The selfish gift: How being selfish is the most selfless thing a brand can do

I believe brands need to embrace the art of being selfish to find authority in a brand landscape that is increasingly losing its meaning.

Retreating from selfishness to service

I vividly remember some of my parents' old videotapes. Not for the recorded version of Mary Poppins, but for the adverts. Halifax members of staff building human bridges, reflecting the possibility of a prospering late 90’s economy. Or a pied piper milkman guiding dancing bottles to your door - showing the joy in appreciating the small things.

These are memorable to me but in retrospect, they have a deeper meaning. They were a reflection of hope in a society that had just surfaced from a rough economic patch at the turn of the decade where the economy would enter the longest sustained growth in modern British history.

Back then, brands were projected into living rooms and consumed by the masses through collective events and a small set of media. Brands would act selfishly to define a role for themselves that would generate sales, through an internally held view that could be attractive to the customer. This ‘selfishness’ manifests as distinctiveness and conviction in the brand's position. Often acting as a mirror in a much simpler and perhaps more connected world. At least concerning the methods of reaching and influencing the public.

The position of distinctiveness is proven to be the most effective way to position a brand (Sharp, 2010). Where I argue that a selfish position is the greatest route to achieving what that distinctiveness is. As conviction in a brand's internal truth. This is something the industry has lost its way with, in its gradual shift in brand building practices.

A brand's role and route to market has grown increasingly complex over the last 20-30 years, driven largely by the digitalisation of our world. Beginning with the introduction of the personal computer, accelerated by the smartphone and then accelerated again by the Covid pandemic. Where digitisation leaped forwards by three to four years (McKinsey, 2020).

These major hardware and environmental shifts mask a multitude of soft adaptations. Changes in our expectations, social norms and logical assumptions that have fundamentally rewired how we navigate the world. These assumptions are often driven by what researchers call "technological affordances" (Norman, 2013). What the customer expects the technology (and brands) to provide.

This complexity has fundamentally shifted how brands are born, defined and advertised. Changing from the previous selfish act to one that aims to be of service of the technology that holds the gateway to the customer. As described in Lemon (Wood, 2019) this has driven brands toward short-term, literal, hyper-rational communication that weakens emotional effectiveness. Eroding a brand's ability to build a broader, socially relevant image.

These digital systems are fundamentally reshaping how brands behave and communicate, which in turn is affecting how humans respond. This erosion of brand responsibility and power to shape our society is having broader effects beyond the practice of branding and advertising, into the way our world is built.

Causes: In service of machines

Applied Expectation

A customer's experience with a brand is judged against the best experience that they have had, within the category the brand operates in outside of it. This has raised customer expectations about what is feasible brand behaviour. Effectively raising the bar across all services without the possibility of alternatives. Brands are forced to conform with the minimum viability that a customer would tolerate. Users of Uber on Reddit (r/uberdrievers, 2026) discuss a 3-5 minute ‘ghosting window’; a minimum viable time that a customer is willing to wait if a taxi does not seem to be moving on the interface. Patience having greatly reduced from the days of calling up and waiting for a taxi for 10-15 minutes.

Trendjacking

Brands seek to maintain relevance in a fast moving social media landscape by ‘trendjacking’ (Rathi, N., & Jain, P., 2024). Usually this is a reaction to a spark of pop news, a meme, or a format and formula that has been proven successful by a previous creator or brand. The original artifact is proven to be successful and therefore replicated by others in an attempt to piggy-back on its relevance. This relevance chasing leads to a general brand tone, or lack of distinct personality in favour of a general ‘internet personality’.

Advertising To Robots

In the modern world we are increasingly reliant on machines for information retrieval and recommendation. Often phrasing our requests as ‘best X for Y’ and ‘what is the most effective Z’, which effectively shortens the consideration window. Adobe (2026) notes that users coming through AI summaries are 31% more likely to convert and spend 45% longer on site. This has forced brands to compete on features and attributes of products rather than the brands themselves. In effect highlighting these points is to be in service of machines in which to be picked up from. Beginning with search but now with Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Effects: The flattening

These elements are beginning to converge on what we may be able to call ‘the flattening’. That the above forces are creating a flat and uniform output that tends to work towards an average. Flattening is not a term that should be confused with the terminology prefix-‘slop’. Trend slop, research slop, AI slop are all modern terms that embody worse outputs that are created in the modern era. However the flattening is something even more mundane and perhaps dangerous in its unnoticeability and cultural effects.

Flattening is a term coined by Chayka (2024), being described as when algorithms mathematically decide what you experience, often tailored to the lowest common denominator at the expense of the complex, diverse or challenging. Providing a blinkered view to the world around us. Influencing not just what culture we consume, but what culture is produced. This results in a gradual degradation of originality and emotional resonance.

At the root of this, is the industry we work in. We are the custodians of brands, with responsibility for creating strong and valuable properties. We too are in effect of this flattening subtly in our practices. We are instigators of this through the work that we create. Keeping this to our own realms surfaces some clear avenues - but no means an extensive list - of where we fall foul.

 

Brands then begin to look, sound and behave the same because familiarity and sameness gets rewarded - it’s predictable. There is then less need for brands to establish a connection through uncovering something meaningful, just to try and reach consumers by being in service to machines. Effectively stripping out brand meaning and leaving a shell.

We are at the forefront of building the brands that exist within our world, we have the responsibility to adapt our practices. To push against the forces that are driving this flattening. We effectively are at the root cause. If we create stronger and more meaningful brands, the products and services that are provided will also start to take shape towards a more varied, interesting and culturally rich society. In effect, we need to look within ourselves to find the answer.

I argue that for brands to survive, thrive and provide value in today's society, they need to return to acting from a place of selfishness. One defines a role for a brand and how it might extract value from customers, but doing so through the understanding of what is actually valuable in the modern social context. Selfishness is the antidote to the fact that brands have become too externally optimised to create culturally meaningful things.

Selfishness for the collective good

Detrimental effects on the human mind from over-use of smartphones and social media have been widely reported. Jonathan Haidt (2025) reports of depression amongst teens rising 161% over a 12 year period from 2010. Digital, amongst other economic and political pressures are turning us towards defensive self-preservation tactics such as disconnecting from social media, saying ‘no’ more or in extreme cases ‘quiet quitting’ our jobs (Mental Health UK, 2026). Selfishness however should not be seen as a moral failing, but as a necessary toolkit for self-belief that breaks people-pleasing habits and establishes boundaries (Reading, 2025).

Selfishness paradoxically can lead us to greater outcomes, collectively (Levin & Lo, 2021). When we focus on ourselves we create and appreciate things in an intentional manner. This authenticity is well revered in the modern landscape as an important factor in decision making (Sprout Social, 2026) Authenticity also drives diversity of thought, storytelling and greater creativity. When one acts selfishly with a positive outcome, the receiver may treat that with greater respect. Allowing us to form connections through those that stick to their beliefs on what is meaningful to them.

Humans need to be connected with - because they need things to anchor themselves to. Not just in their pursuits but also the brands that serve them. This helps them find their way in the world, shaping identity and meaning. As described by Xi et al. (2022), there is a statistical link between brand's personal identity and the consumer's internal emotional value and self-satisfaction. This is what has been lost from the way that we build brands today, in our service to machines. When delivering a flatter brand landscape we contribute to a loss of identity, which in turn retreats society to polarisation and even radicalisation (Wood, 2021).

Selfishness does not close off our receptivity to issues of broader societal importance. In fact when culturally significant collective events happen they provide even more meaning and greater impact. This is especially true in the current climate. We can see this from collective events that have acted as a reminder of our shared humanity that sometimes seems to be forgotten.

An example of this is the half time show at the Super Bowl in 2026 from Bad Bunny which shows how authored conviction creates cultural gravity. It reached 4.2BN viewers in the first 24 hours (ESPN, 2026). It balanced a conversation by generating curiosity around a culture that had been negatively painted. New York University (2026) recorded this interest which gives more people grounding in the issue. With increases in searches for ‘Puerto Rican citizenship’, ‘Puerto Rican History’ and ‘Puerto Rican Food’ all rising.

It delivered a message of unity on a global platform which fuelled debate but also solitude for the USA’s 40 million Spanish speakers. Bad Bunny himself is steadfast in his own personal brand, always singing in Spanish. His own brand of selfishness that has drawn huge amounts of respect and admiration.

In ‘How Brands Become Icons’, Holt (2004) positions the strongest brands as cultural activists. That step in to provide stories (myths) that help people navigate the "cultural contradictions" of their time. ‘Myths’ which are born from resolving collective anxieties caused by major societal shifts. The publication of this text was in the same year that Facebook was founded. Since then we have had several major societal shifts landing us with many cultural contradictions; geopolitical conflicts, environmental degradation, economic precarity, populism and nationalism.

When we operate in service to machines, we overlook the opportunity to provide resolution. This is precisely the time for brands to act more selfishly; to reconnect with their own internal truth and distinct perspective and stand out more in an increasingly homogenised world.

In an era of deep social distrust where 68% of the public trust brands (Endelman, 2025), which is higher than other institutions (Government, Media, and NGOs at 55%) the worst thing a brand can be is a fraud. Traditional emotional branding feels manipulative today. To resolve this, brands need to pick a specific cultural fault line, take a fiercely selfish ideological stance and provide an authentic narrative that helps its specific community survive the chaos of the modern context.

Selfishness creates artifacts

In using a point of selfishness in the aim to create something culturally powerful, brands can increase their chances of making something lasting. That is more valuable across the long term and an antidote to the throwaway nature of brands built in service to machines. There are two ways in which selfishness can lead to creating artifacts; through the lens of the artist and of nature.

1. Artistic selfishness

In the modern day, we celebrate artists that create for themselves. True to their inner being. Who create ‘l'art pour l'art’. Who act in one’s own interests, without regard for the viewer. By adapting this way of thinking, the artist is more likely to create something unique and enduring, not formulaic and flattening. Hopefully creating an artifact that can stand the test of time and still be appreciated in decades to come.

As Rick Rubin (2025) describes in his book The Creative Act: A Way Of Being, making art for others leads to "commercial" rather than "artistic" work and that true resonant art is born from personal, uncompromised passion. In essence he is saying, stop trying to please everyone and instead pursue something deeply truthful to yourself.

This selfish rawness is to be admired and works well in the art market where response is based on individual then collective taste. In the world of brand building, this belief is too purist. Ignorant to the cultural surroundings that a brand faces itself in, which reduces the chance that a brand will answer a cultural tension.

However it solidifies the position that if you do come from a position of self interest, you can create something larger than yourself, in value and in longevity.

2. Naturalistic selfishness

In Richard Dawkins' (2016) ‘The Selfish Gene’ he discusses the concept that a gene is a selfish being because we (all life) act unwillingly to ensure that our gene survives. Even altruistic behaviour in defence of the pride or pack, is just to ensure that the gene survives - in some denomination within family groups - rather than dying out.

Beyond typical business dealings to generate revenue, a brand might also donate to a cause in order to secure its reputation and ensure future profits. Although brand purpose was a route to answer a contradiction, politicising brands drives further rifts in society and if not culturally or economically beneficial.

An adaptation of Dawkin’s theory would be to appreciate the beneficial effect of brand building. That when you create something meaningful and culturally relevant, it often takes on a life of its own. Much like genes are diluted when breeding occurs, a useful artifact will also be diluted by consumers.

It is in a brand's interest to ‘stay alive’, to do so it needs to create something of value that can be picked up by many and disseminated in many different forms.

The selfish gift

When a brand digs into its private, specific, and "selfish" motivations, they often hit a vein of universal truth. By being selfish enough to ignore what the world demands, we can create something authentic that the world actually needs. This is the selfish gift. We are of most collective use when we act most selfishly.

It is this essence that we need to work into how we build our brands today. ‘Others’ are not just the end consumer but the tools which we are discovered in. To add value in this era, we need to look inward to the internal truth of our brands. Is it this act of selfishness that ultimately makes something that is collectively valuable?

A selfish brand doesn't ask consumers what they want via focus groups; it dictates a worldview. Successful brands do not accommodate public opinion; they lead it. They are "selfish" with their narrative. Selfish brands also accept that they are not for everyone and that positioning and the narrative line you choose is the way you dictate your target audience. In the pursuit of selfishness, you must deeply serve the specific subculture suffering from a cultural contradiction, even if it means being misunderstood or disliked by the mainstream.

A prime example of this behaviour is from the brand Liquid Death. a brand that is unapologetically selfish about its heavy-metal, anti-marketing narrative, which in turn gives consumers an authentic antidote to boring corporate sustainability messaging. Actively pushing against a ‘flat’ category and not worrying about alienation of customers that do not align with its ideals.

This is where the paradox lies; a brand must be uncompromisingly selfish about its narrative, but that narrative must be entirely dedicated to helping the consumer resolve their anxieties - selfless.

Rules for unlocking the selfish gift

In the modern media context, we need to appreciate the way in which we reach customers. The selfish gift enables brands to navigate the complexities of this fragmented landscape. Not through trying to be of service to machines, but letting machines also serve the brand. When striking on a distinct narrative through the selfish pursuit, this will carve a place for the brand in the modern ecosystem rather than trying to adapt it to many different contexts.

Reconnect with the whole self - Begin with what is interesting about the brand, and its role in the cultural context regardless of delivery method or even objective. Pushing external influence out lets internal influence flow freely. This is how you create the conditions to create something authentic and long lasting. By freeing from the confines of the immediate. This requires a level of honesty that may be difficult to overcome in a corporate environment. To surface flaws and quirks that add to a brand's distinction. Appreciating a brand's position in its totality - for good and for bad - helps to define who the brand is and isn’t for.

Setting clear boundaries

Selfishness is the art of saying no. Defining what you will not engage with. A strong brand can make the distinction on what is valuable to the overall narrative with precision. Boundary setting eliminates distraction, increases focus and therefore multiplies the value of the chosen position. The most successful brands are the ones that do not engage outside of their established position. This maintains distinctiveness and indirectly pushes against the ‘flattening’ by not taking on outside influence that will ultimately make the brands position of value, less effective.

Remaining steadfast in your beliefs

Remain true to and do not deviate from the internally recognised position of value. Improvements can be made, but these should be minimal in the context of a steady and stable position. A successful internally lead position should be repeatable and still maintain its value. This steady behaviour cements the brands trustworthy position in culture, as a signal for customers who deal with large amounts of change in the world around them. This creates cultural authority and value to a brand that will outlast multiple different waves of change across multiple decades.

Be more selfish, it’s the greatest gift you can give to society

The ultimate irony of today's brand building landscape is that in our ambition to be more serviceable we have actually compounded the issues that we face in society today. Producing brands that are less meaningful, which are contributing to a society that is overwhelmed. Both of which are driven by the same effects of digitization and flattening.

In an era defined by machine-made sameness, using selfishness as a route to conviction becomes the cultural advantage. Customers want and need brands to believe in, to guide them through a complicated world.

The greatest gift a brand can give is to look inside oneself and appreciate the role that it plays in the wider social context. Coming from an internal viewpoint that will hopefully strike on something true to the potential customer and society as a whole.

In doing so, brands may return to playing a crucial role in the shaping of society. A brand creating for oneself will find a valuable position in culture. Allowing brands to be transcendent and almost immortal, creating something lasting and valuable to society. Rather than fleeting. This position has a greater chance of being appreciated and connecting a broader group of people.

For ourselves, perhaps we should all be a little more selfish. In our everyday lives, in our working practices and stewarding the brands that we build. When we are selfish, we tap into something authentic, respected and useful for the collective good.

Your own sanity and society depends on it. 

Bryan Hogg is Strategy Director at Bicycle. This essay was submitted as part of the IPA Excellence Diploma in Brands.

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