Category Archives: Brand

Apostrophegeddon

By tom | Published: 07/05/2013

Writing is not about rules, but communicating ideas. Any company that rejects a job application because of a misplaced apostrophe is barking up the wrong tree. The most original thinkers I work with struggle to tie their shoelaces.

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Sorry tale

By tim | Published: 05/04/2013

These printed apologies demonstrate one thing very clearly – when a company has its back against the wall it turns to words not pictures.

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On authenticity

By Patrick | Published: 24/01/2013

There is, as far as design is concerned, a problem in that authenticity is perceived by many as being reliant on the final outcome of the act.

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50 shades of sorry

By tom | Published: 21/01/2013

Sorry is one of the most subjective words in the English language because it can be infected with so many nuances. Far from expressing genuine contrition, governments, businesses, public figures and (sorry about this) you and me use apologies to divert attention, manage expectations, resuscitate reputations, and even implicate the victim. 2013 has already seen [...]

Also posted in Business, Celebrities, Colloquialisms, Copy analysis, Families, Jargon, Media, Politics, Relationships, Storytelling, Tone of voice, Vocabulary, Writing | Tagged | 1 Response

Noisy perfection

By tom | Published: 26/09/2012

I am sitting in the Bodleian Library with Dr Christopher Fletcher, a Fellow of Exeter College, member of the English Faculty and Keeper of Special Collections. On the table between us is a yellowing manuscript of translucent pages inscribed with a neat copperplate script in brown ink. It is the autograph draft manuscript of The [...]

Also posted in Art, Authors, Books, Business, Campaigning, Copy analysis, Education, Families, Free speech, History, Photography, Politics, Reading, Storytelling, Writing | 3 Responses

From the heart

By tim | Published: 04/09/2012

“Brand is not a communication issue,” says Olins, “it is an issue of communication plus behaviour plus product.”

Also posted in 26, Advertising, Business, Design, Tone of voice, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 25 Responses

Heavenly bodies

By tom | Published: 08/08/2012

A hop, skip and jump from the Olympic VIP entertainment suites where regimes with appalling human right records are enjoying a break from torturing their citizens, is a simple, humble encampment of Eelam Tamils. Gobi Sivanthan is on hunger strike to raise awareness about Black July, 1983. According to Tamils Against Genocide, this is the period [...]

Also posted in Business, Campaigning, Design, Education, Families, Free speech, Health, History, London, Politics, Storytelling, Writing | 1 Response

The noise of waters

By tim | Published: 25/07/2012

The Thames Water van was on a street nearby. ‘We love water’ suggests these providers of London-based aquatic solutions are making a noble effort to sound friendly and engaging.

Also posted in Business, Copy analysis, Jargon, London, Photography, Plain English, Tone of voice, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Responses

Back to Midtown

By tim | Published: 19/07/2012

If you’re going to promote an area’s links with great writers, you have to do better than ‘The Bloomsbury Set, based in the area included Virginia Woolf and E.M. Forster.’ It doesn’t even make sense.

Also posted in Advertising, Authors, Business, Copy analysis, History, London, Tone of voice, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Responses

Tosh?

By tim | Published: 09/05/2012

‘A pun does not commonly justify a blow in return. But if a blow were given for such cause, and death ensued, the jury would be judges both of the facts and of the pun, and might, if the latter were of an aggravated character, return a verdict of justifiable homicide.’ Oliver Wendell Holmes The [...]

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