Why mischief is a very good strategy if you want to be memorable.

The Art & Science of Memorability

Last week, April Fools was in full swing.

The one day a year where millions of people — and brands — act on all the mischievous ideas they’ve been sitting on since the year before.

But here’s what annoys me.

Why is April 1st the only day brands allow themselves to be mischievous?

The joke post. The fake launch. The “unexpected” idea.

And then… straight back to safe, sensible, samey for the other 364 days of the year. Almost like it’s the only day legal signs it off.

Because the reality is — mischief isn’t a day.

It’s a strategy that will get your brand noticed and remembered.

Take Paddy Power. They were the OGs of this.

They didn’t just dabble in mischief — they built the whole brand around it.

To the point they have a “mischief pot” — actual budget set aside purely for causing a bit of trouble.

Not campaigns in the traditional sense. Stunts. PR. Ideas designed to get talked about.

Sometimes controversial. Sometimes banned. Other times surprisingly positive. Like their Amazon rain forest ad - still one of their best.

Either way — it works. Because it gets reach most brands would have to pay a fortune for. 

One of their more recent bits of work sums it up perfectly.

They’ve been taking aim at online trolls abusing athletes. By… turning up at their houses with boxers to knock them out.

Completely ridiculous. But also completely on-brand.

And importantly — not pointless. They frame it as being in “the public’s interest”. Which is the bit most brands miss.

Mischief works best when it actually stands for something.

The real power is this: Mischief isn’t random.

It’s consistent unpredictability. It’s building a brand where people think:

“I’ve no idea what they’ll do next… but I want to see it.”

That’s where memorability lives. Familiar enough to recognise. Unexpected enough to notice.

So if you actually wanted to use it as a strategy:

1. Do the thing your category wouldn’t

Not once. Repeatedly.

Until the unexpected becomes expected from you.

2. Jump on moments that already exist

Don’t wait for your own campaign window.

Borrow attention from culture.

3. Be willing to go a bit further than is comfortable

Not reckless. But not safe either.

Because comfortable brands are forgettable brands.

The commercial bit

Call it a mischief budget. Call it a licence to be bold. Doesn’t matter.

What matters is whether your brand has permission to actually act on these ideas more than once a year.

Because most brands don’t lack ideas.

They lack the guts (or sign-off) to do anything with them.

The brands people remember aren’t the ones who show up on April 1st. They’re the ones who give themselves permission to be memorable all year round.

Does yours?

Our Create Fame programme helps brands do exactly that — build consistent, distinctive presence that actually gets remembered. 

Not just noticed.