Actually, I’m not talking about that kind of truth. No sermons here. This isn’t a truth-versus-lying thing.
It’s a truth-versus-being-lazy thing.
Discovering the truth about what makes you unique and communicating that. Versus hollow buzzwords.
Buzzwords are lazy. Any idiot can lob buzzwords out there. People use buzzwords because they didn’t make the effort to understand the truth about what makes what they’re selling unique to the people they’re selling to.
“Our goal at ——————— is to serve as the nexus for expressing needs, tapping into the collective expertise of our membership community, and crafting pragmatic solutions. Our recent ——————— partnership provides practical ‘fact-based’ research to our members.”
WTF?! Really, what is that, what are they selling?? This is a quote from the first paragraph of an email I received. I still don’t know what the company does because they squandered the first five seconds with me. Because they’re lazy. Delete, and on to something else.
What is the truth about why you’re unique? Strip away everything until you’re left with something that’s simple. Talk to your customers, check it out with them. How do they perceive you’re different, why did they choose you?
Yeah, I know, it’s hard.
Okay, how about this. If it’s complex, keep going until it’s simple. Maybe too simple, in your opinion, to be valuable. When you start to scratch your head or shake your head or whatever you do when you bump into something that’s obvious, you’ll know you’re getting close.
Simple, true:
FedEx (when they were Federal Express) got at their truth with “When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight.”
Apple is built around “Insanely great products.”
Remember “Got Milk?” This campaign was created by the Goodby, Silverstein Partners agency for the California Milk Processors Association. If you weren’t watching TV in 1994 when the first commercial ran, you at least are aware of the 100s of parodies that have followed it. Suffice to say it was a home run. But why? Because they got at the truth of the motivation to buy milk: to not be out of it. Really, that’s it?! Too obvious, too simple. Yes. And yes yes.
It’s a results-producing thing.
We often say we want to put footprints on people’s hearts. This is what expressing your truth does. It connects you to people.
It’s the difference between products that find traction and those that struggle. . .
I can’t leave without sharing a couple classic commercials. Both use humor, but both deliver on the simple truth about what they’re selling. Enjoy. . .
