Whose grandmother is this, really?

And isn’t it time we let her enjoy her retirement in peace instead of turning her into every brand’s favourite cliché? To win everyone, you must first choose who to lose! Let’s navigate BW’s brand positioning paradox.

There is a familiar scene that plays out across countless brand campaigns. A grandmother stands at the gate, smiling warmly as she waves goodbye to the parents leaving for work. The children run back to her, laughter in the air, as she becomes the quiet anchor of the home.

The shot is always safe, usually a medium frame that captures just enough context to feel relatable, just enough emotion to feel universal. This image has been used to sell everything from telecommunications to medical aid. It is comforting, recognisable, and easy.

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But it is also increasingly hollow. The characters are two-dimensional, reduced to roles that serve the brand’s need to appear relatable to everyone. The grandmother is always nurturing.

The parents are always busy. The children are always carefree. But one has to ask: is this still true?

Does the modern grandmother not want to travel, to rest, to live a life beyond childcare? Does the modern family really exist in such neat, predictable frames? What we are seeing is not reality, but a branding shortcut.

A trope that has become so pervasive because it feels “safe” and broadly appealing. And that is precisely the problem. Because when brands try to speak to everyone, they often end up saying nothing meaningful at all.

It’s one of the most common requests we get from new clients. They come to us with a product or service and say, “We want to appeal to everyone.” It sounds like a sensible goal. After all, why would any business want to turn away potential customers?

In a market as small as Botswana, with just 2.6 million people, the instinct to cast the widest possible net is powerful. But here lies the first and most fundamental paradox of branding: the more you try to appeal to everyone, the less you appeal to anyone. Think about it.

A brand that tries to be everything to everyone ends up being nothing to no one. It becomes a blur of generic promises and bland messaging. It stands for nothing, so it means nothing.

In the battle for the customer’s mind, the most dangerous position is not to be hated, but to be ignored. This is the Positioning Paradox. True brand strength is not found in universal appeal, but in ruthless, strategic exclusion.

This isn’t just a marketing opinion; it’s rooted in human psychology. Our brains are wired to categorize. We are bombarded with thousands of messages every day, and to cope, we create mental shortcuts.

We put brands into boxes. One brand is the “safe” choice, another is the “cheap” choice, and another is the “premium” choice. As brand strategists Al Ries and Jack Trout explained in their groundbreaking book, Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, the goal is to own a single word or concept in the customer’s mind.

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