Lazy Communication is advertising written by businesses that have failed to take the time to truly understand their customers and why those customers want to buy their products and/or services.  The truth is, the consumer marketplace has changed drastically over the past decade and just being aggressive and spending a lot of money on advertising doesn’t work any more.  Businesses today must communicate clearly and avoid the use of platitudes.

“Platitudes and generalities roll off the human understanding like water from a duck, they leave no impression whatever.”

Claude Hopkins, Scientific Advertising

Even though most companies are good at what they do, their advertising and marketing messages don’t reflect their unique strengths and advantages. Instead, most messages are full of platitudes – words and phrases that are drearily commonplace, predictable and lack the power to evoke interest through over use or repetition. Words like high quality, great service, lowest prices, and family owned since 1431 BC.

Good advertising is effective largely because it is specific. There are two benefits to being specific in communication: First, it provides the consumer with the information they need in order to make a confident buying decision. Second, it creates believability and trust. As Hopkins pointed out, people are more likely to believe a specific factual claim than a boast, superlative, or generalization.

Bottom-line, it’s imperative for every business to incorporate Disclosure-Based Communication principles into their advertising and marketing communications…because today’s consumer demands it!