There’s a rule that every branding expert used to agree on: consistency is everything. Same logo, same colors, same voice, every single time. You don’t deviate. Ever.
I believed this. I taught this.
Then one of my students called me out.
She was interning at a brand agency and came back to class with a case study: Wendy’s Twitter account. This was 2017, 2018. At the time, every brand on social media sounded the same — helpful, upbeat, slightly robotic. “Thanks for reaching out! We’d love to help!” That kind of thing.
Not Wendy’s.
Wendy’s was roasting their competitors. Publicly. Gleefully. McDonald’s would tweet something innocuous and Wendy’s would reply with a burn. Their followers ate it up. The account blew up. It became a cultural moment.
