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In past columns, I’ve discussed some of the lackadaisical uses of words. Just check LinkedIn and you’ll see how many people are “thrilled” about something (synonymous with “sucking up”) or are feeling “empowered”. The latter sensation happens more often in states where the recreational version is legal. Then there is “diverse”, which may be the third most used English word in business after “a” and “the”.
In July, I was doing my best to ignore the Olympics under the heading of “If I don’t care about these sports for 206 weeks, why should I care for two weeks?”, but was in a local watering hole during the games (just one evening, not the whole two weeks!). The gold medal match of women’s table tennis was on. Like moths to a light bulb, screens draw me in and even though my interest in the match between the Chinese and Japanese women was limited (I still don’t know who won), one commercial caught my eye.
Bridgestone Tires ran a spot with the tagline “Solutions for Your Journey”. Shortly after I moved to Bowling Green, I drove my car over a raised stone part of my driveway, but didn’t think much of it. Two hours later, the resulting flat tire forced further thought, however, not for a moment did the need for a solution for my journey cross my mind. After a few expletives, the thought was “I need a new tire and probably two.”
To the best of my knowledge, I’ve never had Bridgestone tires on any vehicle I’ve owned, but the brand would be in my “consideration set”, another phrase that should be banned and replaced with “brands you might buy”. The company is big around here with their US offices based in nearby Nashville, the home of Bridgestone Arena, however “solutions for your journey” is a good reason to avoid them.
Another example of poor use of language is “transparent” or “transparency”. Beyond the major national races, here in the city of Bowling Green, Kentucky, we’ll be voting for a mayor and city council among other offices. Being new in town, I looked up each candidate’s website figuring that would be the obvious place to find out what each one considers to be the issues facing the city and their thoughts. Other than their wonderful backgrounds, the only thing any of them mentioned was a desire to be “transparent”. I don’t think so.
To me, “transparent” means we get to know everything. If the City Council goes into closed session for an HR issue, should the council members tell us what happened? Perhaps they had to approve firing a city employee who had harassed someone, stole, or simply didn’t show up for work for a month or two with no reason. Going public would be “transparent”.
When I represented Cumulus on NAB’s COLRAM committee, Nielsen people would tell us the company wanted to be “transparent”. My response was to demand access to all their intellectual property which would be “transparency” at its finest. My request was denied. What Nielsen really wanted to say was the company wished to be “open” with their client base and respond to the issues.
Which leads to our medium. Do you wince when you hear the word “dial” on the air? It’s still being used. The FM dial or perhaps ad copy suggesting that you dial a phone number. Does anyone still have a rotary dial phone? Would someone under 30 even know what to do with one? What is the round thing and why is there a cord coming out of the device? Is that how you recharge it?
Then there is the copy crutch of “for all your — needs”. Full disclosure: I’m sure I used that line more than once in my copywriting career which ended in 1983. Whether you’re in a top ten metro or an unrated market, there must be something more original than that. Think about how people speak; radio is a spoken word medium.
Our goal for our clients is to bring more people into their stores, help them sell more, or perhaps raise awareness. When was the last time someone said to you “You know, I go to Al’s Garage for all of my automotive repair needs”? No more dials, no more “all of your needs”, and no more of the more modern word “solutions.”
The next time I need tires, perhaps I’ll be thrilled to have a Bridgestone dealer sell me a solution for my journey to empower my vehicle after transparently going through a hierarchy within my diverse consideration set. Or I might just buy some Bridgestones.
Let’s meet again next week.
