Generic or iconic?
Boring or classic?
Like many things, it kind of depends on context, doesn’t it?
I saw a post from Rowan Martin that I couldn’t get out of my head because it called Breton tops generic mum tops. Things that should be taken out and shot behind the barn.
And I get the point. It’s easy to slip into. They become safe.
But I love a Breton top. Worn them since the 80s, since an early obsession with Chanel in her early years. With JPG and Eurotrash. Though didn’t take it quite as far as Kurt Cobain and Nirvana.
All famous Breton wearers.
Generic not a word you could apply to any of them.
This is not a defence of my personal wardrobe choices. It’s about choosing things that are right for us, not the perceived “right” things or the easy things.
The same applies to language.
Generic language seems to creep into too many mission statements and “about us” pages. Still littered with words like excellence, customer-centric, passion, and leading.
Or Linkedin posts that talk about people first or that people matter, just after announcements of things that might suggest otherwise.
It’s why brands like Oatly stand out or Innocent before them. They talk as we all talk. They call things what the bloke down the pub calls them. And they do it everywhere.
I’ve seen brands do the first part of that and then let the generic speak creep back in on the pages they perceive as needing to be business-like. I mean, what does that even mean any more?
Sometimes, you forget it’s even there or that you’re doing it. Like reaching for a stripy top, it’s a comfortable, simple choice. Not a mindful one.
Mindful words have power. They can be the words that support icons. That’s why we’re still quoting Coco, Kurt and Picasso all these years later. They are the choices of the rebels, the thought-provokers, the true leaders.
The rest? Generic top wearers.
We all get the same 26 letters. Choose yours wisely. Choose iconic.
Which are you? Team Stripe or Team Anything But a Stripe?
Link to Rowan's post in the comments.
#brandlanguage #brandstorytelling #freelancecopywriter
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