Flair. Where?

Interesting sells.

I recently did a business/pleasure road trip that covered about 10 states. After several days, something became more and more apparent: All the cars looked the same. The vast majority came from the following color palette:

Black, white, silver, grey 2, grey 4, grey 6, goldish-tan metallic 2, goldish-tan metallic 4, goldish-tan metallic 6, dark-brownish-burgundy-maroon and dark green-that’s-almost-black.

Boring, boring, boring…BORING!

Now, lest you think I’m on a holier-than-thou soapbox, the vehicles under my own jurisdiction run the full gamut of this color palette: black, silver. (Although one of the black ones has a red interior.)

Still boring.

How did this happen? WHEN did this happen?

It’s not just cars. Look at the commercial vehicles…the vans, trucks, tractor-trailers. Same color palette, only even more narrow.

Most of the commercial buildings, the same. Bridges and overpasses, same. Shopping centers, same. Houses in subdivisions, same. Landscaping, same.

Where’s the flair, the pizzazz, the style? Did the word bold get dumped out of our vocabularies?

Using cars as an example, it wasn’t really that long ago (are the seventies that long ago?) that you’d see vehicles in actual colors…red, yellow, orange, green, bright blue. And, yes, some current vehicles – Camaro, Challenger, Mustang, Wrangler, 350Z – are regularly displayed in bold colors. But these are in relatively small, specialty segments of the market.

What happened to quintessential American bold? The “hey, look at me, check this out, ain’t this cool” kind of attitude, once the American calling card for design. Not bragging, not mean spirited, but unquestionably audacious and immodest.

I’m not a gearhead, but I make a point to occasionally attend some of the custom and classic car shows we’re lucky to have available in this area (there are numerous great shows all around the country). In the case of the custom cars, how can you not be blown away by the creativity, craftsmanship, individuality and sheer style shown by the people who build these machines?

The photo at the beginning of this blog is of a house I saw in a Toronto suburb several years ago. Tons of personality. Immensely interesting.

Now, we all know that “loud, bold, in-your-face” is not for everyone, or, even for those inclined to lean in that direction, applicable to every situation or object. But there are situations that SCREAM for something different…

Let’s talk business for a moment. Those commercial vehicles I mentioned earlier drive me crazy. Talk about a branding opportunity of a lifetime…a huge, rolling billboard for FREE! All it takes is some creativity, understanding of a brand’s image objectives, and the desire to differentiate oneself from the competition. Bingo! Return on investment? Unquestionably. Ever seen a Geek Squad Beetle on the road? Like it or not, you’ll remember it.

I could go on for hours about this subject, and probably eventually will, but let me end today’s blog on an unexpected note…

Lady Gaga.

PR-hype personified? Yep. Great musical talent? Probably not. Interesting? Obviously, to many. Great branding? Could write a textbook on the subject.

Something to think about if you have a product or service to sell. Boring doesn’t get noticed.