Comments on: Are You Losing Business By Being Clever?

By: Rochelle

Rochelle — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 05:45:25 +0000

Lisa!!

I Absolutely LOVE How Direct you are!!!

~Rochelle

By: @TheGirlPie

@TheGirlPie — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 17:38:35 +0000

SO TRUE! But my experience with this issue of overly-clever/hyper-active branding is with a girl I like and a website with info I want and a service I’d buy — except for the constant “theme” peppering every damn sentence! Every site page, email, newsletter, product — I could barf from all the cutesy theme that is anything but. I wanted to write her to ask for the un-themed version of the free info — hell, I’d pay for it!

If you’ve got a theme, a concept, even a noun (like clown, frog, witch, etc.) remember: LESS IS MORE.

Thanks Lisa.

By: Anthony

Anthony — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 13:34:11 +0000

You've hit this one right on, Lisa. Even on the web we see a lot of startups and SMBs put "glitz and glam" over functionality. When customers land on your page via search, social, online media, or email they wan't to find the content they were promised- and they want it fast. Unnecessary idioms put a damper on the user experience, and, like you said, just plain make you feel dumb.

By: Gaurav Jain

Gaurav Jain — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 09:30:27 +0000

common Lisa, don’t be so critical abt this whole issue and don’t despise the creative effort put by “the Judges Inn” afterall that is what their name. amd as far as sharing your experience of having a mouth-watering “sandwich”, just say to your friend that you had an awesome “sandwich”, you dont have to make a case out of it! and if the next time ur fiend visits Judges inn on ur recommendation, i hope he shdn’t have any difficulty if he says to the waiter, “hey, bring me the case # which deals with a Sandwich, n if there are subcases as well, bring me the most delicious one” !!!

By: Matthias Hager

Matthias Hager — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 20:50:58 +0000

Jill,

I think having a themed restaurant and going all out is okay. Where this particular place is hurting itself is the rather generic names in Case 06 civ. 4908 or Case 06 mdl 1879, etc. These might have meaning to lawyers and judges and other law professionals, which is great if they’re you’re only customer. But I imagine they get other street traffic coming in too.

If I happen into this place I can appreciate the legal theme. I can understand the William Van Ness and the Roe v. Wade or the Subpoena. Those are memorable, if not relatively household names. Just like the Art Vandalay and the Homewrecker and the Triple Lindy. If I want to go back and order the same thing I had last time, I know what to call it. If I want to tweet to my friends how great it was, easy. Case #06 ncc 1701, not so much.

Why not the OJ Simpson? Or the Salem Witch Trial? They can be clever and unforgettable.

By: Jill Whalen

Jill Whalen — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 16:10:40 +0000

Wow, I’m disagreeing with Lisa, which I haven’t done since her ole BC days!

While I agree with what you said about websites needing to be clear in their offerings–particularly because search engines can’t understand clever, I don’t think it’s the same thing with restaurants.

We also talk about being creative and unique and setting yourself and your website apart from the others, which is exactly what the restaurant is doing. From your screen shot of the menu, it’s not like they’re not describing what’s in the sandwiches at all–they are. If they weren’t, then you’d have the ultimate case of mystery meat…which we all know is bad for websites as well.

By: Gabriele Maidecchi

Gabriele Maidecchi — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 16:07:23 +0000

I have to disagree with you (omg it's a first), I mean, even if the name's complicated, I'd just point it from the menu. Heck, it's not much better when I go out to a mexican or chinese restaurants, at most they could put a number next to it (like an ordered list, seen it a lot around). Now, the only thing I can disagree on is the theme chosen. Going to lunch in a law-centered restaurants would make me slightly uncomfortable and depressed.. but I am all for pushing the joke to the extremes. In Italy we have a perfect example in Rome, restaurant called Cencio La parolaccia (careful, translated with Google, might not be totally awesome :( ), where waiters swear at you with any kind of offenses on sexuality, religion, appearance, anything, while they pass by. And there's a waiting list to just be able to book a table. Extreme? Maybe. Does it work? Apparently.

By: Rufus Dogg

Rufus Dogg — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 12:22:42 +0000

Oh, I hate places that do that and even more so when they try to get cute with the restroom descriptions. Men, Women — don’t mess with that! (I have NO IDEA which room to use at the Outback.. seriously, I can’t tell a boy ‘roo from a girl ‘roo.

We have a local place that tried to do something cute called Oinkadoodlemoo’s BBQ (Pork, Chicken, Beef.. like a turducken only not rolled together) You are supposed to order as oink, doodle or moo. They also did funky crap with their sides (mac and cheese with attitude) and just confused the crap out of their patrons. Granted, we all here is a bunch of hicks and rednecks, but we know what BBQ is s’posed to be and what it ain’t. They since rolled back the menu to basics.

Cute is like garlic. A little bit is tasty, a lot if repulsive. Well, unless you are Lisa Barone, then seriously, can you do too much cute? :-)

By: Jerome

Jerome — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 05:26:24 +0000

Interesting post but would have been even better had you suggested one or more solutions to these poor bastards’ problem :)

Cheers,
J.

By: Rob Woods

Rob Woods — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 04:54:05 +0000

I don’t know Todd. I think I have to go with Lisa on this one. If I go into a celebrity themed restaurant and order an “Elvis” which is a deep fried peanut butter and banana sandwich, that makes sense. I can tell my friends that they definitely need to go and order an “Elvis” and the name has a common recognized connection with what’s in the product. I’m not sure that holds true with a Case #05 CV 02434. I also don’t think the names are going to sink the restaurant, but I think they likely have taken there use of unique jargon to an extreme.