#FAIL: The 11 Most Overused Creative Themes in Marketing
A fresh creative concept is crucial for effective advertising and a smart marketing strategy.
But too many advertising and marketing campaigns recycle the same, tired creative themes and copy phrases over and over and over.
This is more than annoying. It’s a guaranteed audience turn-off and a misuse of the marketer’s resources.
Here are some of the most overused creative themes in marketing. How many do you recognize?
- Got _________? You probably do, because just about everyone else does.
- You need a ______ that works as hard as you do. And you need a marketing agency with a better ideas.
- It’s that time of year again: ______________ Oh no, is it? I hate that time of year.
- [I am/we are] ___________. Yeah, and so is every other marketer who uses this identity theme.
- The best just got better! It did? Again? I thought it was already the best.
- _______ you can believe in. And a marketing team you can’t.
- When is a ________ [more than/not] a ____________? When everyone else says the same thing.
- _________, so you don’t have to. Should I be thanking you?
- [Making/building/creating] a better ______, one ______at a time. Unfortunately, this often doesn’t apply to marketing campaigns.
- ______never [had it/tasted/looked/sounded, etc.] so good. Well, never since the last time, anyway.
- _______ doesn’t get any better than this. It doesn’t? Really? That’s depressing.
What to Do if Your Campaign is on This List
If you’re using one of these themes in your marketing campaigns, it’s time for a new creative approach and maybe a new creative team.
Look for a marketing agency or creative consultant with a solid track record of developing new ideas that get attention and deliver a high-impact message. Your marketing team should be able to demonstrate how their creative approaches supported a marketing strategy and achieved the marketer’s objectives. They also should be excited about the challenge of coming up with something completely new for your marketing plan.
If not – or if you see any of these tired, old themes in the marketing campaigns in their portfolio – that’s your clue to look elsewhere.
Julie Ladd
So true! I would also include “______ done right,” and “______ that works,” which also don’t say much if anything.
These ideas are so pervasive at this point that you can’t help but think of them first, but a good marketer will discard them without a second thought like the first foam off a newly-tapped beer keg. If it’s the first thing that comes to your mind, it’s probably also the first thing that occurs to everyone else, and that’s the first sign of an idea that’s past its prime.
The whole point is to come up with the NEXT concepts that will be this catchy, not to rehash these (again) after they’ve already lost any meaning.
Great post.
jeangianfagna
Thanks, Julie. GREAT additions to the list. And you are so right about the need to discard the first ideas that pop into your head. That’s one of the first lessons I learned when I started my career as an advertising copywriter and I can tell from your comments that you learned (and that you practice) this important, tried-and-true principle of effective creative. Appreciate your contributions!
BrianF
“Call now, supplies are limited!”, or “Hurry, this offer expires after ______________.”
Everyone knows darn well that you’re not going to run out — or turn down an order that comes in after your deadline.
Creating a false sense of urgency (a false sense of anything for that matter) will only serve to make it clear to customers that you don’t really care about them . . . try honesty, it’ll set you FREE and it’ll bring you customers.
jeangianfagna
Excellent additions, Brian. You’re right that obviously fake deadlines cause consumers not to trust you. The challenge is how to create a sense of urgency in a call to action that encourages a response without making the prospect doubt your authenticity. Thanks for the comment.
Pingback:How Adding a Blog to a B2B Website Boosted Traffic 562% | Smart Marketing Strategy
The Money Drain
Is it sad that I can think of companies for almost all of these examples? 🙂
jeangianfagna
I can, too, and I continue to see these creative approaches used over and over by big and small marketers. They deserve better from their creative teams. Thanks for commenting.
Philippa Steward
I can’t abide the use of the word “leading” when describing a company or product. [i.e. the UK’s leading_______.] Anything or anyone can be “leading” even if it’s just the number of times the MD scratched his nose or the product has received the largest number of complaints. It’s miss-leading.
jeangianfagna
I agree that leading is among the most overused adjectives in copywriting, especially in B2B marketing. Thanks for commenting!
KarlK
Why is it that everything is now an “event”? It’s a car sale event, a weather event, a garden event, a furniture clearance event, etc. I think I’m having a short-of-patience event.
jeangianfagna
With good reason! I think marketers use the term “event” to make something seem more substantial than it is–as if there’s something huge happening that you could miss out on. Unfortunately, especially if it’s a standard sales “event,” it’s not as eventful as it’s purported to be. Thanks for your comment!
John Bowen
“All new!” No it isn’t.
Thanks for the post and for raising a smile.
jeangianfagna
Another great one, John. Thanks for the contribution. I continue to see these same themes used every day; it’s hard to believe creative people can’t be more creative.
Pingback:Boring! The 11 Most Overused Creative Themes in Marketing | Accounting and Small Business /Beverly Shares
Rina Liddle
How about 10 reasons why / 6 steps / 8 of the worst / 11 worst, etc. Boring titles!
jeangianfagna
Good addition, Rina. I sometimes like numerical lists (see the headlines of some of my prior blog posts), but you’re right that this is definitely overused and I think people are starting to tire of it. Thanks for the comment!
cj
Very good adittions to your list, thanks for that! It really should not be too difficult to find creative marketing templates these days on line. I recently found a new program <a href="onlinepetneeds.com/" that you might enjoy
John Bailo
Verbs as a nouns…Eats like a meal…do they do that any more?
jeangianfagna
Good question, John-haven’t heard that phrase in awhile but it’s certainly been around a long time…which means it’s probably been overused. Thanks for your comment.
Robin
We’re number 1!
jeangianfagna
Good one, Robin-thanks for adding to the list and for reading my blog.
Dave C.
After 6 years the list is still valid. UNFORTUNATELY.
I’d add “best-selling”. to the list. Greatest number Of sales? I suspect not Or they would have used that instead.
Every car commercial seems to use that–it no longer Distinguishes the useR (did it ever?)
jeangianfagna
Good addition, Dave. I think car commercials are the worst. “Hurry, limited time offer” is heavily over-used, among other phrases. Thanks for reading and commenting.
Jason Monroe
Advertising annoys the hell out of me,as my own little protest I never buy anything I see advertised I know what I need and where to get it I never buy name brands always store brands/generics.If they took all the money spent advertising and used it to lower prices they would see their sales skyrocket