Some product categories get written off as dull before anyone has tried to make them interesting. That assumption is worth challenging.
The idea that a category is inherently low-interest is a convenient excuse. It puts the blame on the product rather than on the marketing, and it quietly lowers the ambition of everyone working on the brand. Richard Huntington made the case that there is no such thing as a low-interest category, and it is a useful starting point for anyone planning content or advertising for everyday products.
Interest is created, not inherited
Categories like household cleaning are often treated as functional necessities with little room for personality. Yet brands have shown that the opposite is possible: with the right tone, design and storytelling, even toilet bowl cleaners can become something people notice, talk about and remember. The product did not change. The way it was presented did.
If a category looks boring, that is a brief, not a verdict.
What that means for the work
Treating a category as low-interest usually leads to safe, forgettable output: generic imagery, functional copy and media bought purely on reach. The alternative is to look for the human truth inside the product and build the creative around it.
- Find the tension or the humour in an everyday task.
- Give the brand a distinct visual and verbal personality.
- Assume the audience is capable of being interested, and give them a reason to be.
The practical takeaway is simple. Before accepting that a category cannot be interesting, ask what would have to be true for it to be. More often than not, the answer sits with the creative and the strategy rather than with the product itself.