Monday, April 26, 2010

Finding the goal when writing copy

A professor once told me that in order to write effective copy, it must be equal parts business and poetry. Find the balance, he said, and you'll write copy that kills.

It's something that I always strive to do. Make the reader remember the copy, but remember the brand as well. Let the readers get lost in thought, just a little, but make the cash register ring.

Unfortunately, at best it is difficult to do. At worst, I forget to do it. It is so simple to remember to marry the creative and business side. But it can sometimes stop me in my tracks, too.

I came across Lorraine Thompson's blog comparing writing copy to acting, and it was a perfect metaphor for my goal when sitting down in front of a blank computer screen. As someone who has done a little stage work (a little) I'm familiar with method acting. Comparing the goals of a copywriter to Brando was simple, fitting, and in a word, perfect. I wish I would have thought of it. But I guarantee that I'll remember it.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Social media... it's cheap, it's easy, it's social

Recently, we re-designed a website for a daycare facility. The owner is a very nice lady who handles everything, and I mean everything, at the school. When we met her, she was carrying a monkey wrench and had just finished doing some plumbing work.

We talked briefly about how to differentiate the school, what kind of content and graphics she wanted, and about her dogs, which accompanied her to work every day.

She was open to every suggestion we made, and was really intrigued when we discussed using Social Media in her branding efforts. No one else did that. It was a great opportunity, one that could really show potential clients how they differed from franchise daycare operations. It would give the parents the opportunity to keep up with what their kids are doing on a daily basis. And it would allow them to supply parents with any industry information they thought was important.

We set her up with a blog page, a Facebook page and a Twitter account. She would write the blog with our help. The Facebook page would be used only for photos and additional branding tool and would require very little maintenance. We can put everything on autopilot so that tweets and blog entries are automatically sent to Facebook. We suggested that her teachers and administrators should send out one tweet per day.

That's where our plan came unraveled.

She didn't want her teachers accessing computers to complete the task. Fine, I said. Have them tell the administrator on duty or the receptionist and let them take care of it. She didn't want them to have to dedicate the time to the task.

I made a prediction to my partner at lunch that when we were out of the picture the blog would never get written. He agreed, adding that they were missing a great opportunity to really make an impact with potential and existing clients. It takes 30 seconds to send out a tweet. Eight rooms, that's four minutes a day. I couldn't convince her to spend that time to promote. Writing a blog would take 15 minutes a pop, but for arguments sake, let's say 30.

In less than an hour, she could add value to a client's experience, increase traffic, more effectively brand her business and differentiate her facility from her competition. All at a cost of ZERO DOLLARS. Even if we did all of it for them, it would be $60 a week. (We're cheap.)

Social media is an opportunity to keep your customers engaged. It is mass marketing, but directed at the individual. It's cheap. Wait... it's FREE! It doesn't take much effort, but it does take some effort. It's simply an opportunity to brand a business by presenting the unique characteristics of it. Most of all, it's social. Get it? "Social" media?

Our client's website is successful. They are benefiting from an increase in traffic of more than 50% and are adding about three new clients a month. But the blog page is blank. Facebook is only used for pictures and the Twitter account is not active. They have a trickle of new business when they could have a stream.

I think our client has really missed the opportunity to more effectively promote the business. I think the next time a potential client asks about social media, I'll show them the math.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Changing Tiger's Stripes

The new Tiger Woods Nike spot has been described as edgy. I'll use a different term: Risky.



Tiger Woods has been in the news a lot over the last six months, and it's not for playing golf. Unless you've been living in a cave, you know about his infidelity, his treatment for sex addiction, and the laundry list of sponsors who have dropped him.

Except Nike.

Like his wife who stays by him, the company is gambling on Tiger, maybe because they quite simply don't know what else to do. The future of his public image depends largely on his ability to keep his personal life together.

So Nike's creative team put together a new spot featuring the voice of his dead father asking a silent Tiger if he's learned anything. I'll admit, it left a bad taste in my mouth. I think Nike is taking a big risk. If it fails, Nike's demographic just became golfers who cheat on their wives.

Far be it from me to criticize someone who makes a decision to try to keep a marriage together. If I was Mrs. Tiger's friend, I'd say "You'll be OK if you decide to end it. You're beautiful, rich and you have options."

If I was the creative director for the Nike account, I'd say the same thing to them.