Make Better Ads by Digging Up the Clichés

Elena Ionita and John Griffiths

The use of clichés in advertising is widespread and very hard to avoid. Advertising development research which seeks to identify what is new and different usually falls foul of the clichés embedded in the minds of respondents and also the creative team.

Make Better Ads by Digging Up the Clichés

Elena IonitaLeo Burnett

John GriffithsPlanning Above and Beyond

WHAT ARE CLICHÉ'S FOR MUM? THE ISSUE

The use of clichés in advertising is perpetual and widespread. Creative departments were formed to create original ideas but the clichés won't lie down. How persistent clichés are. And how often they reappear. What is the client to do? Brief for an original creative idea? Or dig out an original angle on a cliché and put some brand paint on it?

Until now the focus of advertising development research has been to identify what is...

WARC subscribers can sign in to keep reading

Not a subscriber?

Schedule your live demo with our team today

WARC helps you to plan, create and deliver more effective marketing

  • Prove your case and back-up your idea

  • Get expert guidance on strategic challenges

  • Tackle current and emerging marketing themes

We’re long-term subscribers to WARC and it’s a tool we use extensively. We use it to source case studies and best practice for the purposes of internal training, as well as for putting persuasive cases to clients. In compiling a recent case for long-term, sustained investment in brand, we were able to support key marketing principles with numerous case studies sourced from WARC. It helped bring what could have been a relatively dry deck to life with recognisable brand successes from across a broad number of categories. It’s incredibly efficient to have such a wealth of insight in one place.

Insights Team
Bray Leino

You’re in good company

We work with 80% of Forbes' most valuable brands* and 80% of the world's top top-of-the-class agencies.

* Top 10 brands