Brand comms do not a DNA molecule make

Can we please have an immediate ban of the phrase “_____ is in our brand’s DNA,” in the pages of Marketing Week? It’s rapidly become one of marketing’s clichés, and more than that it’s completely meaningless.

The double helix of DNA can hold as much information as a 200,000 page telephone directory. The average brand promise would take up a couple of lines on one of those pages and would pale into insignificance compared to the thousands of pages full of information we don’t understand.

As a metaphor it’s not fit for purpose – and what’s marketing if it’s not getting the right metaphors to the right people?

Tom Whiteley, Internal communications manager, Co-op Travel