Trends. Everyone. Copies.
It’s really popular nowadays for marketers to use combinations of three words to describe their company or products in their printed materials. The three words are usually attributes or other types of appealing concepts that the marketer wants the potential client to associate with the company: “Experience. Reliability. Success.” or something like that.
It’s so common that it’s almost gauche not to have your own set of three words. But some people do it poorly. People, the three words have to have some sort of thematic link, and they ought minimally to be the same part of speech. Three nouns, three verbs, three adjectives, whatever. They have to match or the effect is ruined. And if the first two are attributes of your company, the third one had better not be an expected result of using your product.
So for example:
“Carrot. Potato. Onion.” works.
“Ham. Cheese. Sandwich.” does not.
But better yet, come up with something new and not quite so overdone, ‘k?
(also, if you’re an Information Architect in the DC area, Stephanie needs to talk to you NOW NOW NOW. Email tiffany -!at!- magicpotofjobs.com and I’ll pass your info on to her.)
April 7th, 2006 at 9:28 am
Hmm. Interesting post. As a marketer, I’ve always believed that “people buy feelings — not features.” Volvo sells safety. Domino’s sells convenience. McDonald’s sells consistency. Etc.
So check out Humanityquest.com — a “community and portal for the exploration of more than 500 human spirits, values, attitudes, principles and emotions.”
To your point, I’d pick three emotions I’d like to impart on my target client. Examples …
* Commitment. Elegance. Fulfillment.
* Individuality. Balance. Professionalism.
You get the idea. Assuming there are 300 emotions that you’d like to impart on your customer, the combinations are almost endless (300! x 299! x 298!).