Copywriting

Virgins, Football Clubs and SPAM filters

Have you had that thing happen to you where you mail someone to ask why they haven't replied to a mail you've sent them, and they reply that they have indeed replied, but that you never seem to receive or reply to anything they send you?

If you have any kind of SPAM filter turned on or SPAM rules applied in Outlook, go check the folder to which the filter diverts suspicious items. There, more than likely, you will find the missing items.

I had just such an exchange this afternoon with the Head of Comms at a company with whom I'm talking over a project. I couldn't see any reason at all why mail from the lady in question was being dumped in the SPAM, while that from her colleague was arriving safely.

And then I checked my filter rules, including those that I set up to remove 'e-porn' spammers. Guess what. The rules had picked up the first two syllables of the client's name, which happened to be Virginia, and decided to mark her correspondence as suspect.

"Fine", I hear you say, "but that is a total one-off!"

But it isn't.

I have a friend who used to run an e-com business which provided some functionality to the websites of Premiership soccer clubs.

Not much good to him, then, that the list of 'suspect' swear words pre-installed in his mail checker took exception to the 'Arse' in 'Arsenal'; which club was, by virtue of his contract with what was then Granada Media, one of his 2 busiest sites.

Two Words

I went to see a new client. Only our second meeting. 8.30am.

I pulled into their car park a few minutes later than I'd have liked, looking for where it might be OK to park. You don't want to park in other people's spaces at the start of the day.

I was on the last minute. I glanced at some sign cards positioned at the head of the nearest spaces, expecting to read 'DO NOT PARK' or 'DIRECTORS ONLY' or, if I was lucky, 'VISITORS'.

But there, on the card at the head of the third bay, was my name. Totally unexpected. In big, clear type on a sheet of A4, slipped in behind a transparent cover.

Suddenly I know i) where to park; ii) that they haven't forgotten our meeting; iii) that the person I am meeting with cares enough about meeting with me to sort out a place for me to park and iv) that this is a company that takes care over details.

That's copywriting. 2 words, and only someone's name at that, doing 4 jobs beautifully.

Is blogging really a marketing activity?

Blogging amazes me. And scares me. I'm a far from expert blogger, and the purpose of this blog makes the spontaneity which makes the medium so powerful seem inappropriate. But I love blog reading. I love the uninhibited candour of those who can and will get up and share the contents of their mind with strangers. I love the edginess of their blogs. I love the vigour and sexiness. I have frequently found myself brought to tears, made to laugh out loud or placed in sheer awe of the writing skills and unexpected enthusiasms of the authors. But is blogging really a business skill?

In a large business, I'm not certain that it is. The endevour of blog producing will always be likely to seem contrived, as though something essentially 'free spirited' has been coerced for commercial gain.

But not so in a small business. The blog of a hairdresser, or a painter and decorator, or a software developer, or an accountant or, dare I say it, a copywriter, can be personal, informative and image building. It can establish authority in the field and introduce the author to a new, loyal and affectionate readership some of whom may, in time, become customers.

If you plan to blog on behalf of someone else, as a copywriting task, be warned: it's very hard indeed to simulate the passion of ownership which good blogging requires.

But if you plan to use it as a tool in your own business, then go ahead. If you get it right, you'll enrich the world.

Padding

I am cracking through a client web project. The client has supplied his own copy draft for every section, along with an indication of how long he sees each section ending up. (The draft is useful, in as much as it does contain the info needed for each section, already sourced and collated.) I have, however, no idea how he arrived at these proposed lengths. Reading through his draft reveals that a subject in which he has, say, two short points to make, will be wrapped up in so much repetition and what I assume he imagines to be 'business-speak', that it spins on to five or six paragraphs. It is, of course, unintelligible. The answer is always to say what there is to be said, clearly and without fuss, and then move on. Any piece needs to be as long as it needs to be. After that it's waffle.