Creative writing

Communicate, don’t decorate, for creative content marketing

Creative copy can attract or distract

“Prose is architecture. It’s not interior design.”

— Ernest Hemingway, Nobel Prize-winning novelist

Study after study shows that when you add interesting, concrete details to your message, people remember them — sometimes to the exclusion of less fascinating, more abstract ideas.… Read the full article

Help people remember with acronyms

Create a mnemonic

First there was FUBAR: F***ed Up Beyond All Recognition. Now, thanks to the Urban Dictionary, we also have PHOBAR: PHOtoshopped Beyond All Recognition.… Read the full article

Best practices for organizing magazine articles [Example!]

Romance meets finance in this feature

How do you organize a compelling feature?

Model this piece, which Loring Leifer wrote for Northern Funds’ marketing magazine, Northern Update.… Read the full article

When to use adverbs and adjectives

‘Applewood-smoked bacon’ just tastes better

Turns out a Southwestern Tex-Mex salad by any other name would not taste as good.

Vivid menu descriptions — “applewood-smoked bacon,” “Maytag blue cheese” and “buttery plump pasta,” for instance — can increase restaurant sales up to 27 percent, according to research by Brian Wansink.… Read the full article

How to write in detail

Steal tips from these holiday messages

Hey, we know. Thanksgiving was so November 2015. But we couldn’t resist sharing these delicious holiday messages from two of our brilliant clients.… Read the full article

Incubation in action

If all else fails, run out of gas

When George W. Bush speechwriter David Frum had worked at the White House for about a week, he got an assignment to write a speech alerting the country that a serious recession was about to begin.… Read the full article

Play twister

Four steps to twist of phrase

“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.”

— Jack London, American author and adventurer

Some people are natural-born phrase twisters.… Read the full article

Metaphor at work

6 reasons analogy is more persuasive than literal language

Metaphor is more persuasive than literal language: It’s been proven in the lab.

Make that 41 labs over more than 50 years.… Read the full article

Up close and personal

Metaphor creates intimacy, builds understanding

People who read metaphors are more likely to understand what someone else is thinking.

Or so say Andrea Bowes and Albert Katz, two researchers at the University of Western Ontario (London).… Read the full article

Turn programs into people

Bring stories to life with human interest

Quick! Which would you rather read?

Do your associates consistently provide extraordinary service, deliver superior results and develop lasting relationships with our customers, communities and colleagues?

… Read the full article