Visit Oslo: The Value of Leveraging Critics to Your Advantage

This spot is simply chef’s kiss for so many reasons.

Before unpacking any of them, a sincere hats off to the visionaries behind it at NewsLab. Well done, friends.

The campaign leans fully into a delightfully dry premise. A tragically unimpressed citizen of Oslo calmly explains why the city may not be for you. It is understated. Self-aware. Quietly hilarious. And in doing so, it makes the destination far more appealing to the exact travelers who are destined to fall in love with it.

By spotlighting the supposed shortcomings, the slow pace, the muted energy, the unflashy pleasures, the campaign does not repel the right audience. It magnetizes them. The message is clear without ever being stated outright. If this sounds boring to you, you are probably not our people. And that is perfectly fine.

My career began in the wonderfully fun world of destination marketing, so campaigns like this feel like brand candy. But this one goes a step further. It is not just clever. It is a near-perfect illustration of brand fundamentals that apply across every industry.

Your brand is not for everybody

And that is not a flaw. It is a feature.

Strong brands are allowed to be polarizing. In fact, they often should be. When a brand tries to be universally appealing, it usually becomes forgettable. This campaign embraces the opposite truth. Clarity beats consensus.

When you give people permission to opt out, you also give your ideal audience permission to opt in fully and enthusiastically. Ironically, this kind of honesty often increases recall across both target and non-target audiences. People remember brands that know who they are.

Knowing who your audience is not matters just as much as knowing who they are

Most brand exercises obsess over ideal customers. Far fewer take the time to articulate the non-customer. That is a missed opportunity.

Creating a clear profile of who is not a fit, and why, can be incredibly clarifying. It sharpens messaging. It simplifies decisions. It prevents dilution. And it makes it much easier to say no to opportunities that look tempting but quietly erode brand equity.

Criticism often reveals your greatest strengths

Here is the twist. Many of the reasons critics cite for avoiding your brand are the very reasons your community loves it.

Too quiet. Too niche. Too opinionated. Too slow. Too unconventional. Too serious. Too playful. Too different.

When viewed through the right lens, criticism becomes unintentional positioning copy. Brands that listen carefully can often reframe objections as assets without defensiveness, apology, or spin.

The gap may be smaller than you think

Exploring the perceptions of people outside your ideal audience can surface surprising insights. Sometimes resistance is not rooted in dislike. It is rooted in misunderstanding, outdated assumptions, or incomplete information.

When that is the case, small shifts in framing or storytelling can unlock adjacent audiences without compromising the core. The goal is not to convert everyone. It is to understand where the edges actually are.

What do you really know about people who do not buy into your brand?

If you want to pressure-test your positioning, start here:

• What is their demographic and lifestyle profile?

• Which brands do they love, especially outside your category?

• How are they most likely to encounter or intersect with your brand?

• What do they believe about your brand, and how accurate is it?

• What is the single most important thing they probably do not realize about you?

You may discover that your brand is already doing more work than you thought, just not always in the ways you expected.

I would love to hear from you.What is the most surprising thing this line of thinking reveals about your brand?

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Hi, I'm Nicole, the Nick behind Nicknox Communications.  For more than 30 years, I've brought uncommonly creative brand, marketing and communications strategies to life for organizations of all kinds. I'm passionate about brand strategy, storytelling and fabulous creative. I also love to explore best practices in high EQ leadership, core values, relational marketing and resources that help creative teams bring their best to every client and project. My areas of expertise include design thinking, personal brands, performing arts, HR, travel & entertainment, B2B, startup strategy and many other delightful sectors. Learn more about my work as a Fractional Chief Marketing Officer here or drop me a line, I'd love to connect.