The oxymoron of the fresh approach

Guest post by Larner Caleb
www.larnercaleb.com

The oxymoron of the fresh approach
Posted by Larner on Wednesday, 6 October 2010
Labels: campaign, consumer, copywriting, marketing

For a fresh approach to your next ad or campaign, just add:
- some shiny looking fruit, preferably sliced and with a good few drops of water
- sometimes just a splash of water will do the trick
- any kind of cleaning product; soap, detergent, coca-cola, that sort of thing
- or, if you’re really trying to be ca-rayzee, try the odd stylised dandelion – always synonymous with fresh stuff.

The ‘fresh approach’ gambit always comes in handy when the following has happened:
- your client has sold you short on what makes his or her product or service great
- your account manager has sold you short on what makes his or her client’s product or service great
- neither of the two parties has ever heard of a proposition.

…In which case you can do one of the following:
- just go with it. Bang out the creative, artwork it up, send it off, go home and take two, preferably three showers followed by three stiff gins, knowing your work will join a kazillion other ubiquitous fresh approaches in the same lame league
- refuse to even touch any so-called ‘concept’ with the remotest allusion to a fresh approach and ride out the ‘creative strop’ storm
- strongly advise the client of the irony of this tactic and the fact that not only does it probably not do their offer any justice but that it also treats the customer like a corn-fed automaton.

…Then sleep safe in the knowledge that there’s only one kind of product or service owner who should be pleased with this kind of oxymoron:*

the marketing moron.

* Yes, yes, for the pedants I realise ‘fresh approach’ is not an oxymoron in the true sense of the word, but the proposition of presenting ‘fresh approach’ as a new idea mostly definitely is!