The Most Frightening Words in Marketing: “We’ve Always Done It This Way.”

If there were a horror movie about business, this would be the line whispered right before the downfall.

Not a dramatic one — no sudden crash, no ghostly figure lurking behind the brand guidelines — just a slow, steady fade into irrelevance.

Because “we’ve always done it this way” isn’t about tradition. It’s about comfort. And in marketing, comfort quietly kills creativity.

The Graveyard of “Good Enough”

We’ve all seen it: the campaign that hasn’t changed in years. The same tone, same graphics, same playbook because “it still works.” Until one day, it doesn’t.

What used to grab attention now blends in. What used to feel confident now feels dated. But when something’s worked before, it’s easy to assume it’ll keep working forever.

Spoiler: it won’t.

Audiences evolve faster than most businesses do. Platforms shift. Algorithms change. Culture moves on. “Good enough” eventually becomes invisible.

And yet, year after year, we meet businesses still running their 2018 strategy because it’s “fine.” Like watching someone still using an iPhone 6 and insisting it’s great because it turns on.

Routine Isn’t Strategy

Doing the same thing over and over isn’t consistency — it’s autopilot.

And autopilot works right up until you hit turbulence. When sales dip or engagement drops, the instinct is to double down on what used to work. Run the same ad again. Send the same email. Hope for a different outcome.

That’s not strategy. That’s superstition.

At Charcoal, we’ve seen it too many times — businesses sticking to the same playbook because change feels expensive or risky. But you know what’s more expensive? Marketing that no longer moves the needle.

The Case for Experimentation (a.k.a. Controlled Chaos)

Testing new ideas doesn’t mean lighting your brand on fire. It means making small, measurable moves that keep you learning.

Try a new tone of voice in your email campaign. Test an unexpected visual style. Run a low-stakes ad targeting a fresh audience. Launch something that feels slightly uncomfortable — because that’s where growth hides.

We’ve had clients test ideas they were hesitant about — sometimes weird, sometimes bold — and those ended up outperforming the “safe” stuff by a mile. The work that surprises people is usually the work that performs.

And if it flops? You learn. You adjust. You try again. That’s marketing.

Q4 Is the Perfect Time to Shake Things Up

Here’s the thing about the fall season: it’s when everyone gets predictable. The same holiday posts. The same campaigns. The same tone of “we’re thankful for our customers.” (We are, but still.)

That makes it the perfect time to do something unexpected.

If everyone else is leaning into the cozy clichés, go sharper. If your competitors are flooding feeds with red-and-green promos, go minimal and direct. If you’ve been silent since summer, now’s the time to test something new while everyone else plays it safe.

You don’t need a full rebrand. Just a willingness to ask, “What if we didn’t?”

Tradition Has Its Place. Just Not Everywhere.

There’s value in consistency — don’t get us wrong. Your voice, your values, your visual identity — those should anchor your brand. But your tactics? Those should evolve.

Marketing is like sailing: if you never adjust the sails, the wind passes you by.

So if you’ve caught yourself saying, “We’ve always done it this way,” it might be time to open the metaphorical box of bats and see what else is out there.

Because nothing’s scarier than standing still while the world moves on.