The Future of...the Identity Crisis: Why Identity Crises are So Common and Why They Can be a Good Sign

In January this year, AdWeek ran an article entitled The Great Brand Identity Crisis, asserting that if 2020 had seen brands bewildered by deeply polarising issues (like racial justice, sustainability and political extremism), 2021 had then forced ‘a grand level of clarification’ about what a brand ultimately means. So 2022 should, in theory, be a year of clarity and, above all, action. 

But then, a few weeks into 2022, you have fund managers very publicly criticising corporate leaders like Unilever for being ‘obsessed with publicly displaying sustainability credentials at the expense of focusing on the fundamentals of the business.’ 

Most entertainingly, Fundsmith took aim at Unilever’s ideals about mayonnaise: 

“A company which feels it has to define the purpose of Hellmann’s mayonnaise has in our view clearly lost the plot. The Hellmann’s brand has existed since 1913 so we would guess that by now consumers have figured out its purpose (spoiler alert — salads and sandwiches).” - Terry Smith, CEO of Fundsmith

Is everyone losing their heads, and their bases?

It’s not just brands that are being accused of having lost their minds and the support of their base. In the UK, the Conservative Party is embroiled in leadership scandals and questions over whether it has already deserted its base of support in the new ‘Blue Wall’ (constituencies in northern England, the Midlands and Wales that had long been held by Labour). And the Royal Family, a bastion of unruffled stability, faces accusations of racism and sexual abuse - a litany of apparent failures that prompted the resurfacing of a video of TV personality Stacey Solomon saying to broad approval that “I don’t get why we’re so obsessed with these humans.”

But are all these examples really cases of genuine, full-blown identity crises? Is every challenge to an institution’s leadership just cause to revisit its purpose and personality? 

Perhaps one way to think about the answer is to stop treating all identity crises as the same. Not every identity is at the same stage of maturity, so we should avoid asking the same questions of, for example, a start-up, a category leader and a national institution. To do so is like asking the same questions of a teenager, a young adult and someone approaching retirement.

The eight stages of an identity crisis

Indeed, it’s worth revisiting the psychology behind the idea of an ‘identity crisis’ including its eight stages. 

Erik Erikson (born in 1902) was a Danish-German-American developmental psychologist credited with coining the phrase identity crisis. He was known for his theory on the psychological development of human beings and the periods of crisis that arise as we age.

He posited that humans typically develop in eight stages and that we experience the following types of identity crisis along the way:

• The 1st crisis (0-1 years): A crisis of trust and security
• The 2nd crisis (1-3 years): A crisis of autonomy
• The 3rd crisis (3-6 years): A crisis of initiative and control
• The 4th crisis (6-12 years): A crisis of competence and confidence
• The 5th crisis (12-20 years): A crisis of role in life and society
• The 6th crisis (20-35 years): A crisis of intimacy and love with others
• The 7th crisis (35-65 years): A crisis of stagnation
• The 8th crisis (>65 years): A crisis of integrity and virtue

Global brands and institutions have all arguably progressed beyond the 4th crisis (even if they are sometimes less than 10 years old).

This means that they face relatively mature struggles with ‘post-adolescent’ issues like: Are we making a real impact on society and the world? Are we relevant and in a healthy relationship with the people we serve? Are we still learning, growing and innovating? And finally, as they approach the 8th stage: what have all these years and all this success really amounted to? What is our legacy?

Ask yourself 'age-appropriate’ questions

It’s useful to frame the notion of a brand or company’s ‘identity crisis’ in this way as it makes you ask the right questions, plus it also encourages you to not be too hard on yourself. 

A company that’s at a relatively early stage of growth (with lots of room to mature) shouldn’t feel like it has to search its soul on issues of legacy and virtue. Equally, an established 100-year old institution shouldn’t reduce itself to pondering how it can be more loved, or who it wants to fall in love with in the first place. 

In summary, the prospect of an identity crisis is not one that brands and companies should fear; it’s actually a sign of growth, natural development and moving to new levels of maturity. But let’s just be careful to take some perspective and remember not to ask brands that are like young adults the same questions as ones that are practically octogenarians.