Technology has made it easier than ever to create. Sites like Canva make it dead simple to lay out a social media graphic, ad, or just about anything we might need. Stock photo sites put beautiful imagery at our fingertips. Some of it, absolutely free to use.
You can take some marginally interesting statement about your brand, slap it over a beautiful picture of smiley, happy people and call it a day.
And we do. Over and over. To the point where we see the same stock photo of smiley, happy people hawking teeth whitening one week and a colonoscopy clinic the next.
The seduction of easy
Great concepts make brands memorable and desirable. But great concepts take some thought. And that thought takes some time.
The ease and speed of our tools make it too easy to jump to execution before we have a great concept. And without a great concept, we grab whatever may vaguely illustrate the positive outcome of engaging with our brand. Thus, we end up with smiley, happy people. And a brand message that is monumentally forgettable.
Here’s the scary part. This is happening at an ever-increasing pace. Our screens are awash with these smiley, happy legions sending brands off into oblivion.
