We humans are pretty good at linguistic ambiguity. We’ve been mastering the art of communication through words since the day we were born – it’s our life’s work. Emojis, however, are a bit of a plot twist. It’s been hundreds of years since the common man had to rely so heavily on pictures to interpret […]
Any small business is likely to tackle web copy at some point, and translating the words from a Post-it to a living, breathing web page can be a messy process. As the point of a business website is to get people to call/sign up/buy, every bit of content has to be in a tidy and […]
For the last 10 or so years, we’ve all been blinded by the shining light of goodness that is Innocent’s tone of voice. So fun, so quirky. They’ve had a very good run with their copy style and, although I’m personally quite tired of the schtick now (old and bitter, is what I am), they’re […]
Anyone producing content like blogs or knowledge articles is going to be aiming for good organic traffic. That’s kind of the point. And we know the rules, right? It’s got to be high quality, it’s got to be user-first and it’s got to be relevant to your audience. That’s all still true but, more and […]
Instagram launched its Stories feature in 2016 (to compete with Snapchat, obviously – come on, now). Although it’s never going to have that popularity, it is being used more and more as part of Instagram’s behind-the-scenes concept. The point of Instagram is to waste hours of your life peeping into other people’s lives, right? So, […]
Copywriters are smart people (what do you mean, I’m biased?). They’re so smart, they can listen to your vague directions and turn them into magic – but they do need those directions as a starting point for writing great copy. Here’s my outline of a brief you can give any copywriter and expect good results. […]
AKA: why you may not be able to write your website yourself, in a spare hour, with one eye on Britain’s Got Talent. Copywriting is way too important to skip over – and a lot of us are guilty of doing just that. Being able to write and being a writer are different things You’re […]
“Brand is a delicate dance between intended meanings sent by the company and perceived meanings elicited through customer responses.” Giep Franzen and Sandra E. Moriarty You’ve heard the one about the British car name that means excrement in Swedish, right? The road name in China that would make your Auntie Susan choke on her parsnips […]
We live in an age where you can pop into Tesco for some bottled water to put on your dining table because you’ve someone fancy coming round – and be faced with four shelves of options, half an aisle long. There’s your good old Ashbeck, Tesco’s own bottled-at-the-source offering. There’s Highland Spring in its nice […]
The year is 1999. The Spice Girls are riding high on a wave of faux feminism, Furbys are peak toy tech – and The Blair Witch Project just came out, shot with grainy camera phone grit. Authenticity, in the form of home-made and unpolished realism, has hit the mainstream consciousness. We are human every day […]