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Entries Tagged as 'Copywriting'

Worst Bit of Corporate Gobbledygook of the Day

June 18th, 2009 · 5 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 please tell [...]

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Voice, Message, and Audience–Context is Crucial

May 12th, 2009 · 2 Comments · Advertising, Copywriting, Energy & Sustainability, Marketing Techniques and Philosophies

Watch this ad from Honda about how to be a doer for the environment, and tell me what you think.
Here’s what I think:
I love the message of the ad, that not only gives us specific, easy things we can do to be more environmentally responsible drivers (only the beginning of what’s possible), but also positions [...]

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Don’t be a “Jargon Jrip”

November 23rd, 2008 · 3 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 protect [...]

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Maybe Sex Doesn’t Sell as Much as We Thought It Does

November 3rd, 2008 · No Comments · 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 women actually [...]

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Makepeace: Emotion + Rational = Sale

August 22nd, 2008 · 3 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 PR [...]

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Airplane Food Policy and Packaging Idiocy

May 31st, 2008 · No Comments · 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 gate [...]

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Flow Testing: An Alternative to the Alternative?

April 27th, 2008 · No Comments · 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 · No Comments · 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 a short statement that [...]

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Don’t Waste Your Money on Marketing Like This

March 10th, 2008 · 3 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 name or [...]

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Unmet Expectation = Lost Opportunity

February 8th, 2008 · No Comments · Business Ethics, Copywriting, Marketing Techniques and Philosophies

Yesterday, I was listening to an interview with a very smart-sounding marketing copywriter. It was all about trust, integrity–the stuff I talk about in this blog, in my award-winning book, Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First, and in my ethics newsletter.
Thinking that this was someone I needed to know, and thinking about all sorts [...]

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