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Marketing tagged posts

Copywriting tips – Personalisation vs Over-Familiarity

March 24, 2015, Posted in Copywriting, Marketing | 6 comments

Journalist Colm O’Regan wrote a rant for the BBC online magazine  raising the issue of what he sees as overly familiar email and website text. In the article he raises umbrage with the overuse of his first name and copy which adopts an overly familiar tone.

For some time now online marketers have been stressing the importance of ‘personalisation’ when communicating with customers because people tend to respond better to messages directed specifically at them. However based on O’Regan’s experiences, it would appear some copywriters have taken the concept too far.

Picture of a man receiving a free hug - example of over familiar copywriting

It may seem warm and cuddly from your side but overly familiar copywriting may not be as well received as you hope.

Over familiarity can be threatening

We all know that our every online move is tracked by various advertisers with ...

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Surviving International Creativity Month

January 8, 2014, Posted in Copywriting, Marketing | No comments

January, apparently, is “International Creativity Month”.

“A month to remind individuals and organizations around the globe to capitalize on the power of creativity,” claims the originator Randall Munson [his spelling, not mine]. It’s easy to understand Munson’s rationale. A new year offers a blank canvas onto which we can paint innovative solutions to our pressing business problems.

A picture of a coffee cup filled with coffee beans - the ultimate magic beans for improving tech copywriting and creativity

I like to think that these particular beans have magical powers to improve tech copywriting and creativity.

Unfortunately many of us are still recovering from the post-Christmas blues, the relentlessly bad weather and the prospect of trying to increase turnover in a perpetually sluggish economy. January is about as grey and uncreative as it gets.

As a “magical keynote speaker”, Randall Munson probably has un...

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#MI1020 – When Microsoft got marketing right

December 30, 2013, Posted in Marketing, Product Review | No comments

After heavily criticising a Microsoft marketing failure, it seems only fair to praise them when they manage to pull off a success. In this case, I’m talking about the #MI1020 viral campaign run in London to promote the new Nokia Lumia 1020 smartphone.

What was #MI1020?

#MI1020 was run in conjunction with Gingerline – an events team who specialise in themed dining experiences. The concept behind a Gingerline event is simple; people turn up at any London Overground station between Islington and Crystal Palace and wait for a text message containing instructions of where to meet. They are sworn to secrecy, and left completely in the dark to maximise the surprise when they finally arrive.

The MI1020 Secret Tasting Facility

The MI1020 Secret Tasting Facility

When they reach the rendezvous point, guests are then given additional c...

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“Scroogled” – When assassination by copy fails

November 29, 2013, Posted in Copywriting, Marketing | 2 comments

Some time ago I wrote a short series of articles about different copywriting techniques you could use to distinguish your business from the competition. One of those techniques I named “Assassination”, because the aim was to discredit your competitor through unfavourable copy (or by being downright nasty).

Apparently software giant Microsoft didn’t read that article before launching their new “Scroogled” campaign though. “Scroogled” is a multi-channel assault on search giant Google, criticising their approach to collecting and mining personal data. The Scroogled campaign has appeared in print, on TV, online and on billboards. Most surprisingly of all, Microsoft even saw fit to launch a range of Scroogled merchandise, available from their US website.

A Scroogled mug from Microsoft

An example of Scroogled merchandise from...

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Marketing Fail – UK City of Culture 2013

June 7, 2013, Posted in Marketing | No comments

Do you know which was the UK City of Culture in 2013? If not, there is no reason to feel bad because only 6% of the population could correctly identify Derry as the holder of this prestigious title.

The Derry City of Culture 2013 logo

Derry is the City of Culture 2013. Not many people know that.

The idea behind the scheme is to encourage people to visit towns and cities they may have previously ignored by organising “cultural” events over a 12 month period. According to Derry hoteliers business is booming, but on the mainland the public remains relatively unaware of the events. Which is pretty poor considering Derry has had since 2010 to plan and publicise their year of cultural glory.

The Derry organising committee seems to have made two major mistakes in their marketing efforts, failing to publicise before the year of cult...

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