Here’s a story that can be interpreted either as a doom-and-gloom report on the demise of two beloved forms of communication—newspaper journalism and indie movies—or as an optimistic rah-rah for innovative marketing. As optimistic marketers, let’s go with the latter.
"Writing We Love" Archive
You thought these posts would all feature The New Yorker, didn’t you? Guess again.
Southwest Airlines Blog: Corporate and On-Message, But a Fun Read
If you’ve ever flown Southwest Airlines, you know that their corporate image is about having fun and embracing the inner goofball, while seriously and professionally moving you from point A to B. Witness the singing flight attendants, the gate agents that crack bad jokes, and the former CEO who challenged a competing exec to an [...]
Fun with Newspaper Corrections
From The New York Times, December 24, 2009: “A picture caption with an article in some editions on Tuesday about continuing transportation problems after the weekend snowstorm misidentified the location of a pile of slush in the Bronx. It was on Fordham Road, not Fordham Avenue.” Anyone else share my love of journalism corrections—especially fabulously [...]
Speech-Crafting Lessons from the White House
Regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum, it’s hard to deny that President Obama has brought powerful speech-giving back to the White House. Much of the credit goes to Obama himself. The award-winning author is heavily involved in the drafting of his speeches—and packs a punch with his delivery. It is also clear [...]
Writing Titles That Hook the Reader
Those first six or seven words on the cover can be the hardest part of writing! To make sure readers keep reading, we need snappy, ultra-compelling titles and sub-headlines that are also relevant, informative, and comply with corporate branding guidelines. Stuck in a rut? Here are some tips for getting out. . .
The very best style guide reference books
If you’ve read the fabulous Grammar Queen’s post on creating a corporate style guide (and if you haven’t read it, do so right now), you know you must make some decisions about how your organization crosses the t’s and dots the i’s. However, you can’t possibly list every grammar or style rule in your own [...]
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Friends, It’s time for a little spooky fun. What do we love to read during Halloween week, but is too scary for the kidlets? The Legend of Sleepy Hollow If, like me, you’re on the West Coast but missing a NY fall, page 12 is a must-read. If you must jump straight to the chase, [...]
“After Deadline,” The New York Times
If you want to learn how to write clean copy, fast and under the gun – for marketing or any other arena where clarity is valued – the best training is in a big-city newsroom. (Assuming there are any such jobs left in journalism, but that’s another story.) Those of us lucky enough to have [...]
Splendora
We are a serious technology marcomm copywriting agency. That doesn’t prevent us from going gaga over great consumer-focused advertorials authored by the genius girlfriends at Splendora of San Francisco. CEO Gina Pell describes Splendora’s voice: “We’re Cat Deely meets Tim Gunn.” Plus a lot of Gina. Sassy first—to grab your attention. Then informative. You can’t [...]
USA Today
USA Today. McPaper. The newspaper with the cutesy graphics and not much copy. The one you trip over when you leave your hotel room, and the one you take from the flight attendant when they’ve run out of the Times or the Journal. USA Today gets no respect. Agreed, it’s nowhere near as satisfying a [...]
