Every November (or earlier!), marketers everywhere feel it—that creeping pressure to do something big for the holidays. A splashy sale! A festive campaign! A rebrand of your logo in red and green just because everyone else is doing it! 

But the holidays shouldn’t be a time to abandon the hard work you’ve put into your brand, strategy, and understanding your customers’ needs. Feeds are cluttered around this time of year, making it hard to be noticed at all. It’s a sea of sameness out there—a lot of noise, not a lot of return.

So how do smart brands actually stand out? They don’t shout louder; they stick with their strategy.

In marketing, consistency and creativity often are at odds with one another. Consistency says, ‘stick with the plan,’ while creativity shouts, ‘let’s shake things up.’ While many people lean one way or the other, it’s important to find balance. 

Think of it like cooking: consistency is the reliable recipe that produces the same delicious meal each time, while creativity is the unexpected ingredient that keeps things exciting. Too much of one without the other and you end up with either bland repetition or a confusing jumble.