brands
The day we went to Selfridges.
To speak not to shop.
Here’s Rob talking about stopping brand slop in Selfridges at an event set up by It’s Nice That. We were tickled that the soundbite flying around afterwards on Twitter was: ‘If you feel like a berk saying it you shouldn’t write it down. – Rob Mitchell’. We’re determined to bring the word berk back into [...]
Jargon isn’t the problem and ‘Plain English’ isn’t the answer.
Every year the Plain English Campaign gives out gobbledegook awards to the worst examples of incomprehensible writing at work. But most writing problems in an organisation can’t be solved with a Plain English crystal mark.
An open letter to Sir Richard Branson
Hello Richard, A lot of newspapers this morning are talking about how you’ve bought Northern Rock for a bargain price at the expense of us taxpayers. We’ll grumble to the chancellor about that. But seeing as you (and some private equity suits) have bought it, we hope some good will come of it. Richard, this [...]
Edit
Sales are down. Research shows you’re squeezed on all sides. It’s getting harder to pigeonhole your customers into a neat ABC1234 PowerPoint. Meanwhile, brighter, smaller, more nimble companies are snapping at your heels and stealing your thunder. So what do you do? Outwit your competitors and start developing newer, shinier products? Or do you edit?
How to sum up your brand in a line
How to describe your brand in a few words. How to make it really, properly, actually different. How to sell it in.
KC: local words for local people
‘Proud to be part of local life’ – that’s KC’s slogan. They’re a phone and broadband company in East Yorkshire. We’ve been helping them make these seven words into more than a line, so they can show how proud they really are to be a local company (without having to say it all the time).
Meet our new recruit
DEAR VALENTINE, THIS IS TO TELL YOU ARE MY FRIEND AS WELL AS MY VALENTINE. AND THAT I INTEND TO WRITE YOU YOU LOTS OF LETTERS… (From the Olivetti Valentine user manual.)
On the Underground. On the Subway.
Here are two ads from ING Direct. One’s from London’s Underground, one’s from New York City’s Subway.
Just don’t do it
We think we’ve uncovered a global conspiracy to make all straplines sound the same. American Express’ strapline used to be ‘Don’t Leave Home Without It’ and now it’s ‘Realise Your Potential’. They had a memorable line and now they could be anyone. If they swapped their line with Microsoft’s ‘Your potential. Our passion’ we bet [...]
What we did for PizzaExpress
In October we wrote the words for PizzaExpress’s ‘restaurant of the future’ in Richmond. And now the words are appearing in restaurants all over the place. Here’s what’s coming your way…