Blog
February 2026
Playing it safe in marketing isn’t a strategy. And just because it’s worked before doesn’t mean that it will work next time.
We often see ‘rinse and repeat’ strategies. Where businesses and marketing teams take last year’s plan, change the dates and go again. This can be seen as efficient and low risk because you know how to execute it confidently and you know what results to expect, however, it misses a critical point – markets move on. Customer needs shift. Products develop. Competitors change and new companies emerge. If you aren’t adapting and challenging yourselves, you won’t even be standing still. You will be blending in and going backwards. And in today’s economy and market, no business can afford to give up hard-won market share.
Equally, when safe marketing strategies and low risk ideas are pursued, you inadvertently fall into the groupthink trap. This is common in most markets, where consensus is valued over creativity. It’s also likely that you’ll see a decline in engagement and an increase in missed opportunities. But more on groupthink in a minute.
In a landscape where your clients are constantly bombarded with marketing messages across multiple platforms, it’s the brands that do something different that stand out. Standing out though doesn’t always have to mean high-risk. Creative ideas should always be strongly aligned to what your clients need and be routed in results. Only then will you stand out, build a distinctive brand and grow your business.
Safe marketing prioritises comfort over innovation and security over transformation. It’s reactive, not proactive, replicating what you’ve done previously and what competitors are doing rather than forging a distinct identity.
In our review of marketing activities we tend to find that businesses follow industry norms and content and campaigns are virtually indistinguishable from competitors.
This isn’t to say that all safe bets should be discarded. In a broad marketing programme, there is a place for regular updates and campaigns, but if this is all you’re delivering you will be missing out. Space should be made for strategies that are bolder, louder and designed to make an impact in your market.
Let’s take this from two perspectives. The first is the internal view where businesses and marketing teams value agreement and harmony over critical thinking. We often tend to avoid conflict and criticism. It is easier to sideline alternative ideas and follow what’s familiar.
Unfortunately, groupthink can seep in subconsciously where we default to familiar ideas that have been previously proven to deliver results. Often, the longer safe strategies are pursued, the stronger the fear of the unknown can become.
What this means in marketing is that campaigns become predictable, lack inspiration and don’t deliver impact. Groupthink leads to risk-adverse, and often ineffective, marketing decisions.
The second perspective is where you look across a market and set of competitors. Here you’ll also find groupthink. Accountancy firms release campaigns linked to legislation and key budget updates. Technology companies post about upgrades to their platforms and systems, usually aligned to key industry dates. Engineering firms write complex technical reports that have their place but will only appeal to a small segment of their customer base. Whatever your market, groupthink makes it tough to differentiate your business.
We are assessing safe marketing strategies but let’s not forget that there are long-term commercial consequences to playing it safe.
Growth: If you’re looking to generate new business (and who isn’t), your campaigns need enquiries to fill your pipeline. To attract new audiences and open up new market opportunities, you need to give people a reason to contact you over your competitors. Fail to do this and your business will have limited growth opportunities and your team will have to work harder.
Performance: If your campaigns are predictable, you’ll see declining ROI and performance over time. Familiarity means you’ll blend into the background. Your prospective and existing customers won’t engage as often.
Retention: Brands that blend in are forgotten. This leads to an erosion of your brand’s relevance. Without bold ideas, you may fail to stay top of mind, losing your competitive edge and potentially your customers to other businesses.
To test whether your team is subconsciously falling into group think, ask the following questions:
1. Are alternative views raised and considered in marketing meetings?
2. Are decisions made quickly with minimal exploration?
3. Are ideas being reused rather than reimagined?
4. Have you recently analysed campaign performance and what changes have you made?
5. When was the last time you asked, ‘what if?’ and ‘what else?’ when discussing campaigns?
6. When was the last time something completely new was considered?
7. Is your marketing strategy created in isolation or developed collaboratively?
8. Have you recently asked your customers about what they value about your service and products?
The best ways to combat groupthink is to encourage diverse perspectives, foster a culture where questioning is welcomed and embrace calculated risks. The old adage rings true: fortune favours the bold. Teams willing to take creative risks stand out and often they will see greater success from it.
We have seen far too many safe marketing strategies. But we wanted to properly analyse just how pervasive groupthinking was across different sectors and industries.
That’s why we launched The Transform Report where we undertook in-depth analysis of Accountancy Practices, Engineering Firms and HR & Learning Tech vendors. Unfortunately, we found groupthinking and consensus was rife, where different sectors seemed to adhere to unspoken rules about marketing.
For example,
• 53% of all content published by accounting firms* is tax and compliance advice but only 8% discussed economic trends and industry shifts positioning themselves as thought leaders.
• Only 1% of content being produced by engineering firms* is thought leadership.
• 70% of HR and Learning Tech vendors* highlighted the use of AI on their home page but only one firm prioritised transparency with a dedicated ‘Our Approach to AI’ website page.
• Attraction and retention of employees is critical for engineering firms, so it’s no surprise that 72% had dedicated careers pages, however only 19% promoted careers on different pages of their website.
• 42% of accountancy practices proactively engaged and managed their Glassdoor profiles, compared to 67% of engineering firms.
These patterns show how groupthink and safe marketing lead to predictable outputs that fail to differentiate a brand.
*Statistics are derived from in-depth qualitative research on a small sample of organisations with a presence in UK across Accountancy, Engineering and HR & Learning Tech vendors.
Safe marketing strategies may feel low risk, but in reality they pose a real commercial threat to your brand’s growth, performance and retention of customers. By understanding groupthink and challenging ‘tried and tested’ methods, you can create campaigns that stand out, capture attention and drive tangible results.
At Transform Comms we’ve got over 20 years’ experience supporting marketing teams and C-Suites to create campaigns that drive growth and deliver commercial performance. We intentionally work across multiple sectors so we always bring new ideas and approaches to the table.
If you’re looking to take your marketing to the next level, get in touch to be inspired.
We're always up for a coffee and conversation.
Fill in the form, drop us a line at info@transformcomms.co.uk, or call us on 01225 863846. Better yet, drop in to our converted barn and film studio near Bath and Bristol.
Let’s transform.
Together.
