Business Communication: the Gobbledydegook Manifesto

Just read a colleague’s post — http://www.webinknow.com/2007/08/the-gobbledygoo.html — that makes my day. David Meerman Scott’s updated manifesto makes me feel so, well, validated. Having written more than my share of jargon-ridden pieces — always under tactful protest, having tried to point out the futility of using worn cliches instead of language that actually means anything — I welcome David’s call to action.

He’s no mere ranter. His book, “The New Rules of Marketing and PR” has been a huge hit and a favorite of mine, and his ideas have been put into practice by many of us who’ve been evangelizing about relevant content, transparency, and saying something uniquely real instead of eye-rolling phrases like “…exceeding customer expectations with turnkey business solutions to optimize shareholder value…”

You know how in personal ads, almost every single guy claims to be “caring, easygoing, and honest to a fault?” And people of all genders “can go from jeans around the cabin to a tux for a night on the town” or the like? I mean, they all say that, so most are probably stretching things and besides, what’s so special about that? Depending on your life experience, you may also have heard that the first rule of being a girl is: Never trust a guy who says “Trust me.”

It’s like that with corporations, too, and even with small businesses and entrepreneurs. If you use the same messaging everyone else is using, no one will believe you. And even more importantly, no one will have any idea who you are and what you do. That’s why it makes sense to take some time to think about who YOU are, what YOU offer, uniquely and specifically, and how that benefits YOUR CUSTOMERS in a way that matters to them and that your competitors can’t match. It also really pays to keep abreast of what your competitors — and marketers in general — are saturating the market with so you know what not to say. A tough assignment, I realize, but that’s why they invented copywriters. I and any number of my competent colleagues are standing by to come to the rescue.

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