Note From Shel Horowitz, Owner of this Blog: I’m posting this not because I agree with everything Jim says, but because I don’t. I’m not going to tell you which parts I agree with and which I’d argue with, at least not yet. I’d like you to have your say first, and when I return [...]
Entries Tagged as 'Copywriting'
Good Marketing Is Good Business (Guest Post by Jim Kukral)
July 6th, 2010 · View Comments · Advertising, Copywriting, Marketing Techniques and Philosophies, language, propaganda
Tags: Jim Kukral·marketing techniques·sales letters·scammy marketing
Worst Bit of Corporate Gobbledygook of the Day
June 18th, 2009 · View Comments · Copywriting, Energy & Sustainability, Uncategorized, language
From a Starbucks press release–the second sentence in the first paragraph, and within the quote, I’ve linked to the full press release: With the goal of prioritization and agreement on criteria for a comprehensive recyclable cup solution, discussions will address obstacles and opportunities. Who writes this crap? I’m sorry, but that’s not English. Will someone [...]
Tags: Copywriting·press releases·recyclable coffee cups·starbucks·storytelling
Don’t be a “Jargon Jrip”
November 23rd, 2008 · View Comments · Copywriting, Marketing Techniques and Philosophies
I just made up the word “jrip” and the phrase “jargon jrip.” It’s like drip (as in seriously uncool person, common in the late 1950s/early 1960s)–except it begins with a j to go with jargon. And I made it in response to these couple of lines that showed up in my e-mail (name withheld to [...]
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Maybe Sex Doesn’t Sell as Much as We Thought It Does
November 3rd, 2008 · Comments Off · Advertising, Copywriting, Marketing Techniques and Philosophies
Fascinating article in the San Francisco Chronicle: “Sex Doesn’t Sell.” This is, of course, complete heresy to marketers. Two things I want to comment on there: first, this quote: According to some studies, the “sex sells” adage in misleading if not wrong. Several studies have found ads laced with sexual imagery of women targeted to [...]
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Makepeace: Emotion + Rational = Sale
August 22nd, 2008 · View Comments · Copywriting, Marketing Techniques and Philosophies
I’ve long been an advocate of writing marketing copy that uses both emotional and rational appeals. Here’s a specific example: my all-time favorite of the hundreds of press releases I’ve written. I did it back in 1999 when a client hired me to write a press release for a new book on electronic privacy. Most [...]
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Airplane Food Policy and Packaging Idiocy
May 31st, 2008 · Comments Off · Copywriting, Other, Shel's Personal Life
Blog: Absurdist Packaging I’m writing this aboard a Delta Airlines flight from Atlanta to L.A. Literally moments before beginning boarding, they announced that the supposedly included meal wasn’t free in the coach section. Hmmm–why didn’t they tell me this three days ago when I requested a vegetarian meal? Or even when I’d arrived at the [...]
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Flow Testing: An Alternative to the Alternative?
April 27th, 2008 · Comments Off · Copywriting, Marketing Techniques and Philosophies
I recently purchased a copy of Paul Hancox’s ebook, “Secrets of a 10% Conversion Rate” from copywriting superstar Michel Fortin. You probably already know that most direct mail and PPC convert at somewhere between zero and five percent, so getting up to 10 is huge. I tell my clients they should be able to make [...]
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Brief, Wonderful Article on Using Emotion in Copywrting
March 28th, 2008 · Comments Off · Copywriting
Specifically, the emotion of empathy. I’ve been urging my clients for years to do what they can to be seen as the caring humans they are, and not some faceless corporate monstrosity/bureaucracy. Chris Haddad gives some very powerful examples, including the wonderful idea of the “maybe bullet”: What’s a “maybe bullet?” A “Maybe” bullet is [...]
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Don’t Waste Your Money on Marketing Like This
March 10th, 2008 · View Comments · Copywriting, Marketing Techniques and Philosophies
I won’t embarrass this company by naming it, but boy, they could use some marketing help. They really haven’t got a clue. I found their quarter-page ad in the program guide of a play I attended. here’s what it contained: An attractive, professionally done logo with the firm name (but no clue either in the [...]
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