Controversy doesn't necessarily mean something is offensive; any idea that disrupts the status quo can usually be considered controversial to some degree. There are countless mainstream brands and companies like Facebook and iTunes that could be considered to fall into this category. At Harbortouch, we are well known within the payments industry for this. In 2004, we launched a free credit card terminal program. Prior to this initiative, merchants had to purchase or lease their processing equipment at a cost of hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars. For obvious reasons, our free option caused a lot of push-back in the industry from entrenched competitors who made their money selling the equipment; however, our approach quickly became the industry standard. We shook up the industry again in 2009 with our free cash register program and in 2011 with a free touch-screen point of sale system program. Most people are innately averse to change, so anything that is perceived as out of the ordinary can cause a stir. However, when you try to kowtow to existing norms and accepted practices, that's when products and companies fall into mediocrity and eventually obscurity.
Many companies have taken a calculated risk in leveraging controversy in their favor. Godaddy's controversial Super Bowl commercials were the catalyst that catapulted the company to its place as the largest domain registrar in the world. It's hard to differentiate yourself in a market as innocuous as website domain registrations, but GoDaddy managed to stand out and is now four times the size of its closest competitor.
So what are you waiting for? Push the envelope, stir the pot, and stand out from the crowd.
Truth!!! Often times, controversy (provided it's not illegal or dangerous) is a good thing for companies looking to get noticed. My company (Dish) is also well-known for controversial moves, and while it may ruffle a few feathers, it usually works out in the end. Take the new Hopper, for example. This DVR is fantastic, but not without it's own share of "outside-the-box" features. I love Prime Time Anytime (PTAT), which automatically records every prime time show, on the big four networks, for me automatically! This also works perfectly with Auto Hop, which eliminates the commercials when you watch PTAT recordings the next day! It has caused quite a stir amongst network executives, but the consumers LOVE it, and popularity is growing exponentially. Sometimes you just have to be a bit drastic and innovative if you want to please the consumer.
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