Category Clichés and Brand Building
Clichés.
Every category has them. Phrases or concepts that get overused and signal a lack of original thought. In the world of branding and marketing, clichés often show market followership instead of leadership.
These category clichés can build up over time. Like a patina, or more accurately, like a soap scum, they’re hard to avoid or get rid of.
Cliché-ridden.
If you glance around, you’re sure to see clichés abound in your area of practice:
The accounting space loves to overuse the words: trusted, advisor, and expertise. You’ll see lots of stock photography, especially globes with digital lines of light. And I bet you a dollar you can’t visit a website without running into a stock photo of business leaders shaking hands.
Healthcare loves to use hearts, hands, and stethoscopes. You’ll see heavy use of words like: cutting edge and innovative. In imagery, there’s a great chance you’ll run into doctors shaking hands with a patient. Colors are often blues, oranges, and plenty of whites and grays.
Manufacturing use words like: advanced, cutting edge, and solution. You’ll find plenty of product photography but never enough of the end product or end user. Blues, reds, and grays will make a strong appearance in color.
In my world, you’ll read a thousand blogs about how ‘your brand is not your logo.’ You may avoided the dreaded handshake imagery, but you’ll find plenty of casual conference rooms littered with sticky notes.
At their best, clichés can attempt to help shortcut communication. They can try to convey ideas, feelings, and emotions more quickly. But in their overuse, they convey no information to the market. They become background noise that’s easily ignored.
I can’t plead my innocence either. Sometimes a client is unswayable or the cliché is so embedded they’re afraid to be an outlier. It happens.
Go against the industry clichés.
But I’m here to encourage better. Clichés can be an incredible friend for organizations who are brave and not afraid to stand out. The stronger the industry cliché the bigger the impact when it’s broken. It’s a chance to zig where everyone else zags.
It could mean…
Building a core brand color that isn’t generally used for your industry
Investing in commercial photography where competitors are using the same pool of stock images
Using the qualities of typography to strike a different emotional quality
Shaking off the ‘corporate formal’ tone of voice and developing something distinct
Using a more complex visual language to attract attention and signal a higher quality
Avoiding copy clichés like "we do things differently" or "we make X simple" or vague tricolons (Dream. Build. Lead.)
There are many ways to become more distinct in your market. It begins by making an unvarnished assessment. See what the landscape looks like and where your best opportunities are to stand out. The better you understand your organization’s unique promise to the market, the easier it is to toss clichés aside and build a brand that aligns.
If you'd like to see what this exercise can look like, I have three examples you can see here.
