Just a quick note that might serve you well: never allow sloppy visual to destroy good copy – and vice versa – never allow sloppy copy to destroy good visual.
Sparked by a Twitter conversation between Vikki Ross and myself, this is what I want you to bear in mind. Continue reading
In 1986, one year into my career as a B2B copywriter, I worked for Anderson & Lembke in Helsinki, Finland. A&L was in those days one of the foremost, if not the foremost, industrial advertising agencies in Finland, an offshoot of the original Stockholm, Sweden, based agency.
One of my clients was Safematic, a manufacturer of industrial sealing and lubrication equipment and condition monitoring systems for the pulp and paper industry. Continue reading
Simple things just work. Like cars without too much electronics, bare-bones blog templates or pencils in sub-zero temperatures.
The same applies to a marketing message.
Define what you want to achieve. Focus on that key issue. Use simple language, simple terminology and a simple design. Some of the world’s best, most efficient advertising has been created by systematically paring down and condensing.
A sharp message will penetrate your audience’s wall of indifference.
Many online marketers claim that “there’s no difference any more whether you’re talking to consumers or corporate buyers—you’re just talking to PEOPLE”. I’m claiming, though, that there is still a difference between B2C and B2B.
It is certainly true that all marketing should shift more toward a one-on-one style of talking to be efficient and engaging. Still, the differences between the B2C and B2B buying/selling processes have not disappeared. Some comparisons: Continue reading
When the internet started to spread around the world in earnest, it was hailed as the Great Equalizer. It no longer mattered where you were physically located, you could reach the whole world from your computer.
In recent times, there’s been a clear—alarming, in my opinion—shift toward locality. Look at this: Continue reading
It is common practice to offer a newly launched product at a discounted price to early adopters. But are you sure you’re not harming your future sales by discounting it too much? Continue reading
The demise of direct mail, e-mail marketing, print advertising, brochures, newsletters—I can’t even remember all of those doomed traditional marketing devices—has been announced for a long time. Even marketing itself has been declared dead.
A wake-up call, folks: none of these is dead, not even close. Continue reading
Guest post by Dan Hill
This material is drawn from Dan’s new book About Face, the Secrets of Emotionally Effective Advertising, to be published in October 2010.
The joke that nobody much laughs at in marketing circles is the one liner ascribed to John Wannamaker. “Half my advertising dollars are wasted, but I don’t know which half.”
If only the reality of marketing was that good! Rigorous reviews of sales performance data by those willing to take an incisive look at the state of marketing leads to a less generous total—maybe 15% of advertising pays back its costs.
So what are the three most essential keys to doing better? Continue reading
Even though the original post is from 2008, Freelancing Doesn’t Mean Free by Rebecca Stigall was published on Creative Freelancing just recently. The site doesn’t allow comments, so I am commenting here.
I understand the need for freelancers to protect their livelihood. Yet, I found several claims in the above article that require a closer look. Continue reading
You may remember my blog post about audio branding: the creation of a clearly identifiable and unmistakable sound for a product. The post points out the huge predominance of visual brand cues over audio ones even though sound as an identifier is between 75 and 90% more important than pictures or words.
Funny enough, now I suddenly find another article on the same topic on Fast Company’s website.
As my post proved very popular, I thought you might enjoy the sequel as well. In his article, Martin Lindstrom talks about The 10 Most Addictive Sounds in the World, both branded and non-branded. Enjoy!