Is there a Case for Positive Friction? Designing for Memorability in a Seamless World

We live in an age obsessed with speed and access. Swipe left, tap to skip, click to buy. Every interaction has been engineered to be faster, easier and more seamless. And efficiency has become the dominant aesthetic of modern business.

But here’s the paradox: in the race to strip out friction, we risk stripping out memorability. The slickness that makes brands efficient can also make them forgettable. And for business and brand leaders, that’s not just a creative problem: it’s a business risk.

Friction, properly deployed, is a feature, not a flaw. Positive friction creates stickiness. It forces a pause – time to absorb and engender an emotional reaction. It makes experiences memorable in a sea of sameness.

Let’s explore what leaders looking to introduce more tension into their brand should be thinking about.

When Smooth Becomes Soulless 

Consumers expect efficiency in their brand interactions; brands have recognised this and adapted accordingly. But when every experience is designed to be seamless, brands themselves risk disappearing. In short, a seamless world can quickly become a brandless world.

Consider the Tate & Lyle Golden Syrup rebrand. For over a century, the tin carried a bold image of a lion surrounded by bees – striking, certainly odd, somewhat biblical but instantly recognisable.

That oddness is what made Golden Syrup distinctive; it challenged the conventions of typical condiment branding. Its recent redesign, intended to feel cleaner and more ‘contemporary’, softened the brand’s edge. But the result was backlash, disappointment and the feeling that a piece of British cultural identity had been lost. By sanding off the visual friction, the brand had also sanded off what made them stand out.

A similar story played out with the recent Cracker Barrel rebrand in the US. The brand simplified its logo, removing the seated ‘Old Timer’ figure in front of the barrel, toning down the typography and generally smoothing away old Americana quirks.

But brand fans – including President Trump – felt like something essential had been lost. The original logo had been a richly nostalgic marker, something that spoke of shared heritage and rustic charm, but the feeling was that it had now become just another ‘country-style’ wordmark. In modernising, the brand had inadvertently stripped away the very imperfections and history that made it stand out. After the restaurant’s stock fell by 10%, the chain announced that it would restore the old logo and shelved its interior redesign plans.

The Solution: Positive Friction 

Some of the world’s most resonant brands understand that with creativity and courage, you can stand out from the crowd and build strong brand recall as well as market share.

Monzo  

Brands that seek to eliminate all friction risk commoditisation. Consider the fintech category. Sleek apps, minimalist interfaces, pastel colour palettes – many brands now look and feel the same. This lack of differentiation may win usability points, but it can contribute to customer turnover. Loyalty, after all, isn’t built on homogeny.

Contrast this with Monzo and its coral-coloured debit card – its boldness became a piece of physical stand-out in a digital-first sector. As a brand, it is distinctive in wallets, sparks recognition, and makes the brand present in everyday life. It has since become one of the most recognisable banking brands in the UK, with its bold colour choices and strategic marketing leading to a 31% increase in customers in 2023 alone.

Sofitel  

We had the privilege of working with this luxury hotel brand in 2024. When they came to us looking to reinvigorate their brand, we could see that the existing interpretation of French-ness was heavy on cliché. We needed to reframe ‘French-ness’ or the ‘French joie de vivre’ as being about joyfully embracing the paradoxes central to French culture – namely, that of tradition versus rebellion. This then helped create the framing principles that allow Sofitel to express its French-ness in a way that feels new and relevant. While it may be a more subtle example, this friction is what helps to set Sofitel apart in the generic luxury hotel space.

Seedlip  

Seedlip is a great example of a category disruptor continuing to create positive friction through branding. The world’s first non-alcoholic spirit, it broke all the rules in its category with packaging that feels more aligned to the luxury spirits category than the non-alcoholic category – botanical-inspired artwork, earthy tones and premium materials. Since its 2015 launch, the brand has doubled down on its disruptive ethos, causing friction out in the world with its advertising as well as on the shelf. Seedlip was acquired by alcohol giant Diageo in 2019 – proof of the brand’s game-changing innovation in the non-alcoholic drink space.

Marmite 

And then there’s the icon of positive friction, Marmite. Its entire proposition is built on divisiveness – most notably embraced in its ‘Love it or hate it’ slogan, adopted in 1996. Marmite’s genius lies in embracing its edge rather than smoothing it off – not bad for a product that’s essentially a yeast extract sandwich spread.

Marmite has used the natural brand friction found in the strong flavour of its product to its branding advantage. From “Love it or Hate it” to the 2017 Gene Project campaign, which offered a DNA test to prove whether or not people are born with the ‘gene’ to prefer the taste of Marmite, the brand has continually shown its bravery in leaning into this friction and using humour and wit to do so in a memorable way. Ultimately, the success of these kinds of campaigns is reflected in the numbers, like First Timers, which saw 1.6 million people trying Marmite for the first time.

Why Positive Friction Works 

Positive friction engages more of the senses. It jolts people out of autopilot, forces attention, and creates stories worth retelling. In a C-suite context, that translates into three tangible advantages:

1. Pricing power: When a brand feels distinctive, it’s often able to justify a higher price point. This is in part due to the idea that distinctiveness signals both exclusivity and quality. A brand that leans into meaning and emotional connection is also one that’s less likely to fall into the commoditisation trap and find itself competing on price alone.
2. Retention and lifetime value: Stickiness creates loyalty through memorability and brand recall; it also drives trust. If you’re able to lodge your brand in the minds of consumers – particularly in a way that feels emotive – you’re more likely to be front of mind for them at the point of purchase.
3. Cultural relevance: Brands with edge invite conversation. Marmite isn’t just consumed; it’s debated, shared and memed. In an attention economy, friction fuels amplification.

So how do you introduce a level of friction into your own brand?

The C-Suite Calculus: Where to Smooth and Where to Snag 

For CEOs and brand leaders, the challenge is knowing where friction is constructive while recognising where it can be destructive. Seamlessness is critical for areas strongly connected to user experience – digital checkout, safety, basic usability. Positive friction belongs in branding, where you want to signal character, spark emotional reactions, or create community.

At Conran Design Group, we use a simple framework when advising clients:

1. Define your signature snag – Identify the one friction point that tells your story. For Sofitel, it was a new take on Frenchness. For Marmite, it was divisiveness. What’s yours?
2. Measure the moments – Treat these friction points as assets. Test their impact on NPS, retention and social shareability. Don’t just measure efficiency, measure memorability.
3. Pressure-test the edge – Push your brand tension until it almost feels uncomfortable. If it feels too smooth in the boardroom, you’ll likely be invisible in the market.

Don’t risk being invisible 

As leaders, we’re often tempted to smooth the path: friction sounds like inefficiency and inefficiency sounds like risk. But the greater risk for brands today is invisibility.

By intentionally designing moments of positive friction into your brand and brand experience, you give people reasons to remember, return and reinvest.

Written by Thom Newton. Have you read?
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