The IC3 Blue Train - A little journal about design, marketing, sales and other matters

Why do most companies lack clarity in the verbal expression of their brand?              

Most companies manage their brands in a flatland, focusing only on their visual and on their verbal identities, and paying too much attention to the look of the container and not enough to the quality of the content.

On the visual side, they usually look OK, for they give graphic communication specialists the responsibility to design an adequate set of items including logo, letterhead, web banner, colour scheme, official fonts and so on. Respecting the basic rules of a graphic charter, they produce documents (brochures, flyers, web pages, etc.) that have a consistent look and feel. So, they score a few points against marketing’s enemy #1 – indifference – with stuff  that differentiates them from their competitors, in appearance. Unfortunately, most are happy with that!

The problem is that the situation worsens markedly in the verbal domain, making their score against marketing’s enemy #2 – confusion - reach abysmal depths. The quality of the content doesn’t match the attractiveness of the container. When companies write about who they are and what they do, they tend to completely lose it. Most offend against:

• Simplicity – with complex corporate speak, hollow statement and meaningless affirmations
• Crispness – with verbose declarations, endless sentences and convoluted expressions
• Clarity – with confusing assertions, obscure abbreviations and plain BS
• Consistency – by sending different messages across their websites, press releases, brochures, summary statements, etc.

In other words, too many businesses don’t understand the necessity to be effective and persuasive with a clear message making them stand out from the competitive crowd.

Time to beat again the drum for the Cluetrain Manifesto with its first three theses:

1. Markets are conversations.
2. Markets consist of human beings, not demographic sectors.
3. Conversations among human beings sound human…

‘Sound’ human … hum! Is that a hint for a third dimension?