An Age of Puffery
Adam Sherk has statistically catalogued The Most Overused Buzzwords in Marketing and Press Releases. Gregory Sandow has satirized the language of classical music press releases, saying he hopes they die. And the anonymous blog Proper Discord has laid out 10 Cliches of Classical Music Journalism. Why do I find these columns delicious? Perhaps because they sting when I recognize my sins in them.
A Corpus of Corpses
We orchestra marketers have amassed an impressive number of words that no longer mean anything to our audience. We lean toward classical-music jargon, huckstering, and synonyms for perfection which we strangle with overuse. Or we write “magisterial” and other words that we’d never use in spontaneous conversation. May these 50 words and phrases rest in peace.
- Amazing
- Ambassador [such as "ambassador of the flugelhorn"]
- Artistry
- Award-winning
- Back by popular demand
- Beloved
- Collaborated with [rather than accompanied]
- Critical acclaim
- Culminating
- Debut
- Definitive
- Distinguished
- Don’t miss / You won’t want to miss
- Extraordinary
- Favorites
- Feature
- Flawless
- Has emerged
- Heartwarming
- Holiday tradition
- Icon
- Immortal
- Impeccable
- Inimitable
- Inspiring
- Lead [rather than conduct]
- Legend
- Magical
- Magisterial
- Masterpiece/masterwork
- Orchestral journey
- Phenom / Phenomenal
- Powerful
- Rarely-performed
- Rave review
- Rising star
- Season finale
- Soaring
- Soulful
- Spectacular
- Stellar
- Stunning
- Timeless
- Tribute
- Triumphant
- Unique
- Wistful
- World-class or world’s finest
- Wowed
- Wunderkind
What words would you add?
Interesting list! I’m curious how you feel about newspaper/review quotes in a press release or bio? (I know some people avoid it at all cost, some always include it.) Also, what do you do if one of these words/phrases is perhaps a direct quote?
Petronel, I could easily imagine ten of them in an advancer for you. And why wouldn’t you want to quote the truth?
Bruce
Pretty much any adjective… especially in press releases.
But I’d definitely have to add: renowned.
Worse, the “-ed” is vanishing here in the USA. At first I thought I’d seen a typo; then I kept seeing the same “typo”; and now I realize that while I was once (in the minds of a few marketing people) a “world-renowned soprano,” I am now a “world-renown soprano.”
And to respond to the first comment: I would definitely shy away from using review quotes in press releases and bios. I always thought it was weird sending a press release with a quote from a rival paper… or even sending a press release with a quote from the journalist you’re trying to pitch…
You can have an acclaim sheet, if you must.
I think it’s less of an issue with marketing materials.
Would be interesting to survey journalists what they think of those quotes. And survey what impact they have on marketing materials…
Fair enough. But is there anything about the direction we SHOULD be going in? How do we get out of the cliches? Is it taking words and ideas from retail/consumer marketing we see in the mainstream space? To me, the issue seems to be that we need to distinguish ourselves from what we see in the pop culture space (since we are a smaller, distinctive market), and also speak to those who know who we are without dumbing it down for them. It’s definitely a challenge.
I agree it’s a challenge. Yet you write with elegance and originality. And the Global Language Monitor says we have 1,006,261 other words available.
Just yesterday I suggested that in writing single-ticket ads we reflect audience motivations as seen in market research. In taking my own advice I’ve found I tend to overuse other words. To expiate my own transgressions I offer them up:
Delight
Enjoy
Escape
Experience
Explore
Exquisite
Feel
Join
Lovely
Passion
Share
Thrill
Transcendent
Transform
Transport
Virtuosity
And, of course, my favorite word of all: Subscribe
Direction we should be going… in the words of Strunk & White, clear and concise. The more recent development of the social media release (rather than a traditional press release), calls for the bare facts supplemented with multimedia.
I suppose people don’t have time anymore to read through endless prose. All a journalist receiving a press release should know is the essentials: who, what, where, when and all that. The “why” is also very important, as long as you ask yourself “so what, who cares.” Why is this particular program so unique, rather than “Beethoven wrote his 16th symphony in 1936.”
I do like quite a few words in your list, Bruce, but I’m going to disagree just a bit with words like transcendent, transform and transport. One of my pet peeves is when commercials for a new show on television call it a “network premiere event” or something alike. A new show or a movie on television is not an event. In that same way, I’m not sure a classical music concert is really going to transport you to a different world, or transform you into a blissful Buddha. But there surely is a (or multiple) particular reason(s) why your audience should pay attention to this concert.
I particularly liked the Proper Discord link, thanks for that Bruce.
All that said, you wouldn’t want to say “XYZ Orchestra: you’ll have a pretty good time.” Or maybe…
Like Bruce writes though, there are plenty of words yet to be used, and in endless combinations. Clear and concise.
You are so right, Marc, about transcendent, transform and transport. Indeed, their use isn’t warranted by research. As a former musician, music has been transformational for my life. However, the research I’ve seen shows that that isn’t how most of our audience views music. At least, that isn’t language they use to describe music in their life. So when I’ve used those words I haven’t stepped away from personal biases into the role of a marketer.
Ability to communicate.
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Great post. Thanks.