#Bold, Brash and Other Marcom Buzzwords From Madison Ave MadMen

#Bold is the new better buzzword, according to NYT’s Stuart Elliott in his Dec 5 column.

We get it; after all re-purposing evocative phrases for brand awareness is a contact sport for Madison Avenue ad grunts..and Stuart’s pointing to illustrative examples below demonstrates that Madison Ave is often compared to blind mice chasing after the cheese that smells the best..

On the topic of “bold” –we thought we’d newsjack Stuart’s column, if only because here at The JLC Group, one of us is going bald (easily confused for bold), another one of us is always being tagged (not to be confused with “hastagged” for being “absolutely ballsy” (see the advertising elements we’ve produced for clients) and as a salute to the silliness that Twitter incites via piling on to new phrases, this is to officially remind everyone that we’ve been bold long before it became stylish. Our firm was founded on the notion of being bold and to used tactics that help push client brands to places where they’ve never gone before..and would likely never go to without a bit of envelope pushing.

Here’s the excerpt from Stuart’s column (notice the highlighted element below):

FORTUNE, the saying goes, favors the bold, and so it seems does Madison Avenue.

The word “bold” has grown increasingly popular among marketers for a panoply of products, turning up frequently in advertising on television, in print, online and in social media.

No matter the category, whether autos, clothing, jewelry, makeup, packaged food or plumbing fixtures, “bold” is boldly — er, um, make that confidently and assertively — going where the word has not gone before.

A campaign for the 2015 Toyota Camry includes print ads that carry the headline “The bold new Camry” and the theme “One bold choice leads to another.”

In a commercial from Zales, an announcer suggests, “Declare your love boldly” with the Celebration Grand diamond, which, she says, “shines bigger and bolder.”

And ads for True Religion jeans urge men and women to “Be so bold,” a line that doubles as a hashtag. An online video series for Revlon, hosted by Laverne Cox, is titled “#GoBold.”

Also, magazine ads for New York Brand Texas Toast croutons propose, “Live a big, bold, flavor-filled life.” The Kraft Foods Group sells a line of meats named Oscar Mayer Deli Fresh Bold cold cuts. And a campaign for the Kohler brand of faucets and other fixtures asks homeowners to consider “The bold look of Kohler.”

Some uses of the B-word seem baffling. For instance, signs in the windows of Santander banks offer potential customers “bold rates” on business lines of credit. And just what is it that makes Movado Bold watches bold? The textured dials? The accents in bright colors like orange and lime green?

The ardor for “bold” is another example of a tendency among creative executives on Madison Avenue to go mad for a certain word or phrase, which then seems to become omnipresent.

“Hello” has also been popular of late, as in “Hello tomorrow” for Emirates airline, the Hello line of oral-care products and the “Hello sunny” ads for Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

And several brands, among them Burger King, Gap Kids and Olay, have been using themes and headlines that begin with “Be your …”

The reason “the same words or phrases keep recurring in marketing communications,” said Andreas Combuechen, chief executive of Atmosphere Proximity in New York, “all comes down to the fact we’re all creating in a connected world.

“No topic is local or even regional anymore, as social media has made every conversation global,” he added. “Today, a trending hashtag equals a homogenized culture where influential ideas seamlessly flow not just across borders but across brands.”

 

#Bold, Brash and Other Marcom Buzzwords From Madison Ave MadMen