The Yawn Of Adspeak: The Curse Of The Happy Smiling Face
By David Hanson, Pres. H2M
Most all of the advertising we see is boring, un-engaging
and insipid. Why? I blame it on the lack
of a compelling selling idea, which then
often manifests itself in the ubiquitous Happy Smiling
Face or
HSF. Slap a HSF in
an ad with a logo and some insipid headline
that really has no dominant selling idea
and call it a day. We see campaigns for
malls and stores and brands of all sizes
and shapes coupled simply with
images of happy generic smiling faces.
But is that really all we need to do to persuade
us? Lots of companies use happy smiling faces,
but if everyone is smiling, where's the differentiation?
Ideas
are hard, but there  must
be some differentiating
thoughts about why go to that mall or buy
from that insurance compay than simply the
mechanical actions of buying from them. We
see this lack of marketing imagination everywhere,
especially in bank and insurance company
advertising where happy smiling suit people are
shaking hands with happy smiling average
people. It’s as if they are
trying to sell the handshake. Face it,
no one really wants to go to the bank. It’s
a necessary thing you have to do to get the
cash, but you don’t
really get a kick out of the banker herself.
It’s a stressful
thing to do and in this day and age, how
can any serious marketer put a HSF out there
and think that it will compel anyone to action.
But the HSF is not the end of the banality.
There is the long list of ‘ad-speak’ and ‘marketing-speak’ words
and phrases that are equally as meaningless. ‘Partnering With
Our Clients’ is a wonderful but impotent phrase.
Honestly, we really rarely ever actually ‘partner’ with
clients do we? It’s a term that was meant to convey to
clients our dedication to then by making
them feel that we’re actually sharing
the risk with them. But we’re really not. Get over that one.
It’s
adspeak, warm and fuzzy and totally meaningless.
'Customer-Centric Solutions' is another
good one that is meaningless. From a customers
point-of-view, the solution damn well BETTER
be customer-centric. Why can't we just say
what we mean?
They say puns are one of the lowest forms of humor. Well, puns are
also one of the most over-used ‘go-to’ options in the
advertising play book. The latest ‘punny’ headline I just
saw on a billboard for a local bank. The
headline was, Hunting For Good Rates? And
the image is of a little kid with a hunting
dog holding a shotgun and looking up in the
sky for some “good
rates.” Huh?
Compelling? Uhm, no. Cute kid? Sure. Who
cares. No one is going to put an ugly kid
on a billboard. So where’s
the selling idea that would make me get out
the phone book and call this bank to find
out what their great rates are? Not this
billboard. Not this imagery. Not this total
lack of a selling idea.
‘Our people make the difference’ is another timeless
classic. Telling the public about your great service is like a used
car salesman asking you to trust  him. “Good Service” cannot
be advertised. It must be experienced. Let word of mouth tell people
about your good service and people. If you do, you’re bragging
and no one likes a braggart. It’s not about you, it’s
about them, the customer. They’ll find out soon enough about
your good service and good people.
And so, where does this lead us? Today marketers are asking their
customers to make their ads for them. Shame
on us as professional advertising experts.
Advertising is not going out of style or
becoming impotent. It’s
the lack of any compelling and relevant advertising
that is dying, and I will gladly attend the
funeral. Advertisers should not concern themselves
with the hubbub surrounding the new channels
out there and the empty promise that our
customers will make their own persuasive
advertisements for us for much less cost. Don’t start
with the media, start with the motivators.
And please don’t
let your internal adspeak get out the door.
The only speak that should get out is customer
speak. Oh, and for God's sake, please forever
lose the HSF and come up with some real
ideas.
dave@h2m.biz
© 2003-2007 H2M Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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