We’ve all heard the mantra “Less is more.” In life, that can be a beautiful principle. But in marketing, I’m not so sure. The idea that being quieter and more intentional automatically gives your words more impact runs counter to what actually works. What works is surround sound.
I’m not talking about being the loudest person in the room, or showing up everywhere in someone’s inbox and on their socials creepily. This isn’t a rock concert, and you’re not shouting. This is more like a sound bath—a warm, embracing hum that meets your customer at every turn, gently guiding them toward the solution to their problem. It’s a presence that is felt more than it is heard.
This runs directly against the current obsession with the minimalist, “clean girl” aesthetic. You know what I’m talking about. Those matching, solid-color sweatsuits you see everywhere? The Skims brand, built entirely on a palette of neutrals? It’s an aesthetic of blending in. And that’s what minimalism in marketing can often feel like: blended, generic, and forgettable. Safe to the point of failure.
Marketing works best when there’s a warm, consistent presence meeting your customer at every single pain point. This requires a more maximalist approach. It requires constant creative freshness, the strategic use of every appropriate available channel, and thoughtful, variable messaging tailored to each of those platforms. It’s about being everywhere your customer needs you to be, in the specific way they need you to be there.
Just as “less is more” has its place, so too does “more is more.” When the content is good—when it’s genuinely helpful, entertaining, or beautiful—it doesn’t feel like overstimulation. It feels like a gift. Think of the sentiment, sometimes attributed to Andy Warhol, of “leave them wanting less.” The idea is that you can’t really show up too much when you’re trying to make a genuine impact. “Too much” only feels like too much when it’s not done right—when it’s irrelevant, generic, or self-serving. But when you consistently offer value, you’re not annoying; you’re reliable.
It’s interesting that right before the pandemic, The New Yorker published an article titled “The Pitfalls and the Potential of the New Minimalism,” which questioned the effectiveness of the movement. The piece explored how minimalism can often be a facade—an aesthetic performance rather than a genuine philosophy. We see this on Instagram, where “minimalism” is a top-trending tag, often used to sell more high-end, neutral-toned stuff. When a brand like Skims, with its relentless focus on neutrals, becomes a cultural behemoth, it proves that the aesthetic of minimalism can be powerfully marketed, but it doesn’t mean minimalism is a powerful marketing approach. Far from it.
You can’t rely on your customers finding you in the quiet. You have to go to them. Call this the Maximalist Credo, but if you’re thinking that doing less might be more resonant, it’s worth a real discussion. My bet is that the brands that create an immersive, supportive, and ever-present sound bath for their customers will be the ones that truly win their allegiance.
PS: I like sourcing lessons, references, and ideas from B2C. This is just one example.