Try a cliché

… or not I’d suggest. Here I’m steering towards those advertising clichés we’ve all come to know so well. For example…

“Order now and you also get….”
“As seen on TV”
“The lowest prices in town”

Advertisers have long since made use of platitudes and clichés to drive campaigns. I personally doubt these are as effective as they once may have been. Today’s consumer smell sweet talk a mile away. Recall Cluetrain?

Platitude is defined as "a flat, dull, commonplace, or trite remark uttered as if it were true and profound". Cliché is a phrase that is used excessively and has become a bit meaningless and even irritating to many. Why persist? Is it not high time we at least attempt to be a bit more creative and innovative? And if that is seeming like mission impossible, what about just being a bit more genuine?

Note to PRP’s: check out the July/August briefing by trendwatching.com titled Innovation Insanity for some inspiration on doing things differently.

Or… here’s a cliché for you: “ Flattery will get you … nowhere”.

(Pic: http://www.adliterate.com/archives/Cliche%20Jpeg.JPG)

Augmented Reshmality

PRP’s... I hope you sitting down... and up for this one! Whilst sitting down with our website guru recently- I learnt about something called Augmented Reality. In considering how social media has evolved, transforming peoples lives within such a short period of time... I’m afraid to think of what this Augmented Reality’s gonna do to us. From my limited understanding, it will (and already is) taking marketing and advertising by storm... maybe da pro... and it could also mean the end of privacy as we know it... da con?

Augmented Reality (AR) is the intermingling of our real and virtual worlds... using graphics and data from our virtual world and integrating it into our real world... as in REAL-TIME... now... ultimately enhancing what we see, hear, feel or smell...

Using software on eye-classes or on our mobile phones for example, AR allows us to interact with our real world like never before. Admittedly, me still a little fuzzy as to the mechanics of it all- ... but shoo! ... talk about blurring the lines.

Already used by Saatchi & Saatchi in a campaign for Wordsworth Books in SA... seems AR is gonna take brand communication to whoooole nother level! No doubt – it’s a matter of time before AR really rocks SA. What’s scary is when AR meets social media... imagine walking down the street and having graphics and audio coincide with what you see... info and ads popping up as you go along. Or what about an instant view of online profiles of those around you... people you might not even know?! ...”Ooooh... dat dude was at Mavericks last night and OMW!... he knows Cindy... small world ne!”. … so what? Bye-bye privacy?

Google it and check it out on YouTube people... AR is something that’s got me scared and excited at the same time. And to my fellow PRP’s, here’s to making magic with our future campaigns. If anything, AR is sure to change how we view our world.

(Picture by: http://www.mikearauz.com/images/socnetwork_AR_lg.jpg)