Oatly: A Polarizing Brand Voice

Oatly spent years as a forgettable Swedish health product before a new CEO and creative director tore up the packaging, the website, and the way the company talked about itself. What replaced it was strange on purpose: rambling cartons, self-aware billboards that mocked their own existence, and public fights with the dairy lobby. Plenty of people found it insufferable, and the company was completely fine with that.

For founders and operators in commodity categories, this case attacks the safest instinct in marketing: sanding off every edge so you offend no one. It sharpens the decision of how much distinctiveness is worth, and what you trade away when you chase broad mild approval. Read your own homepage against two competitors and ask whether a customer could tell you apart with the logos removed. The case shows what Oatly chose to do about exactly that.