A veteran marketing writer and editor spills the beans on truth in marketing, truth in advertising, and what makes good copy in the non-profit vs. corporate world.
"Client Posts" Archive
What do we know? Our rock star clients (see us bow down before them) are the ones texting product marketing and the field.
Field Note #2: What We Really Want From Marcomm
What does the field marketing team really want from great marcomm? Compelling offers that can help hook prospective customers.
Take Me to Zee Casbah, and Let Me Write Your Newsletter
If copywriters were actors, we’d be the sort who love rococo accents and false noses, like Laurence Olivier or Meryl Streep. We at the Content Bureau take pride in our ability to switch writerly guises and voices from one assignment to the next—heads-down white-paper financialese one week, eco-minded web copy for a sustainability initiative the [...]
Field Note #1: The New Sales Funnel
Sometimes I’m alarmed by how much business terminology, particularly in sales and marketing, borrows from the brutal lexicon of warfare: words such as strategy, tactics, campaign, and force (as in sales force) each hearken back to Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. The field refers to a battleground, where troops use tactics to attack the [...]
Death of a (pharma) salesperson?
Custom marketing materials make it easier for physicians to educate their patients about the Food & Drug Administration (FDA)-approved uses and benefits of the drugs they prescribe. However, some physicians believe that those who distribute these materials—the pharma reps—provide little value beyond giving out free samples, branded “swag,” and educational materials. In fact, their efforts [...]
Making Your Case: A Guide to Compelling Customer Case Studies
I recently took a stroll down memory lane—and tripped and fell. The occasion was a look at some of the first customer case studies I ever wrote, way back in 1992. Rereading those pieces, it turned out, was not exactly a pleasant excursion—more like visiting an embarrassing relative. I was relieved no one else would [...]
