Consider this quote from Seth Godin: “Connections we make are more powerful than connections made for us.”
This isn’t just something Seth says. His statement is supported by lots of research. It follows that we can create more powerful communications by opening up space for others to make those connections.
Of course nobody wants their well-crafted message to end up like a MadLib, and so we resist allowing others to fill in the blanks.
Yet, those who can make it work for them get results. I’m making efforts to bring this idea, not just to advertising taglines but to:
All marketing communications (from Web copy to Web site concepts that allow users to make connections)
Communications with clients (in proposals, meetings, one-on-one interactions, creating more spaces for others to draw connections)
Interpersonal communications at work (can I be a better mentor if I open up a dialog rather than giving my opinion?)
I attended ASCO last month to get a sense of how various companies are handling the new fair balance guidelines, to check out the Boehringer Ingelheim booth for which D2 Creative provided rich media, and to see how other pharma companies are using interactive media in the trade show setting.
With their hands tied by regulatory minutiae, pharma’s media is traditionally several steps behind other industries from a storytelling perspective. It is in the area of technology where pharma is much more free to flex its creative muscles.
A huge, international meeting like ASCO is exactly the type of showcase where one would expect to encounter the latest, greatest media wizardry. Granted, ASCO attendees are an unusually learned audience who are most interested in the science, but they interface with technology just like the rest of us. And when technology enters the fold, the importance of usability—and the user experience—cannot be ignored. (more…)
A colleague here at D2 Creative forwarded this great YouTube video to me yesterday. Not only is it entertaining from a visual perspective the subject matter is really very interesting.
The video primarily focuses on what motivates people to succeed at work. It is common to assume that money motivates people. It turns out that assumption is dead wrong! The video features white board animation (think UPS commercials) set against a presentation given by author Daniel Pink at an RSA event. If you’ve got 10 minutes I highly recommend you watch it.
Quote of the Day (from Seth Godin, that eminently quotable guy…)
“Sorry that this e-booklet is so short. Actually, if I hadn’t spent so much time on it, it would be longer.”
How many times do you edit your written communication [not just proposals, print, web copy, but even brief e-mails] before it is ready for release? What “rules of thumb” do you use when you edit? Do you try to make sentences shorter, ideas clearer, remove unnecessary words? Do you remove entire sentences or subjects if they are about you instead of about your audience?
Here’s how to tell if you’re using a good method to edit: in most cases, the finished product should get shorter…and shorter… and shorter, until it’s as short as it can be and still express the essential ideas you need to get across.
Yesterday I attended a lecture by Jonah Lehrer, who is, first of all, way too young to be so smart. He talked about the confluence of science and art (extending some of the ideas in his book, Proust was a Neuroscientist). One of his premises is that the reason art is valuable in our culture is it helps us to think about thinking, or “metacognate.”
Reflecting on my job, I realized that one thing I do is to use the elements of fine art (visuals, sound, text) to short-circuit metacognition. You could say that one definition of good marketing is to get people to jump directly from the reception of a message, to acting on the message, without the intermediary step of rational thought. (My social media counterparts will argue with me a little there, I think).
The paradox is that although I spend my day working out how to get people not to use their prefrontal cortex, I do it by spending a lot of time thinking about thinking. How do people behave? How do they react? What motivates them? What are the subconscious associations someone will have when reading one phrase vs. another phrase? When seeing one image vs. another image? My business is to persuade and to bring about behavior change.
I have always gotten a kick out of metacognition (I recognize this, now that I know what it’s called). There are those out there who are proud of being “Joe Sixpacks,” who would label me an “intellectual” (ouch!) or “navel contemplator.” I am now able to point to the practical uses of metacognition in changing behavior. I could even go farther and predict that (if we creatives are as good as I think we are) those of us who don’t metacognate are going to be increasingly controlled by those of us who do. In fact, I think it’s already true.
Just as I hit the “publish” button of my last post, this column was published in the Atlantic. The author, Michael Kinsley, says that most newspaper articles are too long. Those of us who are used to writing for the Internet know that you have to get to the point quickly, and kick to the curb all the rules you learned in journalism school (such as: use descriptive adjectives and action verbs, don’t repeat words in a paragraph, don’t use colloquial language). The article dissects sentence-paragraphs from the NYT and The Washington Post as examples. (Next week I am going to take apart the Atlantic whose writers could often use a stronger-willed editor.)
Use simple language, simple sentence structure, call a spade a spade, write it like you’d say itandremove every single unnecessary word.
Your reader is not a captive at the breakfast table or on the subway to work. He or she is only going to keep reading for a few more seconds, till someone walks into his office with a question or IM’s her a link to a cool YouTube video, or till his smart phone rings.
This is the third in a series of postings about writing copy for Web sites. I promised to provide guidelines for writing tight and concise copy. Here they are:
Define your Goals before you write. Every site, or every area of a site, should have one of the following goals:
I was on the phone with a prospective client the other day and a familiar question came up, “How do I create search engine-friendly content?” It’s a good question, and if you have a Web site, you should be asking it. My answer starts with this simple, two-step search engine optimization (SEO) content strategy approach.
Think about how your content can help visitors move through your site
Make your site structure mirror that approach
Work from GENERAL to SPECIFIC; BIG to SMALL. Search engine friendly content leads the visitor (whether it’s a reader or search engine spider) along. It both educates and directs. (more…)
In my last post I talked about four overarching ideas to keep in mind as you write for the Web. Here and in my next 2 posts I’ll help you with some specific content guidelines.
The first four guidelines relate to:
Length
Organization
Audience
The Three Ws and one H
Length
+ Headings: 8 words or less (shoot for less!)
+ Sentences: 15-20 words
+ Paragraphs: 40-70 words
+ Page word count: 250+ words
Remember, these are guidelines. Don’t include unnecessary copy. You may even look at a page and decide it doesn’t need any body copy, just a heading and some navigation. (more…)
A lot has been written about writing copy the Web. Copywriting for Web sites doesn’t need to be intimidating. In fact, you can follow many of the same guidelines as for print copy. However there are a few key ways in which Web readers are different than print readers and this will affect your copywriting. In this series of postings I will explain (and, I hope, exemplify) how to write Web site copy.
Clear, Concise, Organized, Directed
Keep these four ideas in mind as you write. (more…)
I’m kind of a sucker for great packaging. If I don’t consciously mind myself while looking at things, I can end up buying something just because I like the way it was packaged.
Creativity is a cruel mistress delicate tension of form and function, the order depending on who you’re talking to. (more…)
Something kinda messy. This story isn’t exactly new, but a brand’s mis-steps are hard to erase from consumers’ minds and it’s a great case study of the way social media plays a truly powerful role in raising awareness and effecting change. (more…)
Well, wouldn’t we all love to unleash more creativity…
Thomas Edison said that genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. I am not discounting the perspiration part, but especially in times of stress we sometimes forget to leave room for the 1% that fuels the other 99. Particularly if your job does not involve using Photoshop or After Effects, you may not realize how much creativity goes into what you do. But there is creativity in all human endeavor. Sometimes great benefit can arise from creative ideas that may far outweigh the effort involved. Whether it’s an idea that enables two people work better together (even if they don’t work for me), finding a better way of phrasing a concept in a proposal, or completely rethinking how we do business with a particular client, all these solutions come, not from hammering harder at the idea, but sitting back and accessing a more creative part of my brain. (more…)
When we develop training applications, clients are sometimes taken aback that we want to consider their overall business and brand objectives, their sales goals, and to know the competitive advantages of their products, and sales challenges. We see that training applications can represent a great sales opportunity and we want the training that we create to move your company forward and give you great ROI. (more…)
When people give tours of D2 they usually show people my couch. It’s a pretty plain couch - half of a sectional, kind of patched up and it cost $100. Is it so unusual? Do people assume because you are comfortable you can’t be working? In fact, we have great meetings in my office. You have to get there early to get a spot on the couch (hehehe). Because the couch is so comfy, people aren’t as likely to jump up and say “is this meeting done?” I believe it has a certain therapeutic effect - people seem to come in to blow off a little steam, that’s always good for company morale.
In order to work hard you need to be able to relax as well. It’s nice to think that we can put our brains in gear and just focus on work for 8 hrs (or more!). I personally am more creative and effective when I get some on/off time. It’s essential to provide a good place for people to relax at work. If they love their work they’ll be ready to get back to it when their minds have cleared.
eth says. His statement is supported by lots of research. It follows that we can create more powerful communications by opening up space for others to make those connections.
When people give tours of D2 they usually show people my couch. It’s a pretty plain couch - half of a sectional, kind of patched up and it cost $100. Is it so unusual? Do people assume because you are comfortable you can’t be working? In fact, we have great meetings in my office. You have to get there early to get a spot on the couch (hehehe). Because the couch is so comfy, people aren’t as likely to jump up and say “is this meeting done?” I believe it has a certain therapeutic effect - people seem to come in to blow off a little steam, that’s always good for company morale.
