The Importance of Clarity and Craft in Today's Marketplace

Should business communication be artful? Is the current cult of the extremely ordinary and artless a trend, simply a crutch, or worse? Is there a place for thoughtful work that recognizes the intelligence of its consumers? Are communicators dumbing-down the message on purpose, or have they lost the capacity to think, to empathize with an audience and prepare work that speaks with clarity and craft?

Construct cares passionately about the art of communication. Clarity and craft are cornerstones of every effort.

Artless communication insults and alienates an audience; it proves that a business cares little about their message (and by implication, their customers). Exposed to great volumes of all kinds of stuff every day, Average Joe is sophisticated and discriminating in his use and understanding of business communication. With insight honed by a lifetime of messages, he can very quickly decide whether or not to embrace yours.

The effort to speak with clarity should never be about "dumbing down" your message to a minimal level of comprehension and reducing craft to simple labor. Pick up a local, large circulation newspaper and rate its contents for clarity and craft. It may be easy to read, (no big words) but does it speak to the reader? Does it have clarity? Is craft just craftiness? Or does it leave us wondering why we are wasting our time?

Nearly 79% of Americans were born after 1947. By the time they were 5, most had seen television. At 22, they would have watched men land on the moon. Since, the pace of complexity has only increased, and so have expectations. Communications that do not recognize the intelligence and expectations of their audience will be discounted or even ignored.

Communication that recognizes the sophistication of an audience will succeed, but does business see the true value? Some do. Look again at an overused example like Nike. Everything that the public sees from Nike reflects an unmistakable image and culture. This recognition has extraordinary value in marketing. And not just for retailers. Image and culture create recognition that is extremely important for businesses that sell less tangible goods.

Construct works with several businesses not involved in retail or manufacturing. Our most often repeated recommendation is the necessity of creating a firm corporate image and the importance of consistency in presenting that image. Everything is part of an integrated whole. From the business card to the brochure, the web presence to internal forms and the voice on the telephone, everything creates an image of the organization.

The customer (whoever they may be) is more than ever likely to equate image and impression directly with your organization. The image of an organization must have deep foundations that demonstrate your position in the marketplace and show that you care about your product, your service, your clients and customers. Missing pieces are indications that an organization does not attend to details.

Should corporate communication be art? By all means it should be artful; not artsy, cute, decorated fluff. Art as substance. The kind of thing that people look at and say "Ah, yes, I understand" and mean it, because we care enough to speak to them. We care enough to make something that works.

Put every part of your corporate communication to work at reinforcing your image and culture. Don't underestimate the ability of clients to recognize that you care.

The next Views column will ask whether there is really anything all that new about the New Media. Keep in touch.

The previous Views column was titled About the Internet, this Site and Communication.