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Having just read through your 101cliches.com I thought I would make a small observation.
My trade magazine this month has an advert with a jig-saw...so you are correct, there does seem to be an abundance of clichés in b2b. However, after looking through your list there were many other 'clichés' that I had never seen before and thought they were quite clever.
So when does an idea become a cliché? Is it because it has been used so many times, in which case I think advertisers will get away with it because their clients have probably not seen it before. Also, the analogies are easily understood.
If a cliche is a 'literal interpretation of a point' then surely that applies to most adverts (except for pictures of the actual product - which isn't very clever).
There must be a very fine line between creating an advertising campaign that is clever but easily understood, and one that tries to be clever yet fails to get the point across – a cliché solves this problem, which must be why they are over-used.
However, although the image catches the eye, it is the wording that tells the story. The words should be clever, thought provoking, easily understood and memorable. My favourite ad of all time is ‘Labour isn’t working’. This works on so many levels..brilliant!
Would I pay an advertising agency to bring me a clichéd ad campaign? It depends…
Maybe a clever ad could contain a clichéd image with a clever slogan?
I would be unhappy if the message was lost but would not despair if I was presented with a clever cliché used in an imaginative way.
So don’t write the clichéd image off completely. Let’s see what your wordsmiths can do with them.