What’s Shakespeare got to do with brand writing?

As someone who likes books, has an English degree and makes a living from writing, I get asked who my favourite authors are a lot. There are too many to mention them all. But here are four, along with some thoughts on what they have taught me about writing for brands.

Hemingway – tight prose and the power of implication

At his best, in short stories such as Indian Camp, Big, Two-hearted River and The Snows of Kilimanjaro, Hemingway’s economic, repetitive style suggests the emotions of the characters without making them explicit. Because so much is left unsaid, the reader senses the epiphany as if the significant moment was happening to them. You are being given the information: you are not told how to feel. A great lesson. If you provide the evidence for a claim, sometimes, if it’s powerful enough, you don’t need to make the claim itself. The audience will discover it for themselves.

How to win creative pitches

In another life, I spent five years working as a New Business Director for an advertising agency. Omnicom trained me in the dark art of winning credentials and creative pitches. Now I advise agencies on how to write and structure their pitch documents. Here are a few of the most important principles.

Son of a pitch, this creds needs a theme.

A good salesperson will always have an angle. Before any call, they’ll decide what they’re going to lead with. In branding-speak this is ‘how you position yourself’. But however you want to phrase it, it boils down to deducing what sets you apart from the competition and, more importantly, why this is beneficial for the client.

Out-position, out-fox

Once you’ve decided this, it should become the theme of your pitch. Let me give you an example. We recently advised an agency on a creative pitch for the inflight magazine account for a five-star, Asian airline. Now, there were seven agencies in the running. One was the incumbent with the benefit of being local (more convenient for the client etc.) Another was a big player. Stiff competition then. So what angle was going to out-position these other six contenders?

Blogging for business

When approached in the right spirit, blogging can be a low-cost way of engaging with existing and potential customers. Unlike Twitter or Facebook, a blog affords you the space to effectively demonstrate your expertise. However, like its social media cousins, it lets you speak like a human and prompts two-way conversation.

Not convinced? That’s fair. We resisted blogging for years. ‘Too time-consuming’, we muttered. ‘No one would read it!’ We declared. ‘Maybe we’ll give it a go.’ We finally relented.  That was over a year ago. And we haven’t looked back.

The masterplan

Blogging for business works. It’s simply all about finding a system which suits what you’re trying to achieve. Our blog is set up to demonstrate our copywriting expertise and steer people towards our website and portfolio. 

Is your annual or CSR report writer a perfect ten?

Last year this blog looked at five qualities your annual or CSR report writer can’t do without:

•        Experienced
•        Comfortable in the boardroom
•        Able to bring some flair to proceedings
•        Grammatically correct
•        Skilled enough to achieve the vision of the agency

It became one of our most read posts. So, by popular demand, here are five more skills to look out for:

1. They know your industry. When you’re trying to explain the company strategy, it helps that the writer understands the context. If they don’t, it can be a right rigmarole. And it’s not just about saving time. Industry experience also allows the copywriter to better fine-tune director statements, draft annual reviews, outline risks and take smarter editorial decisions on content. Come to think of it, that all saves time too.

As a writing agency we’ve written for almost every sector including finance, energy, pharma, insurance, retail, FMCG, mining, automotive and technology.

2. They have the right attitude. Writing annual reports can take the patience of a saint. Trust us. Last September we delivered a CSR report for a FTSE 150 company. The kick-off meeting? That took place the previous November. But it’s not all staring at the inbox. After weeks of inactivity, tight deadlines can suddenly strike. You need a copywriter with the attitude to cope.

Can screenwriters teach copywriters any tricks?

'I'm gonna have to let you go Jack, that copy was terrible'.

So what if the average company’s marketing budget falls short of Lindsay Lohan’s nightly bar tab? Scrub away the stardust and screenwriting and copywriting are more alike than you might think. In fact, many of the Hollywood tricks used to script a compelling viewing experience are transferable to your communications...

‘Show don’t tell’ is the ultimate screenwriting mantra. Audiences believe what they see characters do. So if you want to portray a boy’s love for a girl, show him making a sacrifice. Think Leo in Titanic or Hugh in Four Weddings.

Great copywriting is demonstrative too. Readers are suspicious of claims because they know you’re commissioning the communications. Evidence is vital. So by all means, make your claim -- but you better follow it up with proof. Our CSR report for Land Securities shows you how this works in practice.

Are overseas companies let down by their English?

Some of the world’s largest companies are headquartered in countries where English is the second or even third language. And it shows in their messaging. By using non-native speakers of English to write their websites, companies risk alienating Western buyers and customers. So why do they do it?

Total Quality Qontrol [sic]

Those aren’t my words. Honestly. It’s a chapter title from a book on an Indonesia airline.  Not great. But as the side panel shows, there’s worse out there.

So what’s going on here? Are foreign companies entering Western markets unaware of how important a well written website is? Because they need to be. The website is the new shop window, often forming our first impressions of a company. And in business, first impressions are vital.

A pernickety bunch

Out West, one misspelt word can be all it takes to deter a potential client. Sloppy communications are seen as a sign of unprofessionalism and lax quality control. And with only the website to go on, it leaves the potential client wondering: how deep do these issues go? The product? The service?

Business emails - surviving the inbox

The inbox is a dangerous place for business communications – full of shysters, spammers and the occasional piece of interesting content. All ruled by a tyrant with a trigger-happy delete finger. This post will help ensure your emails survive long enough to deliver their message – while our top tips will help you convey it more effectively.

Did you know that 294 billion emails are sent every day? That means over 70 million were dispatched in the time it took for you to read that sentence. And, while the vast majority of these will be offering almost unbelievably good job opportunities and cut-price pharmaceuticals to consumers, millions will be sent to, from and between businesses.

There’s no doubt about it, since Ray Tomlinson – a bearded US programmer – sent the first one in 1971, emails have become a vital part of our working lives.

Do I have space for good manners?

I like to think of emails as something of a hybrid between a letter and a text message. As a piece of direct correspondence, from one person to another, they need to be personable – like a letter. After all, you’re usually addressing the recipient by their first name and always entering their personal inbox. Yet, unlike their handwritten counterparts, emails need the economy of a text.