The Sheriff of Nottingham (as many other castle owners at that time) was, amongst other things, a control freak. The town of Nottingham was surrounded by a huge wall and the entry was a drawbridge, which could only be operated from the inside. This way the Sheriff thought that he could control what and/or who left or entered town.

Many companies love the ‘drawbridge-principle’ to try to control their brand and the conversation about it.

The problem is – it didn’t work back then and it doesn’t work today.

Robin Hood and his followers didn’t trust the Sheriff and they had good reason to. They didn’t need the market of Nottingham, as they had found other sources. Actually they didn’t need any of the so-called ‘services’ provided by the Sheriff. For them the Sheriff was redundant.

The walls and the drawbridge didn’t prevent Robin Hood from entering and leaving Nottingham as he pleased. And they did not keep the residents of Nottingham from providing Robin Hood with ‘insider’-information.

At one point Robin Hood even used the drawbridge against the Sheriff. You might recall the scene, where he was about to be hanged. His followers had found their way into town (despite the wall and the drawbridge) and liberated him. During the escape, Robin Hood took his sword and cut the ropes that were holding the drawbridge. The drawbridge pulled up and the soldiers chasing Robin Hood were caught in their own trap.

If we were to replace ‘Robin Hood’ by ‘consumer’, ‘Sheriff of Nottingham’ by ‘brand’ and ‘drawbridge’ by ‘information control’, we would have a pretty good description of what is happening today. Companies should stop acting like the Sheriff of Nottingham, because at the end they will lose and Robin Hood, i.e. the consumer, will win.