Video. If you listen to any of the marketing experts today, you’ll hear them preach how video is the “next big thing.” Even though it’s pretty much been a big thing since the advent of television. Video is important to marketing for a couple of reasons. First, it’s the shortest route to storytelling. You can say what you need to say in :30 seconds, whereas it might take considerably more time for someone to read the same content. Time is the most valuable…
Six hundred billion dollars. That’s how much brands around the world spent on advertising in 2014. $600,000,000,000 to get people to notice, engage, and, ultimately, buy things. It’s particularly interesting when you consider that at its core, advertising is propaganda designed to get people to do what you want them to do. And boy are there a lot of ways to advertise. Print will tell you that it’s as strong as ever. Radio too. And outdoor. The direct mail guys…
“Dad, can we have a Halloween party?” Sure. But you have to plan it. “How?” Start from the beginning. First, pick a date. Then consider the guest list and budget. “A budget?” Yes, it’s the thing that helps pay for the party. For example, what are people going to eat? “I don’t know, hamburgers and hot dogs?” Right. So we need to know how many of those things to buy to accommodate the guests. That requires money. Money that your…
I recently sat down for coffee with an old friend from the advertising business. “So I looked at your website, and I’m just not sure what you do, Jim,” she said. I gave her a quizzical gaze that, if it lasted another second, could have been misconstrued as sarcasm. “Well, I’m in marketing,” I said. “But it’s not clear on your site. Are you sure it’s not something social media related?” Another gaze. “No,” I said. “I mean, yes, of…
Sometimes being a copywriter is like being an archaeologist. Only, instead a mastodon graveyard in Utah, one of the best assignments for a copywriter is writing taglines. A tagline is a succinct phrase that represents an organization’s core value while working in concert with the name and logo to form a powerful branding tryptic. Taglines can be either descriptive (“Nothing Runs Like a Deere”) or a call to action (“Just Do It.”) Some people call them slogans, but to me…
“Johnson, get in here.” Johnson appears like magic in front of the CEO and snaps to attention, his hipster beard vibrating with excitement. “We need a new sales strategy. I hear that this content thing is effective.” “INDEED SIR. CONTENT MARKETING IS THE LATEST TREND AND IT’S SOMETHING WE SHOULD IMPLEMENT RIGHT AWAY.” “No need to shout, Johnson,” the CEO says. “Ok, get back to me at 4 p.m. with your strategy to make this happen.” “SIR YES SIR,” exclaims…
