Randy Parker

Archive for the ‘creative’ Category

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A (rib) bone to pick with Forbes and Memphis’ “miserable” status

In copywriting, creative, marketing, tradition, writing on March 2, 2010 at 8:13 am

Forbes magazine ranked Memphis third most miserable city this year. In case you think that Memphis is nothing more than crime and Elvis, barbecue and paddlewheelers, put down that pork rib and listen up.

Memphis has a lot more than rock-and-roll; we’ve got the NBA pick-and-roll. The Civil War and civil rights. Beale Street joints and Broadway shows. BBQs and corporate HQs. In Memphis, we’ve got soul. We sit on the porch and sit in the stands. We sit in the center of the U.S. population, delivering goods and services faster than anybody, thanks not to the paddle wheeler but the FedEx jet. And that muddy Mississippi? It happens to roll past some of the best-tasting artesian well water on the planet. This is the real Memphis, one rock-a-billy, hip-hop, can’t stop kind of place. Here you can find yourself or find a cure for cancer. We’re a lazy trolley ride. We’re bustling crowds. We’re a walk in the largest urban park in the nation. Looking for a place to live, work, learn, play, and explore? Read on. We’ll have you right where we want you.  Here with us.

Find your place.

Memphians live in downtown lofts with views of the Mississippi, in suburban colonials with big yards for the kids, and in Craftsman foursquares near park amenities and our world-class zoo. We share lush, tree-lined thoroughfares and white-steepled churches. We share synagogues, temples and mosques. We share upscale shopping and a low cost of living. We share more sunny days than the folks in Miami. And we share what we have with those less fortunate. In fact, Memphians were recently named some of the most generous people in the nation. Here, it’s not a matter of where you want to live but how. You’ll find your place in Memphis.

Roll up your sleeves.

Work brings a lot of people to Memphis. What kind of work do you want to do? Shipping or logistics? Information technology? Biotechnology or health care? Manufacturing?  It’s all here. FedEx, Delta, AutoZone, International Paper, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and many more high-profile employers create exciting and dynamic career opportunities. Want to strike out on your own?  Entrepreneurship thrives here. In fact, Inc. magazine has listed Memphis as one of the best cities in the nation for starting and growing a business. The arts, education, government–they’re all great ways to earn your keep in Memphis. So roll up your sleeves and join us.

Take a desk.

Wonder if Memphis is a smart move? Progressive city and county school systems along with more than 30 private and parochial schools offer a variety of educational choices. We have more than 20 universities, colleges, and professional schools, too, devoted to everything from health care to religion. Memphis is home to the FedEx Institute of Technology at the University of Memphis, the medical colleges of the University of Tennessee, and Rhodes College, consistently listed in the top tier of best liberal arts colleges by U.S. News and World Report. In Memphis, you’ll find plenty of opportunities to continue your education or earn an advanced degree.

Go out and play.

When you are ready for some fun, so is Memphis. Check out NBA Grizzlies basketball, AAA Redbirds baseball, pro hockey, PGA golf, and professional tennis. Visit historic attractions dating back to 1807. Enjoy unique museums and compelling art galleries. Discover our musical heritage. See the pandas and the 3,000 other animals at the zoo. Head south to the casinos of Tunica. Party at Memphis in May events and other world-renowned festivals. Shop at specialty boutiques and regional malls. Enjoy nightlife that lasts ’til dawn. Tired yet?

Discover something new.

Ah, the great outdoors. Memphis is close to lakes, rivers, and streams perfect for boating, fishing,  paddling and exploring. State parks provide excellent camping. Biking and walking trails abound, especially at Shelby Farms, the largest urban park in the country. The Wolf River Greenway and the Memphis Greenline will soon provide miles and miles of uninterrupted hiking, biking and skating bliss. Want to wonder a bit more? A great variety of exciting destinations lie within a day’s drive, including the Smoky Mountains, the Gulf of Mexico, and the South’s other great cities. explore the finer things, too: botanical gardens, professional theater, Ballet Memphis, the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, and Opera Memphis.

Welcome to our town. Once you get settled, put on your blue suede shoes and just start walking in Memphis. Oh, and go ahead and eat that pork rib.  Now that you know the real Memphis, it’ll taste even better.

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Wordnut writes several 2010 Addy Award winners

In Advertising, advertising strategy, copywriting, creative, marketing, writing on March 2, 2010 at 6:40 am

I am proud to have conceived and written a number of Memphis Addy Award winners this year, including winners in the following categories: full page color ad in a consumer or trade publication, color brochure/print collateral, and interactive self promotion in the public service category. The consumer ad also won Best of Show–Print! In addition I “concepted” and wrote the materials for a campaign that won numerous awards for its outstanding photography and art direction. As always I am very grateful to my clients who allow me to be a part of their successes (and earn a living in the process). Here are a few of the winners (if you are reading this on the home page, click on the title above to take it full screen so you can actually see this stuff):

The ad

The brochure.  Instead of the usual brochure, it is a collection of cards. The theme is “What will you build?” Each card covers something important you can build when you print on Carolina paper, such as store traffic, sales, pride, respect, profits, and so on.

The campaign for a silly contest for a paper company in which designers were asked to submit photos of themselves looking super serious.

To see the see the winning interactive entry, go here.

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New Charmin commercial wipes some the wrong way

In Advertising, advertising strategy, copywriting, creative, marketing, strategy, writing on February 11, 2010 at 2:10 pm

Medical commercials are bad enough. The ED commercials embarrass the devil out of me even as I wonder why anybody would have two separate bath tubs side-by-side. In a field, no less. But the new Charmin toilet tissue commercial? It just grosses me out. I’m talking about the one in which the bear mom examines the bear cub’s rear with a telescope. (Looking for asteroids, I assume.)

I have always disliked the overly cute bears and their butt-rubbing antics, but the newest spot is even worse. It goes into detail about how Charmin is stronger so it doesn’t leave bits of tissue you know where. Have any of us been all that concerned about it? Do you bring up this sort of thing to your friends?  Can we not have some decorum? Can we not infer that a stronger tissue is good without going into details?  Do we have to “draw a picture” for everything? On national television? Well, you might argue, it is a problem and they are in the tissue business. But something tells me they enjoy it just a little too much.

In fact, that’s where I really draw the line–at their new slogan: Enjoy the go!

Enjoy the go? Call me anal retentive, but that’s the last straw. And the last roll. Turn the other cheek? I don’t think so.

I’m switching to Northern.

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Best Super Bowl Commercial

In Advertising, advertising strategy, copywriting, creative, marketing on February 8, 2010 at 9:35 am

This one.  No idiotic beer parties. No supermacho car stuff. No people in it, either. Yet it is the most human by far.

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Spreading the joy with a video Holiday eCard

In Advertising, advertising strategy, copywriting, creative, marketing, writing on December 16, 2009 at 10:11 am

Click here to see the Holiday eCard I wrote for the talented folks at Oden who put it all together and made it just right. A word of warning: you might want to get a tissue.

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Going crazy over going verdant

In Advertising, copywriting, creative, ethics, vocabulary, writing on December 2, 2009 at 2:39 pm

If you ever listen to NPR, no doubt you hear how the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is “committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world.”  That word “verdant” always makes me smile. Why? Because every company on the planet is talking about sustainability and going green. Believe me, I know. I’m writing environmental statements, composing sustainability reports, and naming green initiatives on a regular basis. Everyone is talking about it, and yet we are all looking for ways to communicate our sustainability in some original fashion. It seems everyone is looking for their own shade of green.

Unfortunately, that isn’t sustainable. I mean, we’ve already run out of words, haven’t we?  Take your pick: sustainability, green, eco-this or environmental-that.  Oh, and verdant. It’s like somebody at the MacArthur Foundation said, “whatever you do, don’t use the word GREEN!”

Recently I wrote a sustainability brochure for a major corporation. We wanted to talk about sustainability in three contexts: environmental stewardship, financial accountability and social responsibility.  So I came up with this snappy idea: People, Prosperity, Planet.  Nice, huh? My client thought so. In fact, she wanted to turn it into the name of their program. Just one problem.  Well, perhaps a half-dozen problems. My client Googled it and found those three words strung together all over the internet, sometimes in that exact order. In fact, one company had the nerve to trademark it.

So, my advice is this. Spend less time avoiding the word “green” and more time finding the real truth in your sustainability messaging. You are probably not “saving the planet.” So it isn’t wise to exaggerate. Don’t greenwash. Make sure your sustainability message is believable (because what you are saying is true) and substantial enough to be notable. Whether you think global warming is a hoax or a threat, it’s best to err on the side of environmental responsibility from a marketing standpoint, so don’t be afraid to address the needs of our environment in constructive ways. You may not be Al Gore green, but you can at least muster up a good chartreuse. And remember, it’s not so much what you are doing to ensure a sustainable future that’s important.  It’s what you can help your clients do that resonates most.

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What is writing?

In Advertising, copywriting, creative, language, marketing, writing on October 28, 2009 at 5:32 am

What is writing, anyway? Every once in a while I have the opportunity to speak to a class of design students at the University of Memphis about writing and about how writers and designers interact in the world of advertising and marketing.  I always ask that question. What is writing? One student replied, “words on a page.” Typical but wrong. That would be typography.

Writing is connecting disparate ideas. It is organizing information to tell a logical story. Writing comes from recognizing the complex relationships between words and how your choice of words affects meaning and understanding. It is controlling and manipulating language to achieve a desired effect.  It is communication.

But most of all, writing is thinking made accessible to others. You can’t really write until you learn how to think.

What I have tried to impress upon the students is that writing doesn’t necessarily involve a lot of words. In the advertising business we engage in an activity called “concepting,” in which we come up with the big idea and invent just the right vehicle for communicating our message. Sometimes that concept is 50% headline and 50% visual, but it is always 100% writing.  Here’s an ad I just wrote for FedEx that hardly has any “words on a page.” Its mission is to remind Memphis Grizzlies fans that FedEx is the official sponsor, and that FedEx is as enthusiastic about the team as they are. The thinking, in this case, is being conveyed by the photograph. What better way to show FedEx fanaticism than bobbleheads in the cockpit?

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That’s Rudy Gay and OJ Mayo, in case you can’t make it out in this small rendition. Bobbleheads in the cockpit make for an arresting image and convey the idea that FedEx isn’t just a monetary sponsor; they are dyed-in-the-wool fans.  These days the hapless Grizzlies could use more of those.

Making something look good is aesthetics. Making people understand?  That’s writing. Whether you use words or not.

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So what is a Wordnut, anyway?

In Advertising, copywriting, creative, writing on August 31, 2009 at 6:46 am

Certainly, you might infer that a wordnut is one who is nuts about words. But when it comes to my business, I like to think of it another way. The word is a kind of nut, the seed of everything. The beginning of thoughts, ideas, and opinions. From words come sentences, claims, and promises. Out of words grow respect, trust, and understanding. Sure, I am nuts about words. But I am also a planter of  words, sowing them in rows so that they grow large in the consciousness of the customer. I plant the seeds from which success can spring. Who wouldn’t be nuts about that?

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Advertorials: the genuine article

In Advertising, advertising strategy, copywriting, creative, marketing, strategy, writing on August 25, 2009 at 5:55 am

An advertorial is a hybrid of advertising and informative editorial content. At worst, it is created to deceive, to make the reader believe it is a journalistic addition to the publication. This, of course, is why you so often see the word “Advertisement” posted at the top of the article by the publication.  One recent example of advertorials gone amuck is the full page ad appearing in newspapers across America for miraculous flameless fireplaces housed in genuine Amish-crafted mantelpieces. Perhaps you’ve seen it. (And if you actually bought one, I’d love to hear about it!)

Their over-the-top approach probably worked to sell fireplaces, but it is no way to build a brand.

At its best, however, an advertorial can be an effective component of a marketing strategy, taking what might ordinarily be a conventional advertising space and using it to inform the reader about a product or service in more detail or, even better, to inform the reader about an issue or problem that’s important to him.

For several years, I have written an ongoing series of  advertorials for a bank in Nashville. It appears every month in the Nashville Business Journal and features a different bank expert who dispenses information and advice. Rather than just hawk the bank’s products and services, it focuses on issues that are important to  business owners, CFOs and the like–the people who read the Journal. For example, when the federal government increased FDIC insurance from $100,000 to $250,000, I worked with the expert to write an article about how the change would affect readers. In another article, we covered the escalating costs of real estate in Downtown Nashville and what it meant for developers and builders in need of financing.

These advertorials are easily recognized as bank ads. But they are a soft sell. They offer real content and added value to readers while positioning the bank and it’s employees as experts in the field and a ready resource of up-to-date financial information and services.

In an industry like banking in which competitors offer very similar services, interest rates, etc., success comes from relationship building. A good informative advertorial can be the foundation on which new relationships are built.

A compelling call to action

In Advertising, advertising strategy, copywriting, creative, strategy, writing on April 27, 2009 at 11:10 am

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Found this at Good Slogan, Bad Slogan. Not a tagline that engenders confidence, perhaps, but it is fun.

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Hire a copywriter on the front end of a project

In Advertising, copywriting, creative, headlines, writing on April 17, 2009 at 11:26 am

I am often asked by clients to look at an existing copy doc and make it better. They say it needs a little “editing.”  Or they ask if I could just “massage the copy a bit.” I do what I can, of course. But more times than not, it’s like Quasimodo asking me to massage out that little kink in his shoulder.

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Sometimes, the copy is given to my client by his client or boss, and my client quite rightly wants it to be better.  Many times, the copy has been written by someone in house who really isn’t a promotional or persuasive writer.  To save a little money, I presume.  Or “try their hand” at it.

They have the headline and the visual and the copy, but for some reason the copy just isn’t working out and, well, could I just take a look at it?  Many times, the problem is a bad headline or the concept (or lack of one) is poor; it doesn’t really communicate what’s important or, worse, tries to be cute to the detriment of meaning. Let me tell you, a bad headline can never be fixed with good copy. In fact, a bad idea will make your copy cry out in pain, no matter which masseuse you take it to.

When clients ask me to “massage the headline,” they really need a new one. And when they ask me to “edit” a really long, poorly written document, they need a complete rewrite.  Sometimes they know this, of course, but believe that calling it “editing” or “massaging,” instead of “writing,” will make it cheaper to fix.  It doesn’t.

Editing for grammar is one thing. But figuring out how to make someone else’s writing logical, compelling, engaging, persuasive and smart? That’s rewriting.  And nine times out of ten, this kind of “editing” takes longer than it would have had the client given me the raw information and let me write it from scratch. Even worse, the result is always a compromise.

Do yourself and me a favor. Hire me on the front end.  Let me be an architect.  Not a repairman.

I once saw a rough-and-tumble girls’ high school volleyball team wearing t-shirts that said, “Friends don’t let friends cheer.”  Rather hurtful, I guess, to their spunky, short-skirted, undulating classmates. But I can appreciate the attitude.  So if, in a moment of frustration,  I tell you that your (or your client’s) attempt at concept/copy is sub-par, remember, I’m being your friend.  I just want you to know that you can save money–and save face–and maybe even save a client–by hiring a good strategic, conceptual writer in the first place. Do that, and no one gets rubbed the wrong way.

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A marriage

In Advertising, advertising strategy, copywriting, creative on April 16, 2009 at 5:22 am

I fretted for days. Ran it over and over in my head. I had been asked by a friend and colleague to speak to his class of design students at the University of Memphis about copywriting. And I was downright nervous about it.

Such a task might not be a big deal for some. For me, though, it was a little different. Back when I attended the U of M, getting my master’s degree in English and teaching freshman and sophomore classes, I dreamed of a career as a professor. But because of all sorts of issues, I chose not to follow through with a PhD.

College teaching, then, has always been the road not taken. The big shoulda woulda coulda of my life. But last night I had the opportunity to do what I have wanted to do for years, to marry the two distinct lives of my adulthood–my academic life and my professional writing life. Apart for 23 years, they came together for a couple of hours at my alma mater. And it was a good match.

I was a professor. I didn’t profess advertising. I professed the importance of writing. We talked about what writing is, what copywriting is and how copywriters and art directors work together. The students listened. Asked questions. Laughed. It was as good as I could have possibly imagined. They were wonderful.  And I was grateful to my friend for giving me the opportunity to see if I still had that penchant for teaching.

I do.

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Is Bud Light good? No, but it’s “drinkable.”

In Advertising, advertising strategy, copywriting, creative, language, marketing on March 23, 2009 at 4:45 am

Drinkability.  That’s the claim to fame of Bud Light these days. Which, when you think about it, is truth in advertising, isn’t it? They don’t say it’s delicious or better than other beers, which might not be believable. No, they proclaim proudly that it’s, well, drinkable. And while I, a champion of the Reinheitsgebot beer purity law of 1516, might think a beer should actually taste good, perhaps that’s not what most beer drinkers care about. Is it drinkable? Sure. In the way that antifreeze isn’t, I suppose.

It’s one thing for your product to be poor (and most mainstream American beers have been poor since prohibition); it’s quite another when the advertising can only muster a “well, it’s not going to kill you” tagline. That’s when you know you’ve reached the bottom of the longneck. The bar at the bar has been set low. “Hey, don’t give me any of that undrinkable stuff. I’m looking for drinkability in my beer!”  But then again, when your beer tastes like somebody already drank it, I guess that’s all you can say.

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Coining words for fun and profit

In Advertising, copywriting, creative, language on March 12, 2009 at 5:19 am
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New York Times

A copywriter is charged with the arduous task of arranging our relatively small shared vocabulary in new ways so that the words sound fresh, command attention and compel the reader to act. Sometimes, though, we get to play around with the 26 letters, themselves, the building blocks of communication.  We get to make up words. Lewis Carroll is perhaps the most famous practitioner of this art (read it out loud so your co-workers can hear you):

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JABBERWOCKY

‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

“Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!”

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought –
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought

And as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! and through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

“And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!”
He chortled in his joy.

‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

Of course, Carroll wasn’t trying to sell anything.

The closest I every came to Jabberwocky in advertising was a radio spot I wrote forty-eleven years ago for a shopping center that featured a lot of upscale stores. I simply strung the store names together in a wild adventure story, and to do that, I took great liberty with some of them, turning them into verbs or even odd creatures.  Looking back, I’m not sure how I got away with that.

Most of the time, words coined in advertising are combinations of existing words or parts of words, so that the meanings are still understood.  Many company names are created this way. I have used the technique to help name companies, products and services.  But it is not easy to find a combination anymore that isn’t already being used.

Not too long ago, I wrote some materials for one of International Paper’s brands, Carolina.  The client wanted to exalt the paper’s versatility and utility to graphic designers, who take very seriously the choice of paper on which their work will appear, and to tap into the designer’s creative spirit and sense of personal style.  Working in conjunction with ODEN, a frumious, vorpal, and infinitely talented design and marketing firm in Memphis, I came up with a new paper attribute:

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YOUTILITY

It’s a fun, personal, customer-focused word to describe a paper that’s as versatile and expressive as the designer, an extension of his imagination, style, and so on.  (The girl’s not half bad, either). Was it original?  If you mean, did we come up with it on our own, then, yes.  If you mean, were we the first to come up with the combination, then, probably not.

Regardless, it was–and still is–a fresh approach in the paper industry squarely focused on the target’s need for versatility and maximum artistic expression.  And, of course, we weren’t naming a company, just establishing and defining a unique, differentiating product attribute. What other paper has youtility? In this, Carolina stands alone.

Snickers candy is doing something similar right now. They are using attributes of the candy bar to create new words that describe the taste and experience of eating a Snickers. They call their language “Snacklish.” Their website Snickers.com links you to their Facebook page where they teach you Snacklish. Words like nutliegence and chewconomy. Most of the words don’t do anything for me, although nougativity is a great one.

The use of Facebook is interesting and a good example of how marketing efforts are starting to include social media. Snickers has almost 40,000 Facebook fans, by the way. People with bad teeth, I suspect.

Wikipedia says the snack was named after the Mars family’s favorite horse. But I’m not so sure. Remember the word in the much older Jabberwocky: snicker-snack? Coincidence?  Perhaps.  But it just goes to show you how hard it is to come up with anything new.

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Want to promote your business? Get over yourself.

In advertising strategy, copywriting, creative, marketing on February 19, 2009 at 3:54 pm

That’s the first thing I tell a new client. Stop blah, blah, blahing about your employees’ 3,000 years of combined experience and your ability to do this and your knowledge about that and your corporate mission statement and your past successes. IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU. It’s about your prospect. What does he want? What does he need?

Instead of telling your prospect that you are great, show how you can empower him to be great. Instead of telling him how many clients you have, tell him how much business you can help him win. It’s a simple shift in thinking, outward instead of inward. And it involves knowing your prospect well, what his concerns are, what his goals are. Don’t talk in general about how you are a problem solver. Identify your prospect’s problems and offer solutions. Here’s a typical example of what I’m talking about:

A commercial real estate company that helps clients find or develop suitable office and distribution space wanted me to revamp their website copy. The original was mostly inward, about the company, in fact the headline was:

Experience. Strength. Performance.

Generic words like these are rarely compelling because they really don’t say anything. What’s the quality of the experience? How much strength? What kind of performance? There’s such a thing as poor performance, after all. And, most importantly, what do these words have to do with the prospect?

The new headline:

Ultimately, you’re not looking for a business building. You’re looking for a way to build business.

Okay, now we’re not talking about ourselves; we’re talking about the prospect, to the prospect, and at the same time showing that we understand what they really need–to be more successful. The supporting copy then reinforces the idea:

. . .we understand that you need more than distribution, manufacturing, or office space. You need better efficiency, added flexibility, a superior location, room to expand, and a whole host of other requirements that can make the difference in your success. That’s why we work hard to forge strong relationships with each of our clients, serving not merely as a landlord but as a real landlord partner. We can look beyond the usual and the ordinary to find or develop the perfect fit: a building for your business that will allow your business to build.

Sure there are plenty of “we” in this but also lots of “you.” Put the two together and you start to engage the reader one-on-one. You start a conversation. And that can lead to a relationship.