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MOLLY & BUSH’S MANHOOD (RATED PG-13)

April 8, 2010 by Scott Flood

Used book sales are one of the joys of life, because they appeal to two corners of my personality – the reader and the cheapskate. A recent find was a collection of Molly Ivins’s best columns. A native Texan, Molly was one of the sharpest, most fearless, most acerbic political writers of our time, and wherever she is, I’m sure she verified that there was a source of good bourbon before she agreed to go there.

In a column written during then-Vice President Bush’s 1988 presidential campaign, she recounted his tendency to activate his mouth in front of reporters before his brain was fully engaged (an affliction that must have been genetic). It’s a cautionary tale for politicians and writers alike about choosing your words and expressions most carefully.

A GHOST OF A CHANCE TO PROMOTE YOUR ORGANIZATION

April 6, 2010 by Scott Flood

Looking for a new way to promote your organization and build credibility among your audiences? Perhaps you need to find a ghost. No, I’m not suggesting you tag along with Scooby-Doo and Shaggy to a creepy island (besides, we know that the caretaker did it). Instead, consider the marketing value of ghostwritten stories.

KIDNEY THIEVES, TOILET SPIDERS AND SHORT COPY

April 1, 2010 by Scott Flood

Did you know that medical students are drugging visitors in a popular tourist spot and stealing their kidneys? Or that the toilets in a major U.S. airport are teeming with venomous spiders? Or that people don’t read anymore, so you need to keep your copy as short as possible?

MEANINGFUL IS FAR MORE POWERFUL THAN POWERFUL

March 30, 2010 by Scott Flood

Think that sending a more powerful message is the best way to get a rise out of your audience? It isn’t. Power focuses on the message, while the most effective communication focuses on the audience.

What people call “powerful” is often a form of communication by intimidation — and typically offers little more than puffery that people see right through. So much so-called “powerful” language has actually become trite, meaningless, and just plain weak through overuse.

YOU REALLY SHOULDN’T BE WRITING YOUR OWN COPY

March 25, 2010 by Scott Flood

No, I’m not questioning your ability to write. I’m suggesting that it may not make sense for you to handle your own writing projects. Why? Several reasons:

WANT TO BE LOUD AND CLEAR? WRITE FOR THE EAR

March 23, 2010 by Scott Flood

People accustomed to writing for the eye often don’t realize that writing for the ear demands an entirely different approach.

THAT NOT-SO-FRESH FEELING

March 18, 2010 by Scott Flood

I entered the advertising industry at about the same time that women began to play a much bigger role in the field. It was long enough ago that the only way for a woman to break in was behind a typewriter (yes, we still used those) as a secretary (yes, we still called them that). I don’t ever remember men being asked about their typing speed during job interviews.

As in so many other fields, the old boys were terrified about the effect these chicks and broads would have on their profession, but looking back, I think that women may have been the best thing to happen to advertising.

JOE SWITCHED THE BREAD

March 16, 2010 by Scott Flood

One of the most inane commercials I’ve ever seen dates back to my much younger days and a product called Beefsteak rye bread. I’d guess that it was somewhere in the early 70s, and while that time may have been considered creativity’s golden years, this one was as leaden as they get.

The scene was a construction site full of stereotypically macho men (this was pre-Village People). A grizzled journeyman is doing something to his young new co-worker’s lunch, and two other workers chuckle, “Look – Joe’s switched the bread on him.”

ARE YOU TELLING THEM WHAT THEY ALREADY KNOW?

March 11, 2010 by Scott Flood

Are you wasting precious time in ads, direct mail, and brochures telling prospects what they already know?

Instead, tell them what matters. Talk about benefits, not features. Don’t say your product uses a three-handled veeblefetzer unless you can explain what that will do for them. “The three-handled veeblefetzer lets you core twice as many radishes in the same time.”