If you’re Nike, with millions of dollars to throw at advertising, you can afford to promote an aspirational slogan. “Just do it” is a psychological reminder to be and stay active, with added sweat. Naturally, Nike hopes you’ll carry out such athletic activities in their kit. Their messaging is an oblique reminder of their brand. … Continue reading Just do it?…most of us can afford aspiration
The start of your website story is directly equivalent to a headline. And while the first words a stranger reads may not be news as such, this is how we should treat them for a visitor. It is the statement that encourages them (or not) to find out more. It is the encapsulating summary of … Continue reading It’s a headline…shouldering lots of heavy lifting
Imagine you read, “XYZ company, delivering creative solutions collaboratively, while empowering intelligent customer synergies”. Do you have a clue what they do? Have any of the words they’ve used to describe themselves provided points of difference compared to competitors? Would this first statement encourage further exploration of a website? The answer is unlikely – unless … Continue reading Why generic words are meaningless
So, if you’re looking to create your first, most important story, how do you go about it? Or, you’re looking for the name of a project or report, what process should you use? Alternatively, you’re wanting to give yourself a dynamic campaign title, and need a way to nail the caption. Many people adopt a … Continue reading Brainstorming is the wrong answer to the right question
What makes a slogan, tagline or value proposition valuable? Simple…it only requires two components. Those two are – what makes you distinctive and what makes you desirable? It needs to be as succinct and poetic as possible, expressing why you’re just that little bit special, in words which are novel yet familiar. And if you … Continue reading Your value proposition only needs two things
What makes a slogan, tagline or value proposition valuable? Simple…it only requires two components. Those two are – what makes you distinctive and what makes you desirable? It needs to be as succinct and poetic as possible, expressing why you’re just that little bit special, in words which are novel yet familiar. And if you … Continue reading Your value proposition only needs two things
Google’s pretty useful. It is difficult to imagine the internet without its all-pervasive presence. But trying to overly appeal to its search algorithm is an ugly way to craft your first story. Indeed, if one of the ultimate truth tests of your primary message is to respond to “what do you do?”, then attempting to … Continue reading Keywords according to Google do not a story make
Any business could create its narrative from many different objective viewpoints We all, as a business have different stories, different parts of our whole. But we can tell only one. Deconstructing your business to find your One Central Truth is necessary to unearth who you are. A Million Dollar Message emerges from a structured chaos … Continue reading A business is invariably many stories…but you can tell only one
Hairdressers seem particularly prone to them – “Hair today, gone tomorrow”, “Hair apparent”. Garden landscapers are often close behind – “I dig gardening”, “Gardeners know all the dirt”. We’re talking puns, word play which hopefully raises a smile (as an aside, the language knowledge needed to understand a pun is very sophisticated. This is because … Continue reading Put a pun in your first message at your own peril
Sometimes we all need to stop – and take the time to look up. A colleague’s friend recently went to watch her son’s school cross country race. Naturally she cheered her son across the finish line. And having given him a compulsory congratulatory hug, she was about to leave. It was about then she realised … Continue reading Taking the time to look up