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Corporate Mediocrity

When good enough isn't good enough.

Jerry Silfwer
by Jerry Silfwer

Cover photo: @jerrysilfwer

tl:dr;
When corporate mediocrity turns out to be a wasteland for online marketing activities, it's time to revise your digital strategies and step up your game.

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Can PR escape cor­por­ate mediocrity?

The digit­al revolu­tion has improved many things. However, it has done little to improve the aver­age qual­ity of cor­por­ate content.

Look, I get it:

I’ve been blog­ging since 2002 and pub­lished my fair share of mediocre con­tent. It happens.

But can we escape cor­por­ate mediocrity?

Here we go:

Corporate Mediocrity: The Epidemic

In the world of cor­por­ate com­mu­nic­a­tion, there’s an epidemic: 

It’s not a vir­us or a scan­dal. It’s some­thing far more insi­di­ous that seeps into every email, press release, and LinkedIn post. It seems to be a para­lys­ing, soul-crush­ing fear of say­ing some­thing truly meaningful.

It’s cor­por­ate mediocrity.

Vanna Bonta

“Mediocrity inspires neither great love nor hate.”

Welcome to the land of mediocrity, where bland­ness reigns supreme and bold­ness is reserved for multi-bil­lion­aires with god complexes.

But ima­gine, just for a moment, a world where invis­ible chains didn’t bind cor­por­ate communication. 

A world where cor­por­ate mes­saging sparkled with soph­ist­ic­a­tion and style, where words danced off the page and ignited imaginations. 

But that is per­haps a pipe dream. 

We may be wait­ing for AI to help organ­isa­tions write bet­ter. Most cor­por­ate com­mu­nic­a­tion craf­ted by humans today would­n’t even pass the Turing test.

Learn more: Corporate Mediocrity

The Comfort of Cowardice

The prob­lem starts with unwar­ran­ted cau­tion. There’s a per­vas­ive fear of say­ing some­thing that evokes real emo­tion in cor­por­ate halls, which drives tal­en­ted com­mu­nic­at­ors to hide behind jar­gon and cor­por­ate platitudes. 

Why say some­thing bold when you can say some­thing safe? 

But in com­mu­nic­a­tion, safety is an illu­sion. Playing it safe is a most dan­ger­ous game. It leads to com­mu­nic­a­tion that’s not just bor­ing but invisible.

LinkedIn, once a plat­form for genu­ine pro­fes­sion­al net­work­ing, has become a para­dise for cor­por­ate pre­ten­tious­ness. Scroll through your feed, and you’ll see tirades of buzzwords, empty accol­ades, and hol­low victories. 

LinkedIn has devolved into a digit­al echo cham­ber where every­one talks, but no one is say­ing anything.

The Perils of Platitudes

Jargon and cor­por­ate plat­it­udes are the crutches of the unori­gin­al. They give the illu­sion of soph­ist­ic­a­tion while say­ing abso­lutely nothing. 

Mark Ragan

“Every once in a while I’ll sit down with a jug of Jack Daniels and a bottle of Advil and dig through old press releases to see if PR agen­cies have learned how to write.”

Terms like “syn­ergy,” “innov­a­tion,” and “thought lead­er” have been stripped of their mean­ing, leav­ing behind a shell of what could have been. 

It’s time to ban­ish these empty words and replace them with lan­guage that res­on­ates with people, not just middle managers.

Sophistication isn’t about big words or com­plex sen­tences. It’s about clar­ity, brev­ity, and impact. It’s about craft­ing mes­sages that speak to the heart and mind that linger long after the read­er has moved on. 

Good com­mu­nic­a­tion is an art form; like all art, it requires a touch of bravery and vision.

A Call to Bravery

So, how do we break free from the shackles of mediocrity? 

By being brave. By cel­eb­rat­ing soph­ist­ic­a­tion and style over pre­ten­tious­ness and cowardice. 

Being brave is about tak­ing risks and trust­ing that our audi­ence is intel­li­gent, dis­cern­ing, and hungry for authenticity.

Imagine a press release that reads like a story, with char­ac­ters, con­flict, and res­ol­u­tion. Imagine an email that doesn’t just inform but inspires. Imagine a LinkedIn post that’s not just a humbl­eb­rag but a genu­ine insight into your world. 

Maybe I’m naïve to think this could work.

The Road Ahead

Change won’t hap­pen overnight. It requires a shift in mind­set, a com­mit­ment to excel­lence, and a will­ing­ness to stand out. But the rewards could be immense. 

Let’s engage in com­mu­nic­a­tion that builds trust, fosters loy­alty, and sets you apart in a crowded marketplace.

Martha Graham

“The only sin is mediocrity.”

In the end, the choice is yours. You can con­tin­ue to swim in the sea of mediocrity, or you can rise above the noise and make a real impact. 

Be bold.
Be soph­ist­ic­ated.

Be the voice that cuts through the clut­ter and makes a last­ing impression.

The world is wait­ing. Let’s not settle for mediocrity when we can be extraordin­ary. Let’s not be afraid to infuse our cor­por­ate com­mu­nic­a­tions with eleg­ance and a dash of daring.

We’re All Media Companies

In many ways, we’re all media com­pan­ies now.
For bet­ter or worse.

It’s grim irony that our most suc­cess­ful media com­pan­ies, like Google and Facebook, don’t pro­duce any con­tent in this inform­a­tion age.

Therefore, edit­or­i­al con­tent is a massive PR oppor­tun­ity. We must push bey­ond the hon­eytrap of check­ing pub­lish­ing off as “done” and then being indif­fer­ent to the fact that our con­tent will nev­er get noticed.

After years of struggle with online com­mu­nic­a­tion and not get­ting good enough res­ults, many busi­nesses are slowly con­clud­ing that mediocrity is no longer good enough.

Wastelands of Mediocre Content

The suf­fi­cient con­tent qual­ity resembles an invis­ible stone wall between two online ter­rit­or­ies. On one side of the wall, we find green pas­tures, fer­tile soil, and many people. On the oth­er side, there’s noth­ing but empty wastelands. 

It’s the des­ol­ate plains of cor­por­ate cringe.

When you find your­self on the wrong side of this stone wall, you can pub­lish your cor­por­ate con­tent how­ever often, but noth­ing seems to grow in these des­ol­ated long-tail plains. 

It would be best to get your­self over that stone wall and into the ter­rit­ory on the oth­er side of that wall, where there are real people.

But what would that take?

What is Content Quality, Then?

To be allowed into the lush ter­rit­ory inhab­ited by real people, pro­du­cing and pub­lish­ing great con­tent seems like a passport.

People will gath­er to watch in hoards if you pro­duce and pub­lish Game of Thrones. But we’re not HBO. We’re organ­isa­tions that have and sell any­thing from tooth­paste to med­ic­al equip­ment. We provide products and ser­vices. Whether for profit or not, we’re organ­isa­tions that make soci­ety work. 

A new line of serv­er appli­ances or hav­ing the best avo­ca­dos on the mar­ket will nev­er be as inter­est­ing as the bloody struggles of the Seven Kingdoms. 

The harsh real­ity is that the algorithms have con­sid­er­ably raised the bar for con­tent qual­ity. We can read­ily appre­ci­ate that the algorithms will sort out lousy and bad con­tent, but we must also get used to them elim­in­at­ing aver­age and good content.

Level 5 communication - 2
That “great con­tent” works in con­tent mar­ket­ing isn’t the real story; the real story is that “good con­tent” is every bit as wasted as “lousy content”.

Corporate Cringe

Many cor­por­ate texts are writ­ten in poor taste. Unlike many oth­er cre­at­ive pro­fes­sions, cor­por­ate com­mu­nic­a­tions have some­how for­got­ten that hav­ing great taste is an actu­al skill.

I some­times won­der if cor­por­ate com­mu­nic­a­tions suf­fer from an industry-wide short­age of good taste.

Here are some typ­ic­al examples of cor­por­ate cringe:

  • Over-exag­ger­a­tion. Corporate mes­sages are often tone-deaf due to excess­ive emphas­is or embel­lish­ment. “No, people aren’t that excited on account of your new piece of news.”
  • Implausible claims. Communications that present dubi­ous asser­tions can erode cred­ib­il­ity and gen­er­ate unne­ces­sary scep­ti­cism. “No, you’re not a leading‑, revolutionary‑, innovative‑, or game-chan­ging company.”
  • Unintended awk­ward­ness. Corporate com­mu­nic­a­tion will often inad­vert­ently appear clumsy or out of touch, cre­at­ing a dis­con­nect with the inten­ded audi­ence. “No, it’s not cool — and nev­er will be — to say you’re cool. That’s not the way that works.”
  • Excessive self-glor­i­fic­a­tion. Communications that overly focus on an organ­iz­a­tion’s achieve­ments or vir­tues can be per­ceived as insin­cere or self-con­grat­u­lat­ory. “No, you didn’t just save the plan­et, so please stop pat­ting your­self on the back so furiously.”
  • Prescriptive mes­saging. Corporate com­mu­nic­a­tion that dic­tates opin­ions or beliefs can be per­ceived as overly con­trolling and may ali­en­ate audi­ences. “No, everyone’s not lov­ing your new products or services.”
  • Overzealous efforts. Striving too hard to impress or engage can res­ult in com­mu­nic­a­tion that feels inau­thent­ic or con­trived. “No, scream­ing louder and mak­ing stronger and stronger claims won’t make any­one care more about what you’re saying.”
  • Monotonous ton­al­ity. Corporate mes­sages that lack dis­tinct­ive­ness or per­son­al­ity can fail to res­on­ate with audi­ences, lim­it­ing their over­all impact. “No, your con­tent reads as if it was writ­ten by unin­spired middle man­agers who lost their pas­sion some­where along the way.”

By being aware of these pit­falls, organ­isa­tions can refine com­mu­nic­a­tion strategies to ensure more authen­t­ic and effect­ive engage­ment with their stake­hold­ers, influ­en­cers, and pub­lics.

More examples: https://​www​.red​dit​.com/​r​/​c​o​r​p​o​r​a​t​e​c​r​i​n​ge/

A Difficult Conversation

Perhaps we’re drown­ing ourselves in cor­por­ate cringe since we’ve nev­er had this conversation.

Having worked as a cor­por­ate com­mu­nic­a­tions adviser since 2005, I’ve told CEOs that their strategies are plain wrong. I’ve told mar­keters that they’re hurt­ing their brand from short-sighted­ness. I’ve told com­mu­nic­at­ors that they’ve spent huge budgets on unne­ces­sary activities. 

Why? Because cli­ents pay me to be a truth-say­er.
Writing, how­ever, is… a touchy subject.

Tell a head of com­mu­nic­a­tions that their cor­por­ate com­mu­nic­a­tion is cringe, and you’re out faster than their min­ions can slam the door behind you.

Telling any­one their writ­ing sounds bor­ing is rough — even for me — but it must be done.

If you drench cor­por­ate com­mu­nic­a­tion with plat­it­udes and unin­spired, stale, and corny hyper­boles, it does make a difference.

We might adequately plan, execute, and meas­ure our activ­it­ies, but that won’t mat­ter if our com­mu­nic­a­tion activ­it­ies sound corny.

Good Taste is a Rare — But Important — Skill

Unlike many oth­er cre­at­ive pro­fes­sions, cor­por­ate com­mu­nic­a­tions often seem obli­vi­ous to the import­ance of being … taste­ful. Our industry’s ignor­ance of what con­sti­tutes good taste is pecu­li­ar because we ought to know better. 

We are com­mu­nic­a­tion pro­fes­sion­als, after all. 

Tonality isn’t just for copy­writers.
Look and feel isn’t just for art dir­ect­ors.
Great taste is a PR skill, too.

But there’s a way out of this poorly lit tun­nel of mediocrity. We’re in a pos­i­tion to mit­ig­ate cringe-worthy cor­por­ate messaging:

If you’re blessed with a col­league with a sense of taste, let them have their say. Don’t allow ego and hier­archy to get in the way of good communication.

Never settle, nev­er give up.

Join the fight against cor­por­ate cringe.

Learn more: Corporate Cringe

Platitude Sickness: Trigger List

I hate cor­por­ate plat­it­udes every­where I see them. I swear, a kit­ten dies every time. 

“A plat­it­ude is a trite, mean­ing­less, or pro­sa­ic state­ment, gen­er­ally dir­ec­ted at quelling social, emo­tion­al, or cog­nit­ive unease. The word derives from plat, the French word for “flat.” Platitudes are geared towards present­ing a shal­low, uni­fy­ing wis­dom over a dif­fi­cult top­ic. However, they are too over­used and gen­er­al to be any­thing more than undir­ec­ted state­ments with an ulti­mately little mean­ing­ful con­tri­bu­tion towards a solu­tion.”
Source: Wikipedia 1Platitude. (2023, December 9). In Wikipedia. https://​en​.wiki​pe​dia​.org/​w​i​k​i​/​P​l​a​t​i​t​ude

Here’s my “trig­ger list” of platitudes:

  • “Synergy” = Overused to the point of becom­ing mean­ing­less, it refers to the coöper­a­tion of two entit­ies to pro­duce a com­bined effect more sig­ni­fic­ant than the sum of their sep­ar­ate effects.
  • “Leverage” = In a busi­ness con­text, this is often used to mean using some­thing, such as a resource or an advantage.
  • “Disruptive” = Refers to tech­no­lo­gies or innov­a­tions that dis­turb estab­lished mar­kets or processes.
  • “Pivot” = A fun­da­ment­al shift in strategy or approach is often used for minor changes.
  • “Value-add” = A term that refers to an ele­ment some­thing gives that some­how enhances it, but it’s often unclear what value is being added.
  • “Bleeding-edge” = Refers to the abso­lute latest or most advanced tech­no­logy or innovation.
  • “Actionable” = Generally refers to strategies or insights that can be acted upon, but are often used loosely.
  • “Holistic approach” = An approach that con­siders the whole situ­ation or sys­tem rather than focus­ing on indi­vidu­al parts.
  • “Scalability” The abil­ity of a sys­tem or a mod­el to handle growth is often overused.
  • “Game changer” = An event, idea, or pro­ced­ure that affects a sig­ni­fic­ant shift in the cur­rent way of doing or think­ing about something.
  • “Paradigm shift” = A fun­da­ment­al change in approach or under­ly­ing assumptions.
  • “Cutting-edge” = Like bleed­ing-edge, it refers to the latest or most advanced tech­no­logy or innovation.
  • “Thought lead­er.” = An indi­vidu­al or firm recog­nized as an author­ity in a spe­cial­ized field.
  • “Empower” = To give power or author­ity, but is often over­used without con­crete meaning.
  • “Innovate” = A buzzword for mak­ing changes in some­thing estab­lished, espe­cially by intro­du­cing new meth­ods, ideas, or products.
  • “Low-hanging fruit” = The easy tasks or prob­lems to tackle first, but can be seen as a cliché in busi­ness language.
  • “Outside the box” = Used to refer to cre­at­ive think­ing, but has become a cliché.
  • “Streamline” = Simplify or make some­thing more efficient.
  • “Strategic align­ment” = Ensuring that the plans or activ­it­ies of a com­pany are coördin­ated and con­sist­ent with its objectives.
  • “Customer-cent­ric” = Placing the cus­tom­er at the centre of a com­pany’s philo­sophy, oper­a­tions or ideas.
  • “Robust” = The over­used term implies that a product, ser­vice, or strategy is strong, dur­able, and able to with­stand demands or difficulties.
  • “End-to-end solu­tion” = A ser­vice or product that solves a prob­lem from begin­ning to end, but is often seen as a buzzword due to vague definitions.
  • “Unprecedented” = Overused to describe any­thing that’s nev­er happened before, often loses its impact due to fre­quency of use.
  • “Breakthrough” = A sud­den, dra­mat­ic, and import­ant dis­cov­ery or devel­op­ment, but is often over­used to describe minor advancements.
  • “Optimise” = To make the best or most effect­ive use of a situ­ation or resource, but it is often over­used and can lead to ambiguity.
  • “Bandwidth” = Originally a tech­nic­al term, it’s now used meta­phor­ic­ally to refer to someone’s capa­city to handle tasks or issues.
  • “Ecosystem” = Refers to a com­plex net­work or inter­con­nec­ted sys­tem, espe­cially in the con­text of busi­ness envir­on­ments or technologies.
  • “Alignment” = Frequently used to describe the pro­cess of bring­ing dif­fer­ent aspects or depart­ments of a busi­ness into har­mony or agreement.
  • “Agile” = Originating in soft­ware devel­op­ment, it’s broadly applied to describe flex­ib­il­ity and adapt­ab­il­ity in vari­ous busi­ness processes.
  • “Deep Dive” = Used to describe a thor­ough ana­lys­is or exam­in­a­tion, but often over­used to mean any detailed look.
  • “Touch Base” = A cas­u­al way to refer to check­ing in or fol­low­ing up with someone, but it can be seen as a cliché.
  • “Granular” = Describes look­ing at some­thing with a high level of detail, but it is often used unne­ces­sar­ily instead of simply say­ing “in detail.”

Getting rid of cor­por­ate plat­it­udes is an uphill battle. They are such a waste of edit­or­i­al space and only lead straight to mediocrity.

Join the resistance!

Learn more: The Platitude Sickness: The Trash of Corporate Writing

“Do Better” Is Not Helpful Advice

“Do bet­ter” isn’t help­ful advice. It’s the equi­val­ent of telling a lost soul dying of thirst in the scorch­ing desert to “drink some water”.

However, “do less of what isn’t work­ing” is helpful.

If you’re invest­ing valu­able resources into pro­du­cing mediocre con­tent today, you can alloc­ate those efforts dif­fer­ently tomor­row. Remember that there’s no gen­er­al con­tent short­age online; you could focus your efforts on improv­ing quality.

Yes, this means put­ting out less con­tent. Yes, less con­tent will mean tak­ing a hit in the short term. Taking a hit in reach will mean few­er con­ver­sions — temporarily.

But put­ting out high-qual­ity ever­green con­tent at a lower fre­quency will gain momentum and pro­pel patient and con­sist­ent brands over that stone wall. Raising the bar for con­tent qual­ity will instil new and valu­able pro­cesses in your organisations.

No more cor­por­ate plat­it­udes.
No more cor­por­ate cringe.

When you finally push past crit­ic­al mass, your con­tent mar­ket­ing will soar, and you will start to touch people’s hearts and minds.

How To Escape Corporate Mediocrity

What should you do if you find your­self stuck in the non-fer­tile and rugged online waste­land where noth­ing your organ­isa­tion says or does ever gets traction?

Vanna Bonta

“Mediocrity inspires neither great love nor hate.”

Get your con­tent strategy in order and, then, nev­er settle for mediocre con­tent again.

Jerry Silfwer - Doctor Spin - Spin Factory - Public Relations

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Annotations
Annotations
1 Platitude. (2023, December 9). In Wikipedia. https://​en​.wiki​pe​dia​.org/​w​i​k​i​/​P​l​a​t​i​t​ude
Jerry Silfwer
Jerry Silfwerhttps://doctorspin.net/
Jerry Silfwer, alias Doctor Spin, is an awarded senior adviser specialising in public relations and digital strategy. Currently CEO at Spin Factory and KIX Communication Index. Before that, he worked at Whispr Group NYC, Springtime PR, and Spotlight PR. Based in Stockholm, Sweden.

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