Words to never use in a brand design setting

When it comes to C-level feedback on the progress of their organization’s branding project, no word is more useless than the word like (regardless of whether it’s attached to a thumbs-up icon.) Million-dollar projects have been derailed by the word like. Let’s never use it again.

The problem with like is that it places the emphasis on a senior executive’s subjective mood at a moment in time, rather than on quantifiable data. When you hire me to lead this type of work, my job is to make sure it’s successful. While I can’t necessarily guarantee success, I can significantly lessen the chances of failure by doing solid research and making sure the work I invest your hard-earned dollars in follows that research. But make no mistake, I know you’re hiring me to make something succeed.

An attentive stakeholder knows the difference between personal opinion and informed, evidence-based evaluation. Obviously, if you like something, my job is easier. But what I can’t and won’t do under any circumstance is make decisions based on whether you’ll like them, instead of on whether they’ll succeed. And you honestly don’t want me to.

Let’s face it. When we hear, “I like it,” our endorphins start firing. We love hearing it. We want to hear it again. It’s human. So we continue doing work that gets you to say it again. Six months down the road when the project has failed and we’re all wondering why, we won’t get much relief from the fact that we all liked it. So let’s not use that word ever again. When giving feedback in a brand design setting, try “This works” or “This seems correct”, instead. Or equivalent other words, if it doesn’t work. I know it’s kind of dry, but it leads us to a better place. In the same vein, resist words like great, pretty, and happy.

Positive feedback just isn’t the same thing as good feedback.