No matter what business you’re in, people talk about you. Look at the venerable International House of Pancakes, for example. Before their IHOb (International House of Burgers) ad campaign, when was the last time you heard anyone talking about IHOP? Did folks really believe IHOP was changing its name to IHOb? You bet! Was it intentional? Absolutely! They wanted people to think the change was real so they’d talk about it (and try it).

How about the KFC commercials with the ever-changing Colonel Sanders? (C’mon, who doesn’t love some “Extra Crispy Colonel?”) Do you love those ads, or do you cringe every time one comes on the tv? Here’s the dirty little secret: KFC doesn’t care if you love them or hate them; they want you to think about them – and maybe even talk about them. They figured it out first, but IHOP caught on quickly: People don’t talk about what they don’t know. An entire generation of consumers was unaware that KFC even existed. They’d never eaten there, and so they had no opinion of KFC whatsoever. None. Zip. Zilch. Nada.

People thought the ad agency, Wieden+Kennedy, was crazy for even proposing such a campaign, but they recognized that something had to change. From 2007 to 2013, KFC saw a 40% decline in business – this after a steady decline that was already 20 years in the making. Since the beginning of the “I’m Colonel Sanders” ad campaign, AdWeek magazine reports that KFC is gearing up for its 13th consecutive quarter of growth. All because some people love it, and some people hate it, but everyone’s talking about it.

You WANT people talking about you. You WANT a brand that stirs emotion. You WANT people to love you, yes…BUT…you also want some people to hate you. There, I said it! You want people to hate you. If you have a brand that everyone loves, you don’t really have a brand at all. At least if they hate you, they’ll talk about you. Maybe they’ll talk about you so much that someone else will give you a try just to see what all the fuss is about. It worked for KFC.

Oh, and KFC even had a company create a SPF 30 sunscreen that smells just like…you guessed it…fried chicken! Now that’s some Extra Crispy marketing!