Previous Issues
The best one-liners
They sound like they should be familiar, but aren't. At least not yet.
Sign up now for our monthly e-newsletter. Ideas, information, links to quick-read case studies.
Creativity: How to leave your competitors in the dull
Win-Win. Think outside the box. Best in class. 24/7. Personal bandwidth....
Each of these phrases began as an original, even startling concept. But over time — and through overuse — they've become clichés. No more than background noise.
Ironically, what makes clichés work in daily life (the easy, almost transparent way in which they transmit information) is exactly the thing that makes them death to marketing materials. Oft-heard messages are forgettable. By using tired catch phrases, old ideas, or predictable images (call them visual clichés), you rob your communications of their sizzle and pop.
A truly effective campaign must simultaneously provoke, surprise, and inform. It crafts a message that's both easily accessible and entirely new. It's smart, compelling, even seductive. And it's much harder than it looks.
Seen it? Forget it.
When it comes to images, steer clear of light bulbs, rainbows, children's stick figure drawings, and photos of tightly clasped hands. (You knew that.) The same goes for the lock and key, the puzzle piece, and the drop of liquid suspended in midair. Each of these has been seen so many times, they've become predictable — which in marketing and advertising means invisible. A more recent addition to this list: the background imprint of binary code meant to signify technology. We've come a long way since 1's and 0's. It's time to move on.
Listen for a familiar ring
Before you narrow in on your tagline, headline, or ad copy, recite it out loud. Have you heard it before? Are you talking about your company's strategic vision or "rightsizing" your staff? Do your ads promise value, integrity, or high-quality service (who in your field is claiming to offer low-quality service)? Even if you're avoiding these standard clichés, it's important to be sure you aren't parroting your competitors. When you do a Google search using the same combination of words, do you get more than five hits? And do any of the sites belong to companies in your field? The goal is to use words that are brief, truthful, and above all, yours.
Jump off the bandwagon
Here's the latest "hot" concept to go rapidly from the oven into the hopelessly stale day-old bin: the ad headline written as a URL (www.buyAvia.com), in HTML code (e.g. Where's <i>your</i> center of gravity?), or a rebus made up of computer-generated emoticons. These jokes may have been fun the first time around, but they got old very fast. The same goes for all well-worn typographic trends of yesteryear. Steer clear of conceptual trends such as the dictionary definition, the phonetic spelling, or the sentence written in title case and separated by periods. Three words: It's. Been. Done.
Invent with abandon
The secret to avoiding clichés, ultimately, is to come up with work that is entirely your own. Easier said than done. With so many stock messages cluttering up the airspace, it's hard to dodge between them and conjure up something the world has never seen before. For more information about how to come up with fresh creative work, please check out one of our past inSights articles, "Idea Generation: 7 surefire strategies."
Don't waste valuable time, effort, and marketing dollars on communication materials others will dismiss. Invest genuine thought in your words and visuals, creating messages that convey exactly what you mean to say.
