Ashgrove’s Terry van Rhyn looks at what marketers can learn from the legendary Ozzy Osbourne in this ode to the late musician

It was 1974. I was in Jeffreys Bay, South Africa, on a surfing holiday – with long hair, board shorts, the whole cliché. Someone pulled out a small portable turntable and dropped the needle on a record I’d never heard before. Through a pair of crackling, sunburnt speakers came a rasping cough followed by the unmistakable riff of Sweet Leaf. That was my first taste of Black Sabbath – and of heavy metal.

From that moment, Ozzy Osbourne entered my life. Not as some poster on my bedroom wall or the soundtrack to teenage rebellion, but as a kind of accidental companion over the decades. I followed his journey from the post-Sabbath wilderness to the solo glory years, the chaos and comedy of The Osbournes reality TV show, and finally his emotional farewell show in Birmingham. (At one point, I even managed to make a convert of my nine-year-old daughter who heard me playing Black Sabbath in the study and came in to see who it was – it was the least I could do for the next generation!)   

Whether you’re a heavy metal devotee or wouldn’t know a power chord if it bit you, it’s hard not to feel something for Ozzy. The ‘Prince of Darkness’ became one of the most strangely loveable figures in popular culture. He mumbled, bumbled, and occasionally bit the head off a bat, but he never pretended to be anyone else. He was gloriously, sometimes painfully, himself.

And that, in a nutshell, is why Ozzy is such a powerful case study in branding.

Because what Ozzy had authenticity – something so many brands struggle with. He didn’t try to reinvent himself every time the cultural winds shifted. He didn’t attempt to follow trends, tidy up the rough edges, or sand down the chaos to appeal to a broader audience. He leaned into who he was. Unapologetically. Consistently. For over five decades.

Watching the documentaries about his life, one thing stands out, even as he stumbled through addiction, fame, family drama, and the sheer madness of the music business. Ozzy never wavered from his identity. He might not have always been in control, but he was always Ozzy. And that unwavering sense of self is exactly what separates memorable brands from forgettable ones.

Brands, like rock stars, are fallible. They make mistakes. They put out the odd dodgy album. They get caught out when the world changes faster than their strategy. But the brands that endure are those that stay true to their core, not the ones desperately chasing the next trend or imitating the category leader in a bid to stay relevant.

Think about it: would Ozzy have survived five decades if he’d tried to reinvent himself as a disco crooner in the late 70s? Or a synth-pop icon in the ‘80s? Of course not. He survived – and thrived – because he didn’t pretend to be anything other than the bat-biting, riff-riding, Brummie madman we all came to know.

For marketers, the lesson is clear:

• – Know who you are.
• – Own it — flaws and all.
• – Don’t waver just because someone else is doing something flashier.

Authenticity isn’t about perfection. It’s about consistency, honesty, and the courage to show your imperfections without losing sight of your identity. In a world where brands are under constant pressure to rebrand, refresh, and reinvent, there’s something reassuringly powerful about staying true to your voice.

Ozzy Osbourne may never have sat in a brand strategy workshop – he simply lived his life on his own terms. His brand was built not through calculated messaging or carefully curated Instagram feeds, but through decades of just being Ozzy. And we loved him for it.

So, the next time you’re tempted to chase a competitor’s idea or bolt on a trendy veneer to your brand, ask yourself this: what would Ozzy do?

Probably mumble something incoherent, trip over a microphone cable, and bring the house down anyway. Because that’s who he is.

And that’s the power of authenticity.