The New Playbook for beating giants: creativity, not budget
If you’ve ever felt powerless competing with giants wielding "endless" budgets, don’t worry. Modern Western brands that challenge the status quo have developed a playbook for winning against giants - with creativity, not budgets.
The "Entertain or Die" report (Small World, 2024) makes one thing clear:
"In the world of big brands, it's either entertain or die."
Entertainment doesn't mean recreating funny trends. It means creatively delivering positive stimuli that shape a brand’s image, build relationships, and create a community. The brand becomes the hero (#maincharacterenergy), not just a soulless billboard.
I’ve gone through this extensive report and compiled the key insights, along with specific examples of brands that apply these strategies best.
Why traditional DTC marketing isn’t enough?
DTC was the answer to the rigid structures of retail. But today, it’s no longer enough. Markets are saturating, giants are copying ideas, and consumers expect more than just a product. They want an experience, a story, participation.
Traditional marketing based on performance and ROAS doesn’t build cultural presence. It doesn’t generate fans, only one-time users. In this model, we’ll always lose to big budgets.
8 new brand archetypes winning through entertainment
In a world where big brands win with budgets and their power, a new generation of brands is emerging. Brands that play differently - because they have to - and are successfully competing with giants by leveraging creativity, innovation, and entertainment.
The "Entertain or Die" report highlights 8 brand models that seamlessly combine communication with culture.
Here they are:
1. Scriptwriter – brand as a series
"Scriptwriters" create a world that people want to enter – like their favorite sitcom. Their marketing isn’t campaigns, but seasonal episodes with a recognizable personality (real or not).
Examples:
- Liquid Death – behaves like a character from “SNL”. Each campaign is another episode.
- Duolingo – Duo the owl became a TikTok star and pop culture icon.
Conclusion: Don’t sell product features. Build the brand as a world with its own rules, characters, and humor. In the world of Gen Z, “brand is content”.
2. Celebrity CEO – The Founder is the face of the brand
These are brands where the founders are the faces of the brand – literally and figuratively. Their story, personality, and communication form the core of the marketing.
Examples:
- Mr. Beast and Feastables – massive launch with a chocolate factory, viral content, and zero media spend.
- Mid-Day Squares – “We show everything – the good, the bad, and the ugly. We document the entire journey. Fights, therapy sessions, crazy successes. Consumers become empathetic. You build FANS, not customers.” It’s a reality show about a startup.
Conclusion: People trust people. Brands with faces build relationships and use authenticity and transparency as an antidote to corporate marketing.
3. Collaborative Chameleon - the brand as a co-creator
Brands that grow thanks to bold and unexpected collaborations. They create marketing by merging worlds and creative partnerships that surprise and create buzz.
Examples:
- Crocs x Balenciaga / KFC
- Oatly with farmers and wrestlers
Conclusion: A good partnership starts with the question: “What’s the craziest thing we could do together that will surprise and grab attention?”
4. Whiplasher – The Brand That Grabs Attention
Brands that shock with aesthetics. Their packaging, spaces, or design break conventions and go viral through surprise.
Examples:
- Engine Gin (gin in a motor oil can)
- Starface (stars on pimples)
- Superette (cannabis stores like Italian delis)
Conclusion: In crowded categories, visual shock is often the cheapest way to break into consumer awareness.
5. Purpose Punk – the brand with a mission and personality
Brands that communicate their purpose through personality and courage. These brands don’t bore with speeches. They entertain, surprise, and only then talk about values.
Examples:
- Ocean Bottle – instead of scaring people with climate change, they engage consumers with humor. Their campaign “Santa Quits” (where rebellious Santa fights Bezos) brought real results.
Conclusion: Focus on ME, then WE – first show the individual benefit, then the collective one.
6. People’s Play-Doh – the brand as a community
Brands built on community participation. Their direction is shaped by fans, not just the board. The most radical archetype. It creates an immersive world where the most engaged fans can build the brand the way they feel it.
Examples:
- RTFKT (NFT + fashion + community)
- Glossier (products created with testers)
- Fortnite (concerts, voting, fan creativity)
Conclusion: Don’t build community around the brand. Build the brand around the community.
7. Newsjacker – the brand as a commentator of reality
They operate like a newsroom. They comment, react, and troll daily. Instead of planning campaigns, they win through speed and humor.
Examples:
- THIS! – a plant-based brand that made an ice sculpture of Piers Morgan with the phrase “Not everything frozen is good, but our sausage is.”
- Thursday (dating app) – their viral content includes absurd slogans on boxes (e.g., “I cheated on my girlfriend on Thursday”) or camels in the middle of London on National Hump Day.
Conclusion: Create viral content by piggybacking and surprising. Jump into topics everyone is already talking about, but do it faster, smarter, and funnier.
8. Hype Machine – the brand as a rumor engine
Brands that build buzz, desire, and exclusivity. They operate on scarcity, limited drops, and follower communities.
Examples:
- Corteiz (race for free jackets)
- PRIME (energy drink sold like Yeezys)
- Last Crumb (premium cookies only with a code)
Conclusion: Hype is engineering. Limit access, build tension, give the community a sense of exclusivity. And then... watch them do the marketing for you.
What does this mean for your brand?
If you want to build a brand that stands strong against the noise, you need not only a great product, but also:
- Cultural awareness,
- An original narrative,
- The courage to be something, not just to be correct.
The future of e-marketing is no longer just performance. It's about creating your own media.
The brands that dominate today don't focus solely on optimization. They build their own media. And they do it successfully – 14 out of 20 brands analyzed in the Small World report outperformed their main competitors in key categories such as social performance, share of search, and earned media.
Example?
Duolingo – despite being the market leader (with 60% share), doesn't rely solely on paid reach. Their TikTok viral, driven by their mascot, gives them a real edge in user attention and affection.
Build a brand people want to be a part of.
If you want your brand to beat the giants, you need to play by different rules. Master new media (social + PR) to perfection.
Don't neglect strategy – entertainment brands have their strategies tightly aligned.
Triple your investments in creativity and focus on execution.
Because today, it’s not enough to be better. You need to be more interesting.
