Advertising is full of clichés. We who make marketing our profession are charged with coming up with creative and clever copy and images that will grab the attention of our target market. However, there are some ideas and phrases that have been so overused that the market does not pay attention to them anymore. They are empty phrases and non-distinct images. What has lost its punch is counterproductive for any serious marketing campaign.

Let me call out a few areas where the old clichés tend to get used over and over again. One area has to do with the quality of your products or services. One of the reasons customers refuse to use a product brand or never return to a business has to do with how good they perceive the quality to be. This impacts any kind of business across the board. There are certain banks I refuse to do business with because they have a poor response time to my needs. It equates to poor quality of service in my book. The same can be true of a certain national brand name consumer electronics retailer, a phone company, a local restaurant, a car dealership, etc. We make a lot of decisions on who gets our continued business based on how we are treated during the first sale with that company. We call this retention marketing and quality is the central part of any retention marketing campaign. Any time you can tout your quality record, you should do so. However, in doing so, there are some worn out ideas. Saying that you have exceptional service, professional employees, or that you are exceeding expectations have become nebulous terms. What is the alternative to these clichés? Subpar service, amateur employees, low expectations? (In fact, I am even leery of someone who uses the word quality in marketing phrases.) Does quality service sell? Yes it does, but anyone can say it. And by whose scale are these terms measured? You would be better off to state a benchmark of quality that is measured by your customers’ experience. For instance, do you have any data on customer satisfaction? If not, find out what your clients think about your service and use this as a marketing statement about quality. Saying that you have a 99% satisfaction rate with your customers beats saying you have quality service any day. If there is an outside group that rates quality in your industry, let your clients know that you measure up to the standard set by this group. If you are in manufacturing, that could be an ISO certification. If you are producing appliances, it could be the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. There are a number of organizations that recognize best practices. Many trade associations specific to an industry have quality certifications. Use these to market quality.

Another marketing idea has to do with the stability of your company. This is true of many financial institutions, such as banks and insurance companies, where it has traditionally been important to convince your customers that you have enough capital behind you that they will not lose their money. This is an idea that has its roots in the Great Depression, when the local Savings and Loans were folding up quicker than beach chairs on a rainy day. But the marketing of stability is not lost on the financial industry. There are many industries where it is key to a long-term contract to prove yourself solvent so that your customer understands you will not close your doors anytime soon. To many companies, that means they tout the age of their business. The thought is the older the company, the more stable it is. So you might be tempted to say you have been in business since 1980, for instance. Congratulations, but let me remind you that old companies do go under. Last year, 82 year old Hostess called it quits. Newsweek was 79 years old when it ceased to publish its iconic magazine in 2012. The age of your business simply has lost much of its association with the thought of stability in the times in which we live. The next time you go into a store and purchase an item, think to yourself, does it matter that the company that produces Brand A states on the side of the package that they are 100 years old, while the company that produces Brand B states that they are 5 years old? More than likely, stating how old you are just makes you look… old! Where else in marketing is there an emphasis on being old? A better way of marketing your stability is to showcase your business. If you are producing a product, demonstrate your capabilities. Let people see the breadth of your business lines. This can be done in a video on your web site or by having an open house at your facility. If you are able to list your customers, do so. It will show the diversity of work that you do. In today’s business climate, diversity means stability. If you are selling a service, show your customers what you do. I know an accounting firm that leads lunch and learn discussions about financial topics leading up to tax season. This is a way to engage with your customers, but it also gets them inside your business, and it also speaks of your business stability. How so? The subtle message is that there is activity happening here and that activity equals stability in the mind of the customer. In fact, a way to state your stability in terms of age is to state how long you have retained some of your customers. If you have a testimonial from a client who has been doing business with you for 10 years - that speaks volumes. In today’s economy, it is not what you say about yourself that counts, it is what others say that matters. (That is why social media has become such a hit in business credibility.)

One more cliché that has outlived its usefulness is anything associated with sports metaphors, including men in business suits running over hurdles and passing a baton. This would include extreme sports like mountain climbing, snowboarding, jumping out of airplanes, parasailing, etc. Back in the 1980s it was cool to have a framed photo of a rowing team all pulling together with the word "Teamwork” emblazoned under the photo. Every office in America had the same photo. It’s old! There are also many sports sayings that are worn out. Giving 110 percent is an impossibility (unless you are giving all you have and one of your slacker co-workers is only giving 10%!) Going for the gold, swinging for the fences, facing the red zone, reaching new heights, going the extra mile, putting on your game face, strapping on your pads, having an MVP moment, being first out of the gate, grinding out the win… I could go on and on. The reality is these were good when they were fresh and new. But any concept will lose its effectiveness the more we see and hear it.

The challenge of marketing is to keep advertising fresh and unexpected. It is the way we capture the attention of our audience. Clichés are great devices in marketing, but their effectiveness never lasts. Add a little creativity to your marketing and you will capture the attention of your target market. If you have heard it before, leave it alone.