The trouble with templates

I keep thinking about those Indian movies from the late 80s to early 2000s. Every film started with a grand entry of the lead actors. A song, a fight sequence, or a slow-mo moment. It felt nice. After a point, it felt less like part of the story and more like following a script template.

Hate me all you want but a lot of B2B marketing feels like this today.

Everyone says “Start with the problem,” “Use AIDA or PAS,” “Show numbers,” “Executives love metrics,” “Stick to the hero's journey arc.”

See, frameworks are helpful in giving a structure and I use them all the time. With them, you never have to start on a blank canvas. But its important to understand when and how to use them. We end up shaping every asset to fit the template instead of shaping the template to fit the story.

At one of my previous companies, we used the same framework across almost every webpage. It worked for some, but on pages that needed to be sharper, the structure actually slowed readers down.

A lot of visitors dropped off and it also hit the conversion. A little too late by the time we realized it. That’s the trouble with templates, they’re helpful until they aren’t.

When we force-fit something into frameworks, we dilute the asset and what it’s trying to tell.

And now, with AI in the mix, things get tricky. AI amplifies patterns, whether they're good or bad. If we keep force-fitting frameworks today, AI will learn from that and replicate it endlessly. Until everything becomes predictable and monotonous.

Sometimes a movie needs that grand entry, sometimes a silent opening. As long as the story demands it.