Zig Index – BBH London’s proprietary tool for identifying category clichés and creating meaningful differentiation.

We’re also grateful to our exceptional panellists: Karen Martin, CEO of BBH, Leah Spears, Head of Brand Strategy at Paddy Power, and Katie Evans, CMO of Burger King, for sharing candid insights into how their brands have successfully zagged when others zigged, creating work that makes people feel something again.

Key Insights & Takeaways

BBH’s Zig Index, presented by Felipe Serradourada Guimaraes and Saskia Jones, offered a powerful antidote to marketing sameness. This AI-powered tool systematically identifies category clichés across colour palettes, visuals, messaging and storytelling.

As Saskia observed, “In the age of average, everything has started to look the same” – from architecture to book covers. The tool connects differentiation directly to commercial success, with Saskia emphasising that “Difference is the biggest driver of customer value” and “the number one brand factor in share price outperformance.”

What makes the Zig Index particularly valuable is its ability to generate examples of category conventions, giving creatives a clear visual of “absolutely not what we want to be doing” – establishing a foundation for truly distinctive work.

Key themes to come from our panel discussion:

• Creative risk management is calculated and rigorous, not reckless
• Emotional provocation is a deliberate strategy to break through consumer indifference
• Internal stakeholder trust is built through demonstrating business impact
• True brand differentiation requires consistency, not one-off provocation
• Constraints (like industry regulations) can drive greater creativity
• Trust in gut instinct remains crucial despite all available data and measurement tools

Get more insight

If you’re interested in seeing The Zig Index in action, get in touch at zag@bbh.co.uk