Breaking the Prototype: How Challenging Mental Frameworks is the Future of Marketing

If you think of a fruit, what comes to mind? An apple, an orange, a banana? Only 1 in 20 times will this fail. These common images are examples of prototypicality, a cognitive framework where our brains categorise something as “good” or “bad” based on familiarity and shared characteristics.

Imagine it as a circle with the example of “apple” at the centre, representing a “good” fit for the category of fruit. Moving outward, secondary examples, like a pomegranate, are recognised as fruit but not as quickly. Even further from the centre are peripheral examples, such as a tomato or cucumber, which are technically fruits but don’t immediately come to mind in the same way.

This system is part of our Idealised Cognitive Model (ICM) – a structure that helps us organise and navigate our knowledge and understanding of the world. ICMs are shaped by our social and cultural experiences. It is through our personal history and collective experience that we can label, organise, and recall information effectively.

The Power of Prototypicality in Industries

Every industry, from marketing to technology, finance to fashion, operates within the constraints of prototypicality. Prototypicality allows consumers to recognise, trust, and engage with familiar products, services, and messages. It is why brand colours, slogans, and even packaging often follow a well-established pattern. The challenge, however, is that while prototypicality creates recognition, it also breeds predictability—and predictability leads to disengagement.

Marketing, for example, is deeply influenced by prototypicality. Consumers expect beauty brands to use soft pastels and wellness brands to incorporate green hues. Luxury brands rely on minimalist aesthetics, while fast-food chains use bold reds and yellows to stimulate appetite. These expectations are ingrained because they align with our cognitive frameworks, making them feel "right." But in a saturated market, simply following these patterns is not enough.

The brands that make an impact are those that strategically disrupt prototypicality—not by completely rejecting it, but by bending its rules just enough to spark intrigue. Think of Apple removing the keyboard from mobile phones or Tesla designing an electric truck that looks nothing like traditional models. By subverting expectations while maintaining enough familiarity, they capture attention and drive engagement.

Understanding and Subverting Prototypicality

To categorise something, our brains rely on five key aspects:

Proximity (how close it is to a central good example)
Similarity (how much it resembles typical features)
Continuation (how it fits into a broader pattern)
Functionality (how we use it)
Closure (whether it has enough features to be “complete” in the category)

When brands challenge one or more of these aspects while keeping the others intact, they create a cognitive dissonance that makes their product or message stand out. For example, Dyson disrupted the vacuum cleaner industry by removing the need for vacuum bags, challenging functionality while keeping proximity to the concept of cleaning appliances.

In advertising, subverting prototypicality often means tweaking language, imagery, or tone. Traditional financial services marketing relies on trust, stability, and expertise, often using formal language and corporate imagery. However, fintech disruptors like Monzo or Revolut have broken this mould by adopting a conversational tone, vibrant branding, and a user-friendly approach, instantly differentiating themselves while still being recognisable as financial institutions.

The Role of Prototypicality in Consumer Perception

Closure is the endpoint of our cognitive categorisation process. If a product or message doesn’t fit well enough, our brains reject it; if it fits too perfectly, it blends into the noise. The key to innovation is finding the balance between recognition and differentiation.

This is why familiarity in branding is crucial—but so is breaking the expected pattern. When Airbnb launched, it was met with skepticism because it challenged the prototypical image of hospitality: hotels with standardised services. However, it successfully positioned itself within the broader travel category while offering an alternative experience, making it both novel and accessible.

A practical way to understand this is through hierarchical categorisation. Think of categories as layers:

Superordinate level: Broadest category (e.g., "vehicle")
Basic level: More specific (e.g., "car")
Subordinate level: Most detailed (e.g., "Tesla Model S")

Marketing efforts that break expectations at the basic level (e.g., defining a "car" differently) are often more impactful than those that attempt to redefine an entire category. This is why electric vehicles first had to establish themselves as cars before being seen as an entirely new way of transport.

Disrupting the Expected to Drive Engagement

In communication, prototypicality affects everything from tone to specificity. Sarcasm, for instance, often relies on over-specificity, while evasiveness results from under-specificity. If someone asks about the weather and you respond with "It’s exactly 13.4 degrees with 72% humidity," it’s unexpected and possibly humorous. Conversely, answering "It’s fine" lacks enough detail to be satisfying.

Understanding these dynamics allows brands to craft messages that stand out while still making cognitive sense. This is particularly relevant in digital marketing, where algorithms favour content that captures and holds attention. Viral campaigns often succeed because they tweak an existing pattern just enough to make it feel fresh. Think of the Old Spice "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" campaign: it used traditional masculinity tropes but exaggerated them to an absurd degree, making it both recognisable and impossible to ignore.

The Future of Marketing: Redefining Prototypicality

As markets become increasingly saturated, brands must not only understand prototypicality but learn to challenge it strategically. This doesn’t mean abandoning all familiar elements—it means knowing which aspects to disrupt for maximum impact.

Key strategies for leveraging and subverting prototypicality:

Reframe the familiar: Present a well-known concept in an unexpected way (e.g., eco-friendly brands using bold, non-traditional colours instead of green and earthy tones).
Twist the expected narrative: Use storytelling that shifts common industry tropes (e.g., instead of aspirational fitness ads, focus on the struggles and failures of working out).
Modify one key element: Keep most aspects familiar but change one crucial component (e.g., a luxury watch brand using playful, casual advertising instead of high-end exclusivity).

By embracing the tension between expectation and innovation, brands can create marketing that doesn’t just fit within a category—it reshapes it. The future of marketing isn’t about following trends; it’s about knowing when to challenge them. The most successful brands of tomorrow will be those that recognise the cognitive patterns consumers rely on and learn how to disrupt them just enough to stay unforgettable.

Welcome to the era of strategic disruption—where breaking the prototype is the key to success.

Creativity Backed By Science