Been writing copy for over 10 years. At one agency then another, on one account then another and more. After awhile, it seems like every client wants to say the same thing ?? only different. (You think consumers are the only ones who get tired reading the same things? Try having to write them.)
On the heels of Jim Stengel’s address at the AAAA??s media conference, where he proclaimed that marketing isn??t about ??telling and selling?, I recommended that the following overused tell + sell phrases be retired. For good. Forever. Never to return.
Because today they??re recognized for what they are: pure B.S.
? ??Innovative?
Read Ted Mininni??s latest post over at MP Daily Fix, it??s dead on. It was also the inspiration for this post.
? ??Our people (add customized B.S. here) your people?
How about ??We have a pulse and you do too.? C??mon, are people still listening to this? If you concentrate on being nice, you can move on to say something else.
Incidentally, Via Rail??s new tagline is ??People moving people?. Check out their explanation for it.
? ??Our vision is to be…?
Usually, the companies talking about their vision have to get it down on paper because they have no idea what it is and need a copywriter to craft one for them.
? Anything with ??quality?
I wrote about ??quality? here. Nothing gets my B.S. radar more hyperactive than that word.
? ??We??re a leading-edge…?
I bet you??re also an ??industry-leading? something, a ??first-rate? company, a ??top-tier? supplier and anything else you can stick a dash between.
? ??We offer customized solutions…?
I bet you say that to everyone before you take the same PowerPoint sales presentation from one company to another. The only thing you??re customizing is the cover page with the logo of the company you??re going to today.
? ??Unparalleled service?
Right.
? ??Redefining (enter exaggeration here).?
This one can??t be faked. If you??re saying it and you??re not Steve Jobs, is it really true?
? ??Enjoy the essence of…?
Let me finish that sentence. ??Enjoy the essence of yadda yadda yadda.?
Am I jaded? A little. Am I wrong about these lines? Not very. If you??re still using them, here??s some free advice: stop.
Your clients don??t believe these things. And they don??t want to hear them. What they do want is for you to look them straight in the eye, tell them what you??re about, what problem you can solve, and for you to answer their questions. Simply. Honestly. Authentically.
Jim is right. The telling + selling era is over. Your job now is to start talking to people in a very real way.
Think Give + Take Marketing, as I like to call it.
(Anyone care to add to the list of sell + tell lines to retire? Please do.)
March 3rd, 2007 at 3:38 pm
Various communities, including the marketing community, often develop their own language that gets used and, eventually, overused. As marketers, we’re often in the position to get our pet words out there to the rest of the world — through ad copy, brochure wording, press releases, etc. Sometimes it’s done in a way to appear cool (or ahead of the curve… or cutting-edge).
But when the giants like P&G start saying it, then it may be time to retire those words.
That said, it doesn’t negate the truth to the idea that marketing is, in part, about listening and trying to create a relationship of some sort between your brand and your customer.
March 3rd, 2007 at 5:09 pm
Agreed, David. Overused, in my opinion, generally leads to closed ears and minds. Why would I, as a consumer, want to hear the same things from one company to the next? What I want to hear is something new, something fresh. And I want to know that a company is flexible enough to adjust what they’re saying if it’s not working, which they’ll know from consumer feedback.
Listen. Adjust. Respond. Communicate.
March 4th, 2007 at 4:54 pm
I agree. As marketers, who are just real people trying to reach other real people, I believe we have a duty to find new, innovative ways to redefine our objectives and offer customized solutions and unparalleled turns-of-phrase based on quality, leadership and attention to detail. When that happens we’ll be able to push the envelope, forge new avenues and achieve the success that is so deservedly ours. That is my vision and the essence of everything we should all try to put out there.
March 4th, 2007 at 8:05 pm
Mark:
I think the problem occurs in the wake of good marketing… everyone else gets on board and starts using the same words. So what you may be hearing and reading is the echo chamber.
In many of the organizations I worked at, everyone was a marketing expert. They could all do logos, write catch phrases, and write sell sheets. Except they really didn’t sell. Not that it stopped any of them from declaring they had a much better idea of how things should be done.
Until marketing is recognized as a skill and discipline not unlike medicine (remember they practice that, by and large), or law, etc. we will continue to have the “everyone is a marketer” syndrome.
March 5th, 2007 at 4:39 pm
Wordboy: Nicely stated. You ever work at an agency?
Valeria: Nicely stated. And I think you nailed something else, the importance of selling. In many ways, that’s better achieved by being real, honest, engaging and so forth. What many companies don’t do ?? and what agencies should be encouraging them to do ?? is to be real and not just put out the same words as everyone else.
They must consider that every effort must aim to sell something. And that’s best done if it doesn’t sell too hard.