The Death of Boring

Boring isn’t safe. Boring is invisible. And in business, invisibility is death.

Picture this: you’re in a supermarket in Sweden, surrounded by rows of identical white cartons of milk and dairy alternatives. Except one carton catches your eye. It features handwritten-style text that reads: “Hello! We made this product with oats and some more oats instead of milk because that way it tastes amazing and we can also leave the cow alone to do other fun stuff. This is not a coincidence, but a conscious choice we make to help the planet.”

That was Oatly. In 2012, the small Swedish oat milk company was struggling to gain traction after nearly 30 years in business. Then they completely transformed their approach to communication. Their CEO Toni Petersson brought in creative director John Schoolcraft, who convinced them to break every rule of conventional packaged goods marketing. They fired their marketing department and established “The Department of Mind Control” instead. They filled their packaging with quirky, conversational copy that spoke directly to consumers as if they were friends.

By 2018, Oatly couldn’t keep up with demand. By 2021, they were valued at $10 billion in their IPO. All because they decided to be distinctively, memorably, gloriously human in their communication.

Yet most businesses still cling to a bizarre belief: that sounding “professional” means sounding like everyone else.

The Cost of Corporate Speak

What we call “professional” communication is actually the industrialisation of human connection—turning something organic into something processed. It’s language that’s been stripped of humanity, personality and specificity until it becomes a commodity, indistinguishable from countless competitors.

Corporate speak isn’t just ineffective—it’s actively harmful to your positioning. Here’s why:

Your brain is programmed to ignore the expected. Neurologically speaking, your brain conserves energy by filtering out predictable stimuli and focusing attention on the distinctive. When your communication follows familiar patterns of business jargon, passive voice, and vague claims, you’re literally training your audience’s brains to skip past your message.

The evidence is all around us. Think about the last corporate website you visited. Can you remember what it said? Probably not, because it likely featured the same generic claims as thousands of others:

“We deliver innovative solutions…” “We’re committed to excellence…” “We provide best-in-class service…”

Generic language creates generic expectations. When you talk like everyone else, customers expect you to be like everyone else. You’re training them to see you as a commodity—interchangeable with any competitor.

The human cost is even worse. Traditional corporate communication drains the life from your organisation. People who are vibrant, passionate, and articulate in conversation suddenly become dull automatons when writing emails or presenting to clients. We’ve normalised a bizarre split personality where “work communication” bears no resemblance to how humans actually speak.

This isn’t just a stylistic issue. It’s a strategic liability in your quest to become the obvious choice.

The Authenticity Advantage

What if being yourself was actually your greatest competitive advantage?

When Mailchimp was growing from a small email service provider into a marketing platform powerhouse, they made a critical strategic decision. Instead of imitating the formal, technical voice of enterprise software companies, they developed a distinctive, conversational approach that felt like a helpful friend rather than a corporation.

They built their entire voice around a simple but radical idea: write like a human being talking to another human being.

This approach extended beyond marketing to every touchpoint—error messages, technical documentation, help articles, and even billing notifications. Their famous “high five” message after sending a campaign became a signature moment that users actually looked forward to.

“Voice isn’t what you say, it’s the consistent expression of your brand as a personality,” says Mailchimp’s Kate Kiefer Lee, who developed their influential Voice and Tone guide. “We talk like real people, and we’re serious about our work without taking ourselves too seriously.”

The impact? Mailchimp grew to over 14 million users and $700 million in revenue before being acquired for $12 billion—without following a single convention of “professional” software communication.

The authenticity advantage works because of the trust paradox: showing your humanity—including your imperfections—actually builds credibility rather than diminishing it. In a landscape of polished corporate facades, genuine human connection stands out.

The Permission to Be Human

Perhaps you’re thinking: “That’s fine for quirky consumer brands, but my industry is different. My clients expect formal communication.”

Do they really? Or is that just the industry convention everyone follows without questioning?

When First Direct launched in the UK as a telephone-only bank in 1989, conventional wisdom said banking communication needed to project stability through formal, complex language. First Direct chose to speak plainly, using contractions, active voice, and straightforward explanations where competitors used jargon and legalese.

Financial services experts predicted failure. How would customers trust a bank that didn’t sound like a bank?

Thirty years later, First Direct consistently ranks at the top of UK customer satisfaction surveys, with over 1.3 million customers and an unmatched reputation for service excellence.

“When everyone sounds the same, sounding different isn’t risky—it’s the only safe strategy.”

The most successful B2B companies have learned this lesson too. Slack entered an enterprise software category dominated by utilitarian, feature-focused communication. Instead, they created a warm, conversational experience throughout their product and communications. Their error messages became legendary for their humanity, like: “You look lost. Don’t worry, happens to the best of us. Let’s get you back on track.”

This distinctive voice reinforced their positioning as a more human collaboration tool and helped them grow to 12 million daily active users, ultimately selling to Salesforce for $27.7 billion.

The lesson is clear: in any industry, there’s a powerful opportunity to stand out by simply communicating like an actual human being.

Three Transformation Principles

How do you bring your communication back to life? Start with these three principles:

1. Human First, Brand Second

Write as if you’re explaining something to a friend, then add brand elements afterward. Remove any language you wouldn’t use in conversation. The ultimate test? Read it aloud. If it sounds awkward when spoken, it will read awkwardly too.

BrewDog applies this principle masterfully in their product descriptions. Instead of clinical tasting notes, they write copy like this for their Punk IPA:

“This is the beer that started it all. BrewDog’s flagship beer that kick-started the craft beer revolution. This light, golden classic has been subverted with new world hops to create an explosion of flavour. Tropical fruits and light caramel on the nose. The palate soon becomes assertive and resinous with the New Zealand hops balanced by the biscuit malt. The finish is aggressive and dry with the lingering bitter sweet character of grapefruit.”

It’s specific, conversational, and distinctly BrewDog. You couldn’t mistake it for any other brand.

2. Specificity Creates Interest

Replace vague claims with concrete details. Use numbers, examples, and comparisons. Tell micro-stories even in short communications.

Compare these two statements:

Generic: “Our experienced team provides high-quality consulting services.”

Specific: “Our consultants average 15 years in the trenches of fintech transformation, including 27 successful core banking migrations with zero downtime.”

The second statement is inherently more credible and memorable because specificity signals authenticity.

Patagonia masters this principle in product descriptions that combine technical details with origin stories:

“The fabric in our Nano Puff® Jacket began in 2009 when we were looking for a fabric that insulated like down but could maintain its insulative properties when wet. We worked with our supplier to use thermally efficient PrimaLoft® Gold Insulation Eco, which contains 55% postconsumer recycled content, is hydrophobic and incredibly compressible.”

By including specific years, development challenges, and exact recycled content percentages, Patagonia creates interest while reinforcing their environmental positioning.

3. Personality Through Constraints

Create simple rules that force distinctiveness. Southwest Airlines has a constraint that all customer communications must use their voice principles: personal, conversational, engaging and caring. This simple framework ensures consistency while allowing individual expression.

Innocent Drinks maintains their distinctive voice through a similarly straightforward constraint: write how you speak. Their packaging features copy like: “We’re innocent and we’re here to make it easy for people to do themselves some good (whilst making it taste nice too).”

The parenthetical aside mimics natural speech patterns, creating an immediately recognisable voice that competitors struggle to imitate.

Before/After Examples

Let’s see these principles in action:

Homepage Welcome Text

BEFORE (Generic Bank): “XYZ Financial Services is committed to providing best-in-class financial solutions tailored to meet the diverse needs of our valued clients through our extensive network of professional advisors.”

AFTER (First Direct): “We’re the bank that’s proud to be different. No branches, just real people on the phone 24/7. And we’ve been doing it for 30 years.”

The transformation eliminates jargon, uses contractions, and provides specific details about their service model and longevity. It sounds like a human being talking.

Product Description

BEFORE (Generic Tech Company): “Our enterprise-grade SaaS solution offers scalable implementation of mission-critical functionality designed to optimize operational efficiency across diverse organizational contexts.”

AFTER (Basecamp): “Basecamp puts everything you need to get work done in one place. It’s the calm, organized way to manage projects, work with clients, and communicate company-wide.”

The transformed description focuses on benefits rather than features, uses simple language, and emphasises emotional value (“calm, organized”) rather than technical specifications.

Error Message

BEFORE (Generic Software): “Error 404. The requested URL was not found on this server.”

AFTER (Slack): “You look lost. Don’t worry, happens to the best of us. Let’s get you back on track.”

Slack acknowledges the human on the other end, normalises making mistakes, and offers reassurance rather than just stating the technical error.

Customer Service Response

BEFORE (Generic Support): “We apologize for the inconvenience. Your concern has been escalated to the appropriate department for further investigation.”

AFTER (Zappos): “That’s definitely not right! I’ve fixed it for you right now, and I’m sending a £10 voucher to your email to say sorry for the hassle.”

The transformed response shows agency (“I’ve fixed it”), uses conversational language (“That’s definitely not right!”), and offers specific compensation rather than vague promises.

Terms and Conditions

BEFORE (Generic Legal): “The licensor reserves the right to modify or terminate the service for any reason, without notice, without liability to any third party.”

AFTER (Monzo): “We might need to change these terms sometimes. If we make important changes, we’ll let you know beforehand through the app.”

Monzo uses plain language, makes a clear commitment to notification, and specifies the communication channel.

Finding Your Authentic Voice

When challenger bank Monzo entered the UK financial market, they made a conscious decision to write in clear, simple language in an industry notorious for complexity. Their communication guidelines could be summarised as “explain it like you’re talking to a smart friend.”

The result was revolutionary for banking:

• Account terms written at a reading age of 11 (versus 19+ for traditional banks)
• Push notifications that feel like text messages from a friend
• Product explanations that avoid all financial jargon

Their approach contributed significantly to their rapid growth to over 5 million customers, with 55% coming through word of mouth—a remarkable achievement in an industry with typically low recommendation rates.

The lesson from Monzo isn’t that every company should adopt a casual, friendly tone. Rather, it’s that authentic communication creates differentiation and drives word of mouth.

Your voice should reflect your essence. If your company’s essence is technical precision, your communication should be precise—but that doesn’t mean it has to be full of jargon or passive voice. If your essence is creative innovation, your communications should demonstrate creativity.

The Quick Transformation Exercise

Here’s a three-step process you can apply immediately to any piece of business communication:

1. Highlight the Forgettable

Review recent communications from your company. Highlight every phrase that could belong to any company in your industry. Circle industry jargon and clichés like “innovative solutions,” “best-in-class,” “leveraging our expertise,” or “exceeding expectations.”

2. Conversational Rewrite

Rewrite the highlighted sections as if you were explaining them to a friend. Capture natural speech patterns, including contractions. Add specific details that only your company could claim, like exact numbers, unique process elements, or distinctive values.

3. Distinctiveness Test

Remove your company name from the rewritten text. Ask someone unfamiliar with the project if they could identify your company from the voice alone. If the answer is no, it’s still not distinctive enough.

The Competitive Advantage of Being Human

The fastest way to kill a good idea is to dress it in boring language. Your product might be revolutionary, your service exceptional, and your team world-class—but if your communication is indistinguishable from competitors, you’ve undermined everything that makes you special.

Corporate speak isn’t professional. It’s the industrialisation of human communication—turning something organic into something processed. And in an age where customers crave authenticity, it’s a competitive liability.

Your customers don’t want to hear from your brand. They want to hear from the humans behind your brand.

When you find the courage to communicate with humanity, specificity and personality, you’re not just improving your writing—you’re reinforcing your positioning, building gravitational pull, and laying the foundation for compelling storytelling.

The death of boring isn’t just good communication practice. It’s good business.