Today I was doing some client research. What I found is really appalling.
In reviewing about a dozen web sites, collateral and sales material, I couldn't find one competitor (to this client) that didn't describe its business in either of one the following three ways:
1) a full-service solutions provider
2) cost-effective, end-to-end solutions
3) a provider of value added services
It made me think blah, blah, blah... because it doesn't just sound the same. It is the same.
I decided to have some fun and did a quick Google search on these phrases. Get this: 47,000 companies use full-service solutions provider to describe themselves. Cost-effective, end-to-end solutions had 95,000 results. But, the big winner is clearly a provider of value added services with over 600,000 matches.
I know... that is just crazy. What does it say when hundreds of thousands of companies are describing their core business differentiators as the same? My belief is that it means our society really has issues with trying to be original. Instead, like sheep mindlessly following the flock, most companies (or those who run them) feel safe, secure or some measure of comfort using messages that have been widely accepted versus taking risks by creating new and untried phrases to separate themselves and their products.
There is a catch (however). These phrases aren't really accepted. Instead, they're simply ignored, kind of like the way the same dull wallpaper or paint in a house just isn't noticed anymore. We've been walking past it and not really noticing the pattern or colors for so long, that it's just easily forgettable.
The reality is that if you care about your company and/or product, then you should care just as much about how you describe it. In almost every case, a company makes its first impression with all audiences through words. Sure, a creative and sophisticated design will catch someone's attention, but words and the stories that utilize them, really make the most bottom line impact.
Think about this the next time you're three seconds away from approving the same, commoditized messages for your web site or press release boiler plate. Today's overused buzz words just take up space on a page. But, companies with a personality and a point of view want to communicate something different. They have a story to tell and they find a way to communicate it effectively by using words which are written to be read.
In reviewing about a dozen web sites, collateral and sales material, I couldn't find one competitor (to this client) that didn't describe its business in either of one the following three ways:
1) a full-service solutions provider
2) cost-effective, end-to-end solutions
3) a provider of value added services
It made me think blah, blah, blah... because it doesn't just sound the same. It is the same.
I decided to have some fun and did a quick Google search on these phrases. Get this: 47,000 companies use full-service solutions provider to describe themselves. Cost-effective, end-to-end solutions had 95,000 results. But, the big winner is clearly a provider of value added services with over 600,000 matches.
I know... that is just crazy. What does it say when hundreds of thousands of companies are describing their core business differentiators as the same? My belief is that it means our society really has issues with trying to be original. Instead, like sheep mindlessly following the flock, most companies (or those who run them) feel safe, secure or some measure of comfort using messages that have been widely accepted versus taking risks by creating new and untried phrases to separate themselves and their products.
There is a catch (however). These phrases aren't really accepted. Instead, they're simply ignored, kind of like the way the same dull wallpaper or paint in a house just isn't noticed anymore. We've been walking past it and not really noticing the pattern or colors for so long, that it's just easily forgettable.
The reality is that if you care about your company and/or product, then you should care just as much about how you describe it. In almost every case, a company makes its first impression with all audiences through words. Sure, a creative and sophisticated design will catch someone's attention, but words and the stories that utilize them, really make the most bottom line impact.
Think about this the next time you're three seconds away from approving the same, commoditized messages for your web site or press release boiler plate. Today's overused buzz words just take up space on a page. But, companies with a personality and a point of view want to communicate something different. They have a story to tell and they find a way to communicate it effectively by using words which are written to be read.
Well, thank god the services they're selling are adding value--I'd hate to think I was paying for services that take away value.
It's a very good observation, Ed. I wonder if part of the problem is that the people who write and approve these messages often don't actually know what their business does or sells well enough to describe it. I've seen alot of companies bring in marketing people, designers, and also executives from far afield--from very different industries. What's worse, these people often don't even try to really learn the busines they're engaged in, because of a belief that managerial, marketing, or design skills are completely context independent--for example, that if you could manage an auto parts company, you could manage a software developer; or if you could advertise exercise equipment to consumers, you could advertise smart boards to school districts. Maybe--probably--you can, but only *after* learning your new business and industry.
If the branding and other corporate communication is in the hands of people who don't bother to learn what makes their product or services unique, they have to fall back on "generic" descriptions.
Posted by: Steve | May 20, 2010 at 01:20 PM
You may want to have a look at my Dow Jones colleague Chris Pash's story: At the end of the day, the worst journalistic clichés: http://bit.ly/9n77hU
Posted by: Larsv | May 20, 2010 at 08:41 PM