"It's easy to forget that the end goal of marketing isn't recognition from peers. It's action from an audience. Yet countless campaigns have been built around cleverness that reads beautifully in the deck but collapses the moment it meets the market. Here's the uncomfortable truth: Nobody cares about your clever line as much as you do. People aren't sitting around with extra brainpower waiting to decode your message. They're half-awake, half-distracted, juggling emails, TikToks, and Slack pings."
"Clever feels good to marketers because it flatters our own taste. It makes us feel smart, creative, or different. But clever is a luxury reserved for the brands that already own space in people's heads. Nike can write something cryptic because you already know what they stand for. Apple can drop two words on a billboard and have it land because decades of brand equity are doing the heavy lifting."
Clever marketing often flatters insiders and wins praise in pitch rooms but frequently fails to drive customer action. Confusing or cryptic messaging makes a brand forgettable and becomes the most expensive kind of marketing because distracted audiences decide within seconds whether to engage. Most consumers lack the bandwidth to decode subtle taglines while juggling other media. Established brands that already occupy mental space can afford cleverness, but lesser-known brands must prioritize clear, immediate communication to convey what they sell. Pressure to stand out can push messaging toward uniqueness at the cost of intelligibility and awareness.
Read at Inc
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