Category Archives: Tagline

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

After Michelangelo sculpted his statue of David in Florence in 1504, he was asked how he created such a masterpiece? “It’s simple. I took away everything that wasn’t David,” he replied. Viewing the magnificent more than four metre David, it’s obvious Michelangelo is being slightly disingenuous. But his ‘simple’ idea to remove the unnecessary bits … Continue reading Simple is better…but hard to achieve

Do the first few words you use to describe your company accurately reflect who you are? Are you able to hold your hand on your heart and honestly say “this is us?” Or do you have a degree of embarrassment that your first message is closer to fiction than reality? Because the simple fact of … Continue reading Lipstick on a pig, versus naming your pet pig

Once, the following terms were new and fresh. But, as everyone starts using them, abusing them, they become overused, they become ignored. These words actually make it harder for people to understand you – which is ironic because they originally were meant to do the opposite. Audit, tax and advisory services firm Grant Thornton recently … Continue reading Use these words at your peril (or…how quickly terms become overused)

We all have different concerns, issues and requirements we’d like solved in some way. Many of us are selling products or services to answer such concerns. And the simple fact is, we may have only one chance to alert a person you’re the one who can be of use. How do you ensure you’re exactly … Continue reading Messages that matter dissolve resistance