Remember when the typical North American market only had limited automotive choices? A typical mid-sized market might have had Ford, GM, Chrysler, and maybe one German and one or two Japanese products to choose from.

Today the typical market has added BMW, Mazda, Mercedes Benz, Kia, Hyundai, Toyota, Saturn, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Suzuki, Audi, Volvo, Jaguar, Saab, Isuzu, Acura, and Lexus, just to mention a few ‘new’ players.

You too have more competition; both in market and online.

The average consumer today receives in excess of 3,600 advertising messages a day, including radio, TV, newspaper, packaging, signage, internet and more.

Prior to today’s cluttered and competitive world, many advertisers succeeded using clichés in their ads by simply keeping their name in front of the public.

The dictionary definition of cliché is, “a hackneyed or overused expression which has literally become meaningless over time.” Why would anyone invest their hard-earned advertising dollars in an expression which has literally become “meaningless?”

Today, simple name recognition and repetition is not enough to ensure a return on your advertising investment. You need to brand your business before the consumer is in the market for your products or services.

Branding by definition necessitates differentiating yourself from your competition. Differentiation cannot be accomplished by saying the same thing as your competitors or using the same tired clichés used by other marketers.

We have developed a list of clichés you need to avoid if your advertising is to stand for something and be remembered.

Avoiding Killer Clichés