Good Copy, Bad Copy
Doris and Bertie’s blog dedicated to helping you find and keep your business writing mojo!
Are jargon-weary investors ditching Apple?
Investors, it’s been claimed, are out of love with Apple.
Guest post: LG’s smart advertising
I doubt anyone’s really going to misinterpret it, but LG invited me to be smart.
How self-important corp-speak could lose you sales
We spotted this van outside a building site across the road from Doris and Bertie towers.
Don't use that tone of voice with me!
On finishing a delicious Doris and Bertie power lunch from itsu yesterday, I was confronted with this image.
Who wrote this pompously ponderous prose?
If you can bear to, take a look at the following paragraph. It's from a PhD submitted to the University of Cambridge in 2000.
Windows 8: how not to sell it to me
The autumn 2012 issue of British Telecom’s TechKnow plopped through my letter box yesterday.
Discover the ultimate cliché experience!
The copywriter entrusted with this ad from Bombay Sapphire clearly wasn’t feeling “infused with imagination” on the day she dredged up from her psyche this sorry piece of work.
Editor required!
Apparently, 34 people have already applied for the chance to “define key taxonomy and contextual in-line journey content across all key touch points of the customer lifecycle”.
JJB Sports: were investors put off by their bad business writing?
Yesterday, the retailer JJB Sports went into administration after it failed to secure a buyer.
Euphemism alert: “active waist”
It’s a design feature necessitated by the presence of a distinctly inactive waist.
Euphemism alert: “custody suite”
One distinct downside of the privatisation of public services is the ever-creeping presence of marketese.
Beware this word "unprecedented"
The campaign was, it says, conducted with "unprecedented care and precision".
Clinton Cards: proof that bad writing is a sign of a bad business?
We believe there’s a big link between how you write and how likely you are to succeed in business.
A cliché as individual as you are
Think twice before you choose to pin this tired old strap line to your product.
Three quick tips for writing a totally pointless press release
We’ve been a bit upbeat on this blog lately. . .
Business writers: show, don't tell
If you’ve ever taken a creative writing class, you’ll be familiar with the phrase “show, don’t tell”.
Evasiveness: the number-one corporate value
Have you noticed how so much business English is written in a bizarrely evasive style?
Ethically dubious business? That's no reason not to talk about your corporate values
Be sure to include a couple of touchy-feely corporate clichés in there.