‘Spank those naughty little oxidants’
Creative communications from London
London: How can I miss you if you won’t let me go?
After presenting a writing workshop for TELLABS UK and CCGroup last month, I was treated by a volcano to an extended stay in London.
Although by day 12, my clothes almost made me vomit, I was grateful for my extra days in London. How could you not love a city where the art museums are free, the restaurants are glorious, the train is never more than two minutes away and all the men are more handsome and charming than Jude Law?
Plus: the communication! I saw some brilliant stuff in the land of Shakespeare and Milton. Here are a few of my favorite things:
Give great verb
When it comes to your headline, the verb is the story. The sexier the verb, the sexier the story.
That’s why I love the cheeky verb in this headline, from Vitaminwater:
“Spank those naughty little oxidants.”
Before you write your next headline, use Visual Thesaurus to find the most stimulating verb for your story.
What’s in a name?
Is the name of your company fluent — that is, short, easy to pronounce, easy to rhyme and maybe even homophonic? (Shut up. I said homophonic, as in sounds like another word.)
If so, you might try wordplay like the Tate museums. Tate plays with its name for twists of phrase like:
- Tate a Tate — member get-togethers
- Taste of Tate — museum restaurants and cafes
- Tate to Tate — the Thames boat shuttle from the Tate Britain to the Tate Modern
How can you apply this approach? Use RhymeZone.com and Phrase Thesaurus to transform your organization’s name into clever twists of phrase.
Compare it
Analogy makes your benefits more tantalizing by making them more tangible. So use metaphor and simile to make your concepts concrete.
ING Direct, for instance, makes its mortgage process more alluring with this analogy for its competitors’ approach:
“A mortgage application that can take just 25 minutes. It’s a mortgage application, not a thesis on quantum physics.”
And Confused.com makes its discounts more tempting by making them more concrete with this promise:
“Save a guitar on your car insurance.”
To make your benefits more compelling, make them concrete.
Back in a flash
It’s great to be home (though my cat is no longer speaking to me). But after a couple of nights in my own bed, I’m ready to return to London.
Just with different clothes this time.
Play with your words
Want to master the art of making your copy more creative and engaging through wordplay?
- Get it off your desk: Invite Ann’s team to write creative copy for your organization.
- Polish staff skills: Bring Ann to your organization for a Make Your Copy More Creative workshop.
- Boost your own abilities: Work with Ann to polish your creative writing skills with one-on-one writing coaching. And find out about Ann’s next creative writing webinar.
- Join the club: Get the whole story in the latest issue of Rev Up Readership. And find dozens of tipsheets on playing with your words at RevUpReadership.com.
- Learn more: Get free writing tips every month when you subscribe to our e-zine.
About Ann Wylie
Ann Wylie is president of Wylie Communications Inc., a training, writing and consulting firm. She works with communicators who want to reach more readers and with organizations that want to get the word out. Wylie is the author of RevUpReadership.com, a toolbox for writers, and Wylie’s Writing Tips, a free e-zine. She has earned more than 60 awards, including two IABC Gold Quills, for her work.
Copyright © 2010 Ann Wylie. All rights reserved.
