2, October 2025

What the Three Monkeys Can Teach Brands

We’ve all seen them — Gandhi’s three wise monkeys. Simple, timeless and oddly enough, still relevant for brands in 2025. Because if you look closely, those monkeys weren’t just about personal conduct — they could just as easily sit in your brand strategy deck.

See No Evil: Filter What You Consume

Brands today are drowning in competitor content, industry noise and endless trend-chasing. “See no evil” isn’t about ignoring the world — it’s about choosing what you let in.

Don’t let toxic competitor envy or vanity metrics cloud your focus. Curate your inputs, or you’ll end up with diluted, me-too messaging.

Strong brands see selectively. They know what matters and, more importantly, what doesn’t.

Hear No Evil: Listen Beyond the Echo

The internet is loud. Customers, competitors, influencers, algorithms — everyone’s got something to say. But “hear no evil” doesn’t mean blocking it out. It means filtering the useful from the noise.

Not every opinion deserves a pivot.
Not every trend deserves a TikTok (or a LinkedIn post).
Not every customer complaint = brand crisis.

Smart brands listen deeply, but not desperately.

Speak No Evil: Own Your Words

This one’s obvious — brands are judged more by their words than ever. A tone-deaf post, a careless campaign, a tone mismatch and you’re on the wrong side of screenshots.

Don’t just “say something” to stay relevant.
Don’t fake values you can’t back up.
Don’t hide behind jargon.

Speak with honesty, clarity and consistency. The brands people trust are the ones whose actions line up with their words.

The Modern Monkey Lesson

Gandhi’s three monkeys aren’t just moral mascots. For brands, they’re guardrails:

  • Filter the noise.
  • Listen with intent.
  • Speak with integrity.

Because in a world that rewards shortcuts and trends, sometimes the oldest lessons are the ones that build the strongest brands.