Do you remember when Pikachu had a black tip on its tail? Or the line "Mirror, mirror on the wall…" from Snow White? Neither one is real, yet millions of people remember them that way.
Your brand is what other people say about you when you're not in the room.
What is the Mandela Effect?
It's a collective phenomenon where many people remember something differently from how it actually happened. The term was coined by Fiona Broome in 2009, when she discovered that many people (herself included) believed Nelson Mandela had died in prison in the 1980s —when he was actually released in 1990, became president of South Africa and died in 2013.
Another classic: the Fruit of the Loom logo. Millions swear they remember a cornucopia behind the fruit… that never existed. That's the Mandela Effect: a memory error shared by crowds.
And what does this have to do with your business?
Everything. You're planting doubt in the customer's mind when:
- Your logo looks different on every platform or social network.
- You don't have a defined color palette: some colors on the website, others everywhere else.
- You try to sell to everyone and, in the end, attract no one.
- You're not clear on what image you want to project —or which one people are actually perceiving.
Why should you care?
- Trust: people buy from brands they recognize instantly.
- Revenue: brand consistency sustained over time grows sales.
- Recall: if your image changes more than TikTok trends, your prospects leave.
Your brand competes every day against thousands of stimuli. Existing isn't enough: you have to leave a mark —a sharp, consistent mark, so people remember you the way you actually want.
At DISSAU we build consistent brand identities —logo, colors, tone and their manual— so you're remembered right everywhere. Talk to us.
