The Trouble with Tweed
Tweed. noun.
Acronym of: That’s What Everyone Else Does.
Any thing that has been selected based purely on its familiarity.
We humans are born imitators. It’s how we learn, it’s how we socialise, it’s how we entertain ourselves. In fact, our very existence is owed to our DNA’s ability to make copies of itself.
The way creative types learn their craft is to study the form and function of other people’s work; then apply those understandings to the problems they are trying to solve. In other words: they steal, they borrow, they copy.
However, curious things happen when people group together in work environments. From the very moment you are asked your first behavioural interview question, the sneaking process of conformity begins.
Conformity may be perfectly acceptable in places like, I dunno, the military. But if ever there was an industry that warrants an exemption from fitting in, it would have to be marketing and advertising. Because it’s supposed to be their job to help organisations stand out. And there’s only one way to do that:
if you want to stand out, you have to be different
In an over-saturated market, standing out is mandatory. People cannot choose you over your competitors if they cannot tell you apart.
The trouble is, “being different” scares the willies out of people. They remember what happened to the last tall poppy who dared poke their head up into the sunlight.
The more politically minded will recognise that differentiating yourself is bad strategy, as it clearly identifies you as the source of blame when things go pear-shaped. The best plan to mitigate potential backlash is to have responsibility spread over as many people as possible; and that is achieved by having as many team members as possible contribute to decision-making.
Instead of copying the techniques of differentiation, the copying becomes nothing more than wholesale imitation. Decisions made by consensus is the very best tweed fertiliser there is.
The Tweed List
To identify tweed, you firstly have to imagine for 10 minutes that you are a regular person who doesn’t eat, sleep and breathe your company.
Then, google your product/service category in your area. Carefully study the online content of the top search results: their websites and social channels.
From there, simply focus on how similar (and unbelievable) all their claims are; how arbitrary their taglines; how truly irrelevant those mission statements; just how comprehensively ignorable their social media posts.
Finally, compare all that with whatever it is your business is doing.
Corporate Social Media Tweed
Nothing exemplifies tweed better than the content that is posted on most corporate social media accounts.
You’re too busy doing your real job to be hassled with social content… but you’re also worried that if you’re not doing something on social media you’ll be letting your competitors get an advantage over you.
What you need is a social media coordinator. One of your juniors can do it. After all, social media is for young people, right?
Here for your tweed-identifying edification, a collection of what often passes for corporate social media content that, pretty much, no real person actually cares about.
Generic Calendar Events
Christmas, Easter, War Remembrance Day, Nation Day, Parent Day, etc
International Something Day
only unless you’re in business to promote that exact same something
Massive Shout-Outs
to team members simply doing their paid jobs
Project Completion Celebrations
that your company is in business to do
Having A Meeting
any thing any organisation does in its ordinary course of business is not share-worthy content
Having A Client Meeting
as if simply meeting a client is some kind of big deal
Proclaiming Your Support
of some arbitrary sporting team, or code
Proclaiming Your Support
of some arbitrary charitable organisation
(do you really want to do good, or do you just want the publicity?)
Congrats to Junior Team Member
slaying some task or academic milestone
Team Member Doing Something Meaningful
but typically in their spare time
Team Member Birthday Cake and Badly-Sung Song Ritual
or any other obligatory, morale-boosting KPI
Team Members at a Restaurant
especially when they’re all splitting the bill anyway
Team Members Having Drinks
we have a drinking problem just like you… Yay!
Team Members at a Conference
so that’s why no one has been returning your emails all week
Team Members Winning an Award
(that you probably paid for anyway)
Team Members
photos of, bios, etc
Pictures of a Pet
that somebody (or the boss) brought in to the office
Anything About How Your Company Is Such A Cool Place To Work
(refer headline)
Anything About How Someone Is Leaving
If anyone is actually paying attention, they’ll easily read between the lines
Picture of your Boss Shaking Hands with Some Dignitary
Your CEO meets politicians? That’s CRAZY!
Your Core Values
includes mission statements and/or pillars
Job Vacancies
unless you’re posting on the cruel hoax that is LinkedIn
Any Post That Talks About How Great You Think You Are
P.S: the hotter you actually are, the worse it comes across
Anything That Is, Essentially, An Ad
or, an actual ad
Logos
Another great place to spot tweed in the wild is company logos.
Firstly, a logo should be just one part of a company’s packaging. And that packaging has to be clear and unique to ensure customers know you’re you, and not one of your competitors.
Which is why, when searching for a company logo you simply cannot select something that is similar to everyone else’s logo and packaging. So many businesspeople approve creative work because it feels familiar to them… because it’s something that they recognise… something that feels like a safe choice.
Of course, I’m not saying you need to go into unhinged avant-garde design. What I am saying is that if there’s one place you need to resist tweed with all your might, it’s selecting a logo for your business.
The purpose of a logo is to help people quickly differentiate you from your competitors. Deciding on a logo that doesn’t do that would be like installing a toilet that doesn’t flush.
Which is why it is so baffling to see so many examples of logos that all look the same.
Example 1: The Fingernail Clipping
This logo style first started popping up en masse in the early 1990s. And while its popularity has waxed and waned over the last 30 years, it never really went away. See it here once, then start seeing it everywhere forever.
Example 2: People Logos
Take fingernail clippings, throw in some circles, turn up the rainbow saturation to eleven, and you’ve got the latest proliferation of people logos. The examples below are mostly off-the-rack stock image offerings, though I have thrown in a couple of real world pet-haters. And, to be fair, one I designed in about 20 minutes, just to prove that people logos don’t deserve any more time than that.
People logos are particularly popular with religious and community organisations, as well as healthcare services… in fact, any business running on a budget. You will see them being used for all kinds of companies and government departments, chosen precisely because they are so extraordinarily familiar; blending in, much like camouflage.
