Articles: marketing

This tag covers the layer that is easy to skip. It is about what a printed piece says, and to whom. Many of the articles begin from the same observation: advertising works better when it talks about the reader's situation than about the history and structure of a company. Short, well written copy can rescue an average layout. It rarely happens the other way round.

Copy that stands on its own

The recurring topics are about writing and choosing:

• one strong message instead of a list of every service,
• cutting copy down so the specifics survive and the adjectives do not,
• talking about price so that it is not the only argument left,
• customer reviews and project stories presented credibly,
• humour and 'before and after' comparisons - when they help and when they backfire.

All of it comes down to one question. Will the reader understand the message in a few seconds, without anyone explaining it.

The carrier matters too

The rest of the set compares forms of contact: a leaflet worth keeping, a catalogue, a disc, a useful gift and online advertising. The point is not to crown a winner. The point is to see what stays with the reader longest, and at which moment it reaches them. Print and online come up side by side as well, without any claim that one rules out the other. Hence the pieces on measuring effects too - codes, separate addresses and simple ways to find out where a customer came from.

If you are planning something new, begin with the article on finding one message. Choose the format afterwards - matching a carrier to a finished idea is easier than the other way round. It also helps to agree in advance how you will know it worked.