4 Ways to Build a Brand That Customers Will Love

4. Be willing to piss people off. You can't be everything to everybody, Comerford said. Moosejaw's recent "Best Places to Do It in Detroit" campaign (the company is headquartered in Detroit) upset a lot of the parents of its teenage customers. A "Bad-Ass Gear Sale" sign in the window of Moosejaw's Grosse Pointe, Mich. store upset local conservatives, causing the police to ask the store to take it down. Moosejaw compromised by blacking out "Ass" so it read "Bad- Gear Sale." In the end, Comerford said he liked the new sign better. Our rule is you can make people mad, you just can't make them sad, Comerford said. Oh, and don't mix politics and marketing. Moosejaw learned that the hard way, Comerford noted.