Do Cliché Slogans Work?

Happy Maewyn Succat Day!

Who and what is Maewyn Succat? You probably celebrate this person every year, though you may not realize it. People all over the world celebrate the day of Maewyn Succat’s death, March 17, though most people know this popular holiday by a more familiar name – St. Patrick’s Day.

The standard St. Patrick’s Day celebration in the United States consists of wearing green and shamrocks, novelty t-shirts, going to parades and of course – drinking green beer. However, it’s important to note that though green beer is a fixture in America on St. Patrick’s Day, the Irish traditionally don’t include it in their celebrations. This colorful libation is just one of many marketing elements built to meet consumers’ traditional expectations of the holiday.

Every community has a way of life, rituals and social behaviors that need to be considered (and respected) when marketing (to consumers or businesses). Yet creativity and ingenuity need not go down the drain at the expense of tradition. Many companies thrive on lifeless cliché sayings and phrases that are repeated every year. So much in fact that we become calloused to them and we can’t associate these clichés to any particular products or service. They become bland and overused, can position companies as being stale and out-of-date, and are really causing companies to miss out on what can be a very valuable marketing opportunity. Take this opportunity to pull away from the pack, be unique and think of clever and inspiring ways to position your brand during holiday seasons.

• People come from all over the world to take part in Chicago, Illinois’ vast and diverse St. Patrick’s Day experiences. Each year a highlight of these festivities is turning the Chicago River Emerald Green. This unique and grandiose tradition cannot be seen anywhere else in the world and helps to make Chicago a ‘must visit’ destination during the St. Patrick’s Day season.
• An office supply store took an interesting approach to ‘going green’. They used the season to launch a series of environmental initiatives designed to encourage customers and employees to recycle and purchase products made from recycled materials. The campaign promoted both ways to ‘go green’ and ‘save some green’.
• This year, Polk County, Georgia is helping dogs and cats ‘get lucky’! In this spin on the traditional St. Patrick’s Day theme of the ‘Luck o’the Irish’, Polk County Animal Control is dropping the cost of adoptions to $20 to help find available animals a home.

All of these examples are plays on traditional St. Patrick’s Day themes, but that went a little above and beyond. Take a chance, go outside the box and make your business stand out by taking a traditional theme and giving it that little twist, or boost to the next level.