Consultancy leaders fear being disliked, but the real danger is being ignored.
You’ve worked hard to build something solid. Your content is polished, your services deliver results, and your tone is professional. But here’s the thing: “professional” often means “inoffensive.” And in today’s overcrowded consultancy market, inoffensive equals invisible.
If your brand tone is smooth, safe and agreeable, you’re not standing out; you’re blending in.
It’s time to ditch the vanilla.
A lot of consultancy content reads like a committee wrote it. Technically accurate, grammatically flawless, and utterly forgettable.
The problem? There’s no edge. No opinion. No tension.
Just another “insightful” LinkedIn post with four likes and a polite round of applause from your team.
The result?
Low engagement
No inbound leads
A brand people can’t remember ten minutes later
Being agreeable won’t hurt feelings, but it won’t start conversations either.
Let’s get nerdy for a second.
According to marketing scientist Byron Sharp, distinctiveness trumps differentiation. What does that mean? People don’t remember better; they remember different. Our brains are wired to notice contrast and novelty.
In other words: polarisation fuels memory.
If everyone in your market is saying, doing and sounding the same, your consultancy needs to become the memorable outlier, the one with flavour.
Vanilla is familiar. It’s safe. It’s fine.
But no one craves “fine.”
Rum and raisin, on the other hand, has something to say. It’s bold. It’s divisive. It’s not for everyone, and that’s exactly the point.
Being rum and raisin doesn’t mean being reckless. It means owning a clear point of view that draws the right people in and lets the wrong ones scroll on.
Here’s how to do it:
Have a point of view and back it
If you believe something in your industry is broken, say so. Loudly.
Challenge lazy assumptions
“Best practices” are just old habits. Interrogate them, then offer a better way.
Write for your right-fit client
Not for your peers. Not for your competitors. Say what your ideal client actually needs to hear, even if it’s uncomfortable.
Use a distinct tone of voice
Scrub the corporate clichés. Embrace clarity, confidence, and a bit of bite. Sound like you.
The payoff for sharper positioning and spicier content? Big.
More organic visibility
People stop scrolling because your voice cuts through.
Better-fit leads
No more explaining what you do on sales calls; they already get it.
Faster deals
If they’ve seen your content and still booked a call, they’re halfway sold.
More referrals
You’re easier to recommend when people actually remember you.
Inbound over outbound
You stop chasing. The right people start finding you.
There are two ditches on either side of the road:
Too safe
Overly polished. Generic. Zero spark.
Too far
Try-hard edgy. Confusing. Alienating.
Your goal is the Zone of Optimal Resonance, the sweet spot where tone, clarity, and confidence collide. Not bland. Not bonkers. Just brilliantly bold.
So if your content divides the room, good. That means people are actually paying attention.
Vanilla content blends in. Rum and raisin content breaks through.
Pick your flavour accordingly.
Book a 15-minute Positioning Primer call. We’ll pinpoint what’s making you sound like everyone else, and how to fix it.