Recently, the three of us (Rob, Inge and I) got together and decided to pool our strengths. We know many businesses want to spend less time briefing and managing suppliers. They want good advice, not just good design. And want access to specialists who can bring it all together. So here we are, three marketing and comms specialists; ready, willing and able to work on your behalf – 2gether.
* brand strategy
* brand identity design, logos
* brand guidelines & implementation
* advertising campaigns
* brochures
* direct marketing
* annual reports
* newsletters
* case studies
* posters
* exhibition design & event themes
* vehicle liveries, signage,
* clothing and uniforms
* website and ecommerce site building and customisation
Why not take advantage of our extensive background in corporate marketing and agency work…
We can work within your teams, complement their skills and, in the process, transfer useful knowledge. We can work inhouse on strategy, planning and development of ideas – as well as all kinds of marcoms initiatives.
There are lots of absolutes in life and talking to the hand is one of them. When a communication isn’t relevant or interesting, up goes the hand, off goes the comms-switch and flick — your important message heads to the rubbish-bin.
Too technical, too convoluted, too unbelievable, too much self interest about you and your products or services — these are all absolutes for the hand treatment.
Fortunately, business to business communication rarely gets that bad — but it often gets flicked.
No matter what business you’re in, there’s no stronger recommendation for your offering than word of mouth. We’re all like that – we prefer getting a recommendation from someone when it comes to making a purchase decision. When you think about it, this is equally true whether you’re choosing a car, movie, superannuation fund or computer system. Advertising can point us in a direction, but in the end most of us would like a personal recommendation.
Have a look at the Internet – most sites carry customer reviews or testimonials. They are powerful sales tools.
Are you using word of mouth tactics for your company? We have lots of experience in interviewing business clients about their experience with products and services and then writing it up – either as short and strong statements for website use or as full length case studies. We can help you extract the right information and turn it into compelling testimonials.
To say Apple Computer’s iconic Chiat/Day Superbowl commercial ‘1984’ created attention is an understatement. To this day it remains a watershed event, one of the all-time greats and a masterpiece in advertising. Since then Apple has shown at least two other Superbowl ads that I’m aware of. One in 1985 ‘Lemmings’ and the most recent in 1999 ‘Hal 2000’, at least I think that’s what it was called.
So what, you ask?
For me, the interesting thing about these three commercials is how only one of them is widely remembered. ‘1984’ was the only one with a positive message. It focused on possibility, sold hope and a break from traditional thought and conditioned responses. It sold the opposite to the all pervasive FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) synonymous with the year 2000 bug and beyond.
We write FUD sometimes, but recently I have been wondering about this form of communication. Many of the messages that are winning through today, eg from the likes of Barack Obama and to a similar extent Kevin Rudd, are also a break from tradition. They are ostensibly positive, suggestive of hope and a renewed world view, as opposed to the same-old fear and uncertainty stuff.
There may be a place for FUD, but what seems to be cutting through right now is a more optimistic and upbeat vision of the world. Maybe we’ve all had enough of pessimism and cynicism for a while.
Apple Computer’s iconic Chiat/Day Superbowl commercial ‘1984’
…and who is John Holman? A freelance writer, frustrated wannabe author and resident at the beach geek. He is currently reading ‘Out Stealing Horses’ by Per Petterson and his techo toy of the month is an Asus Eee-PC Netbook running Linux Ubuntu.
This is a bit of a warning. We recently saw the movie What Just Happened and I was inspired to comment on it. I found it a pretty self-indulgent film, full of inside jokes and self-importance — just like a poorly communicating organisation that loves talking in ‘execubabble’.
In fact, I looked up ‘execubabble’ and this is one definition:
Execubabble – Verbal executive communication in broad, vague terms that rise above normal speak. Characterised by an excessive use of executive words such as robust, paradigm, and drill down. Those on the receiving end of execubabble are no better informed after the speech than when it began.
Question: “How is the company doing? Answer: “We are entering a quarter in which we expect robust growth. Paradigms are shifting, but the team has drilled down to the heart of the challenge.”
This is a pretty mild example, but you get my drift. It’s silly. It makes you hard to understand. And your customers don’t like it, so my advice is: don’t use this kind of language in your ads or on your website unless you want people to turn off.
And if you have a copywriter writing that sort of tripe then give us a call.
Is that not the same thing, you ask? Ah, therein lies the crux of many a debate, but today the answer would increasingly be ‘no’. There was a time, not very long ago either, when grammar and ‘correct’ writing were key criteria for good copy. I’m reminded of this because the writer’s bible The Elements of Style is now 50 years old. The authors, Strunk and White, came up with a simple set of rules for the use of language and how to express yourself well in writing, all in less than 100 pages.
What has changed since then is that informal grammar has become acceptable and writing more colloquial in style. Such as starting a sentence with And or creating sentences without regard to noun, verb and object being present. And doesn’t it help make the copy flow? Easier to read. More like spoken language.
Today, the key rules for written communication are:
simplicity (people don’t have a lot of time to read),
relevance (talk to your readers’ needs) and
interest (try to be engaging).
But it’s still important to know the rules because it helps you communicate better. As the great author, Dorothy Parker, said: “If you have any young friends who aspire to become writers, the second-greatest favour you can do them is to present them with copies of The Elements of Style. The first-greatest, of course, is to shoot them now, while they’re happy.”
Over the years I’ve read a lot about SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) — not such a boring subject when you consider writing B2B content is a big hunk of our business. Anyway, reading these often lengthy posts outlining this and that must, it always amazes me how complex many of the so called SEO experts seem to make it.
In our opinion there is only one rule you need to consider for any content, anywhere, in any medium: content is king, so make it great. Ensuring content is relevant and interesting is not simply an SEO mantra, it’s the mantra for any good B2B or consumer-focused copywriting. Forget it at your peril.
To expand, all effective SEO means is:
Establishing (and understanding) the purpose of your website —
its reason for being.
Big or small, fast or slow, B2B or consumer, it really doesn’t matter what kind or size of organisation you are or what sort of business you’re in, ‘content is king’ is all you need to remember. SEO is really as simple as that — well, pretty much (grin).
If you haven’t heard of Twitter then you probably live in another world. A world where the Internet and the explosion in social networking sites doesn’t exist.
Twitter is being touted as a major business communication tool — a tool that will help organisations, business execs and me become très cool by linking us with millions of customers and potential customers who use this fast expanding social network. The idea, similar to viral marketing, is to seed a thought, a product or service, growing it into the mainstream over time, but in a subtle manner.
The Twitter people say real life happens between blog posts and emails and a huge hunk of the world seems to agree. On Twitter, life happens in one hundred and forty character bites — that’s the maximise size for each post.
So does copywriting matter if you’re only dealing with 140 characters? Well, given our business focus, what do you think?
Writing those pithy little messages to help grow a brand or develop an exec’s image obviously requires more than a modicum of writing skills. In fact, it also requires a significant understanding of the environment. So, it’s been quite a surprise reading the increasing number of stories about inept tweets – a tweet is Twitter speak for a post – by organisations who are blindly flogging products or services without a thought for the most basic marketing-101 rules surrounding ‘Place’ and ‘Target Audience’.
Twitter, as well as blogs and other social media sites, is being increasingly scanned by organisations in order to monitor comments about their products, services and staff. This allows them to jump on any adverse commentary or use growing positives to better focus their communication. …Read more
One thing is for sure, 2009 isn’t going to be the same old, same old. Things have changed profoundly and for a while, business is going to have to do more with less and think of ways to stretch their marketing dollars. It’s more important than ever to stay in touch with your customers and give them relevant and useful information, but the budget for big-ticket items like advertising and promotions is now limited. So, what to do?
Enter the case study.
Case studies, testimonials or user stories, are a highly versatile marketing tool because they can easily be re-purposed for use in different media. You can publish them online or in print and include them in face-to-face presentations. The content can be used for websites, online interviews and as click-throughs for eDM’s. Case studies can be included in brochures, newsletters, internal communications, press releases and as proof-elements in seminars and product demonstrations. An investment in a case study is an investment that keeps on giving.
And they have great credibility. Why does media coverage work harder for you than advertising? Because it’s someone else saying something (hopefully positive) about your company, your products or your services. Case studies are testimonials by your customers about how they have used your solutions to achieve a better outcome for their business. This makes case studies credible and interesting to prospective customers, hopefully providing both inspiration and new ideas – a powerful tool indeed.
How to create a good case study.
Start by talking to your sales people. Find out who your happiest customers are or the ones with the most interesting use of your products. Want to sell more widgets to small business? Find a happy client in that market. Want to get media coverage for a particular product? Find a customer who’s doing something really interesting or unusual with it. It’s worth putting some effort into thinking about what you want to achieve and who has the best story to tell. …Read more
Everybody can write. You might not think so, but it’s true. It’s just like singing – everybody can do it (some better than others, maybe). So why not try writing your own advertising or online content? You can do it. It just takes practice, a bit of knowledge and an ear for language.
Okay, maybe I’m being a bit facetious. Maybe I’m simplifying writing skills too much — but the fact is, writing is a skill and a skill can be taught and learnt. There are many copywriting courses offered online and many books about writing ads and online content. It’s all there for you to learn and practice, if you have the time and the inclination.
This tutorial is designed to get you up and running with the basics of writing great copy in ten easy lessons. Afterwards, you’ll get recommendations for professional copywriting training, plus links to tutorials on SEO copywriting and writing killer headlines.
Great copy is the heart and soul of the advertising business. This guide provides guidelines and advice on what it takes to write copy that entices, motivates, and moves customers to buy.
