Engineering luck

In the endless dialogue of how smaller brands grow from obscurity to infamy, what is overlooked. or not acknowledged enough, is the often vital importance of luck in the eventual success of these businesses.

Some brands can plod along for years until they eventually get a so-called 'lucky break' - and then literally overnight, they are catapulted into another celestial realm. The other side of misery can come from one magical big event, or a series of smaller incidences, that create a multiplier effect on the eventual growth trajectory of the brand.

Ignoring the importance of luck is a shame, because in so many cases, it's the leverage that eventually 'makes the business'.

Yes, brand building is important...and should be done; yes, performance marketing is important... and should be done. But nothing can radically change the future of a brand more than a little bit of luck.

So if luck gives a brand an outsized advantage in relation to the effort that it takes - how might a brand become more lucky?

Can good fortune be created somehow?

When building a brand should you focus on three areas of development; Brand | Performance and Luck?

In our experience, having worked with countless growing brands - the ones that were the most lucky were the ones that believed in luck and actively searched for lucky breaks.

When you have an awareness that good fortune can play a huge role in your future success - you tend to then behave in a manner which positions you to receive luck.

You take more chances, you open yourself up to opportunity, you develop more of an appetite for risky shots at success because...maybe, just maybe...it works out. There is of course quite a difference between betting everything you have on a wild gamble and positioning yourself for unexpected good fortune.

Luck doesn't normally happen when your mind is plagued by fear. It's far more likely to occur when you are mentally detached from the result, yet still aligned with your intention.

We obviously don't understand exactly how a lucky break happens. We cannot engineer luck to happen when we want it to. But what we can do is grant ourselves permission to being open to something lucky happening.

Do something audacious. Be a bit mad. Take the shot. You've got nothing to lose. And who knows...you just might get lucky.