A caricature falsely highlights various anomalies while diminishing the boring parts,” writes Seth Godin, well-known marketing author. Examples would be - Jay Leno gets a ridiculous chin (or Pamela Anderson’s female features are even more exaggerated). 

The concept also relates to business, says Godin. “The BEST brands are caricatures of their true selves,” he continues. “Yes, they must have exceptional features (a step that’s easy to skip, but without would lead to failure) but then, over time, those select features SHOULD become highly intensified much like a caricature.” Key examples Godin sites include: 

FEDEX: Many years ago FedEx ads depicted fanatical drivers doing whatever it took—even renting helicopters—to deliver a package on time. A wild exaggeration, of course, but it made the point.

STARBUCKS: The standard joke as it relates to Starbucks — is the spectacularly complex order (i.e. “no fat, no sugar, half-caf, extra hot, tall latte, with soy, extra foam, in a double cup - yes, with a sleeve.”) Yes, everyone likes to make a joke out of it, yet they know when they go to Starbucks they’ll get exactly what they want.  

Think about a few ways you could intensify your brand’s unique traits by creating a caricature, which in turn could actually make your company’s most outstanding features more memorable.

Summary:  Playing it safe and being ubiquitous to please a large percentage of customers, means you’ll likely be B-O-R-I-N-G.  It’s a lot faster, cheaper, easier and much more interesting to have a couple of pronounced features. 

Source: Seth Godin’s Blog. You can read the entire post here.