Crapendectomy. One silly, made-up word caused quite a stir this week.

I was asked to provide a webinar to an organization recently. They invited me and, by extension, my voice. My *authentic* voice.

 

There is too much noise in the world and too much marketing that lacks meaning. In an age of so much “data,” we’re impoverished for real, human connections. Companies have created more stuff – oh, right, “content” – and are shoving it at us through every channel. It’s a glut of content and a paucity of meaning. A lot of marketing needs a ‘crapendectomy.’ It makes a powerful – err, ahem, explosive – point. It’s humorous and there is truth in comedy, as we all know.

 

Not everyone has a sense of humor, however. The marketing team of the organization stopped me at the door. The decency police sanitized my copy. Not only that – the new and ‘un-improved’ version they created added jargon that I would never utter out of my ‘keeping it human’ mouth. Yep. ‘Crapendectomy’ had a lot of undies in bunches. Oh, and the jargon they added – they didn’t see the irony in asking me to talk about keeping marketing human while using copy that violated the very premise of my talk. ‘Crapendectomy’ is out, but biz-speak like “company-centricity” is OK? Seriously?! Not on my watch.

 

Hold up! My brand promise is about creating real connections with customers in a meaningful way. If you don’t like my copy, well, you won’t like what I have to say, either. It’s all or nothing, baby. You want me to talk? Then, you get my voice. All of it. Including as many ‘crapendectomies’ as I can squeeze in!

Here’s the point: when you stand for something in the world, even the smallest details matter. Your core purpose is a commitment to honor certain beliefs. When you allow yourself to be “edited,” you dilute your voice.

 

Your core purpose is a constant Northern Star that stands for something or it stands for nothing. The smallest litmus tests are the most important. Little compromises eventually turn into bigger ones. And compromising your vision is brand BS that cries out for an immediate cure:

A huge ‘crapendectomy.