Need to come up with a strapline that really sums up your company? Think carefully before going the way of the alliterative triplet.
Alliterative triplets are straplines where three words are chosen not because they capture the very essence of the brand they describe, but because, well, they just happen to share the same initial letter.
They’re the corporate equivalent of the bad poem that rhymes for the sake of it. (more…)
I’m very excited to have a letter in today’s FT. If you’ve ever been tempted to use the word “anticipate” as a synonym for “expect” (or felt grouchy at people who do) do take a look at it here.
Sometime last year our traffic wardens became “civil enforcement officers”. Actually, there had been an intermediary stage I’d missed when they were known as “parking attendants”.
Such inflationary language is, as ever, clearly laughable. (more…)
I’m pleased to announce that the winner of Friday’s strapline competition is Lucy Nixon. Here’s the winning entry:
That was fun! Here are my guesses:
1. Just do it
2. Think global; act local
3. The best a man can get
4. Every little helps
5. Refreshes the parts other beers cannot reach
6. It could be you
7. A Mars a day helps you work rest and play
8. No Financial Times, no comment
9. Let your fingers do the walking
10. The Future is Orange
Glad you found it a fun exercise, Lucy – we are clearly kindred spirits! A copy of Strunk and White will be winging its way over to you soon.
It’s always a good idea to get inside your clients’ heads, so I’ve taken 10 famous advertising slogans and translated them into bad corporatese. Can you work out the straplines the copywriter came up with after being sent these clunky first drafts by the guys from corporate? (more…)
Are you a manager or a leader? I bet I could tell you which one you are from your writing style. (more…)
Request, please. When you’re emailing me, please don’t use the words “advise” and “revert”.
Nothing wrong with those words, you may say. True enough. If, that is, they’re used correctly. (more…)
Think you don’t need a writer involved in creating your marketing collateral? The people behind these three logos were clearly too interested in the design of the things to care about how they might read to an outsider. (more…)
Last week I reflected on the tendency for business types to favour the invasive-sounding “into” over the correct “to”. Today, I turn my attention to another preposition you should be careful with: “around”. (more…)
Firstly, thanks to everyone for putting forward your suggestions about why the sign in yesterday’s post might annoy me. (more…)
