Project Mayhem

 

Archive for September, 2008

The Most Common Phrases During A PR Pitch and Their Real Meanings

September 18th, 2008 by Jeremy Baka

Myth

Real Meaning
“If the idea is good enough we’ll find the money.” “We have no budget.”
“You placed second.” “You lost.”
“We’re looking for really BIG ideas.” “We want to see all the cool stuff we could be doing if we didn’t have a legal department.”
“We plan to make a decision next week.” “We’ve seen so many agencies we’re confused.”
“We only let the incumbent agency pitch out of courtesy.” “We’re pretty happy with our existing agency, but want to make sure we’re not missing anything.”
“Our last agency wasn’t really a fit.” “We’re not easy to work for.”
“We don’t expect you to work for free.” “We have no budget.”
“What we’re looking for is a partner.” “We’re looking for someone who works weekends so we don’t have to.”
“You’re the experts.” “We’re the experts.”
“We’re not looking for ‘yes people.’” “We’re looking for people who won’t say ‘no.’”
“I’m the final decision-maker.” “I WANT to be the final decision-maker.”
“We know we’re not as big as your other clients.” “We have no budget.”
“It’s just a chemistry meeting, we’re not expecting ideas.” “We want your recommendations without having to put together an RFP.”
“I think we’re all on the same page.” “You agree with me.”
“This is an account that could grow.” “We have no budget.”
“You were really creative, but we needed more detail on the strategy.” “I liked it, but the decision-maker wanted more strategy.”
“You were really strategic, but we needed more detail on the creative.” “I liked it, but the decision-maker wanted more creative.”
“We’ll review the leave behind.” “I’ve already made my decision.”
“The budgets aren’t as big, but PR is as important to us as advertising.” “We have no budget.”

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Clichedonism

September 4th, 2008 by Jeremy Baka

Using clichés makes writing boring, deadly and creatively dull. And there is a ton of “clichedonism” in our business.

Far be it from me to point out any specific examples, however, because, you know, what goes around comes around. Anyway, if I were to try to point out all the clichés I’ve seen tucked into writing during just the last few days, I’d be busier than a cat on a hot tin roof. I don’t have that kind of time to kill.

I think the problem with clichés stems from the fact that, in our business, we’re generally running around like a chickens with our heads cut off.  So people just get lazy and throw any old phrase into a sentence with devil-may-care attitude. They don’t realize that, in the long run, they’re only hurting themselves.  Save time, lose creative power – it’six to one, half dozen to the other.

My suggestion for people trying to avoid clichés is to put your best foot forward and try thinking outside of box before putting pen to paper.  As they say, failing to prepare is preparing to fail.  It may be frustrating at first, but don’t give up, practice makes perfect.  Besides, it’s better to have tried and failed than to have never tried at all. Right? Time will tell if it ultimately helps your writing.

Rather than waiting to cross that bridge when you come to it, start now to prevent the continued spread of clichedonism. The handwriting is on the wall.  If you don’t do something now it will only get worse.  So don’t put off tomorrow what you can do today, start cracking down on those clichés.  If you need help, check out:

http://www.westegg.com/cliche/search.cgi?query=love.

You’ll bet your bottom dollar you can teach old dogs new tricks.

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