Brand strategists are in a battle against cliches. A great copywriter (Walter Weir?) once wrote “If it sounds like copy, it’s good copy.” Well, that’s antithetical to brand strategy work. Though brand planners are not in the business of producing creative, we are in the business of inspiring creative. And if a copywriter or art director doesn’t appreciate an inspirational idea, who does? The problem with brand strategy is it’s often poorly articulated. Poorly evangelized. And cliched.
Consumers, btw, are so used to cliches in advertising they shut down. And today, one trillion ad messages in, that’s a recipe for extinction. Can you say AI?
I am of the mind that cliched brand strategies are more deadly than cliched ads. That’s not to say “different for different’s sake” is right. “Coke is refreshment” – still one the of most powerful brand strategy claims extant — may sound a bit clichéd for a soft drink, but refreshment is so replete with inspirational it crackles off the creative pen.
Cliches are verboten in brand planning work. But tying inherent, endemic brand values to your brand strategy is what success really looks like. Flame broiled. The world’s information in one click.
Wage war against cliches, but always, always mine the endemic values.
Peace.