“Bee” Original, Will ya? #marketing #advertising #PR #socialmedia

Just mindless, random wondering: Someone please tell me why do countless PR/marketing-related services, agencies and so on constantly use a “bee” or refer to “buzz” in describing or visually presenting their marketing and PR services??

Yes … I get the whole “buzz” concept but the bees, the honey, the buzzing … I just think it’s such an overused metaphor for marketing and promotion. In last month alone, I’ve bumped into more than seven (7) different marketing-related services, etc. that have the yellow/black/bee/buzzing concept.

Maybe I’m just smoking too much honey but if you are a marketing or PR service then shouldn’t you aim for leadership and market positioning with something, i dunno … a bit more *original???*

Yes, I have to absolutely admit — hands down — that there are some really cute variations of the whole bee/buzz thing out there. I saw a marketing site not too long ago that was rather nostalgic with an old-fashioned bee cartoon as the main character or mascot for the company.

Then there’s the modern hip bee used for a small business online directory where the bee is shown buzzing all around with all other bee friends who leave the hive to “network” with other bees … hence “buzz-of-mouth” for word-of-mouth marketing.

And the other day I shared here on my Facebook biz page a link to a relevant resource: a new, beautifully designed book called The Honey Pot. This is a super catchy concept. I love everything in so far as the visual presentation and surely the content is targeted, relevant and useful. But again … it’s back to the bee thing, which kind of stings, I mean … stinks LOL

I just think that if we are going to pollinate the web, pun intended, with our message or voice or position, then shouldn’t that effort result in the most original concept we can muster?? I mean, as marketing and PR people, don’t we encourage our clients to “be unique” and “be original” and “do something different??”

Yes I know, some will say that the bee examples I’ve shared here are all “original” takes on the same idea. OK. That’s true, I can’t argue with how differently and beautifully presented each example above was treated but at the end of the day, it’s still the same bee/honey/buzz/yellow/black concept that clearly hundreds of other competing or related marketing and PR services and products are deploying as well.

I think originality and out-of-the-box thinking starts with us and we just need to “bee” a bit more mindful of that as we launch our own creative concepts and market position. And I surely hope that marketers as a whole aren’t all associated with buzzing bees, thick nectar pots, colonies and hives and so on. If bees and buzzing are what prospects immediately think of when retaining a professional marketing service, I guess for one am in a whole heap o’ trouble LOL

Look, I love honey just as much as the next person but, geesh, I’m just sayin’ …

Thanks for listening to my mindless, silly buzzing on this Saturday morning.
Queen Bee