Here’s a magazine ad featuring a photo of a serene-looking woman relaxing on a massage table, eyes closed, a terrycloth turban on her head and a few small, flat stones along her back. The setting is Zen-like, with a potted orchid plant on a minimalist table in the background. The ad is obviously for a luxury spa, or for a luxury resort’s luxury spa. Which one? Almost all of them, considering that this imagery is common throughout this industry’s advertising. Only the name of the spa changes.

When we talk about helping your business cut through the clutter and think outside the box, this is what we mean. Every industry has its visual advertising clichés, and all are urging consumers to ignore your ad or confuse your business with your competitors, who have practically the same ad. From happy families on a sugar sand beach to affluent young professionals admiring an urban condo, the clichés keep coming.

Then there’s Kia’s tongue-in-cheek commercial for its affordably-priced Borrego luxury SUV, which – before identifying the brand at the end – makes fun of every cliché used in seemingly every luxury SUV commercial (see below).

Using the setup, “When it comes to luxury SUV commercials, you expect certain things,” the commercial features such expected imagery as a demonstration of the vehicle’s off-road capabilities “in a place you’ll probably never go,” a herd of wild horses to represent its powerful engine; a symphony orchestra to illustrate its 10-speaker sound system and a mansion with an excessive amount of statuary and fountains to establish its high-status credentials. What you wouldn’t expect, of course, is that this luxury SUV is a Kia – a brand typically identified with budget-minded, no-nonsense rides.

The commercial works because it sends up the visual conventions that consumers have indeed come to expect from commercials in the luxury SUV category while positioning the Borrego as an SUV with features equal to much more expensive brands.

For most businesses, however, breaking away from – or parodying – conventional industry ad imagery seems risky. What if you go out on that limb (to use a literary cliché) and commit to something different, and the limb breaks? It’s a long, hard fall. And if your current ad campaign has been doing okay, why change?

Because now more than ever, it’s essential for you to do much better than “okay” for your business to thrive. If you’re the decision-maker for the luxury spa, how can members of your target market recognize the amenities that set your business apart from competitors who are running what is essentially the identical ad? Flatter stones? A more exotic orchid? Flat stones and orchids aren’t what make the difference. So focus your ad campaign on what does.

In our spa example, there are other ways to convey the sense of relaxation and renewal the experience provides – ways to get your target market excited about what your facility offers and eager to indulge it its services. But you have to be willing to make the commitment and go all out, instead of just partially out of that clutter-filled box. Have the courage to stand out and get noticed. You can’t build awareness of your brand – or build your brand – any other way.