Stay Positive, Baby

There is a weakness inherent in the word “not.” We want our prospects and customers to stay positive about us. So, whenever possible, express negatives in positive form. Examples:

• Not honest = dishonest
• Not important = trifling
• Did not remember = forgot
• Did not pay any attention to = ignored
• Did not have much confidence in = distrusted.

Instead of telling your readers what is not, always try to tell them what is.

Copywriter's Checklist

• Does the copy fulfill the promise of the headline?
• Is it interesting / compelling? (Get opinions and feedback from others)
• Is it easy to read?
• Is it believable? (Always tell the truth)
• Is it persuasive? (Your job goes beyond communicating to convincing or selling)
• Is it concise? (You only have a few seconds to communicate and sell)
• Is it specific? (Provide facts, figures, benefits, savings, etc.)
• Is it relevant? (Speak to your audiences’ self interest)
• Does it flow?
• Does it call for action? (Tell your audience what the next step in the buying process is, and ask them to take it)

2009 Silver International Davey Award

Fredricks Communications, West Fargo, N.D. and Advertising Marketing, Fargo, N.D., have earned a Silver 2009 Davey Award from the International Academy of Visual Arts (IAVA).

The Davey Awards is an international creative competition focused exclusively on honoring outstanding creative work from the best small firms worldwide. It honors the “Davids” of creativity, smaller agencies and companies with annual billings or revenues below certain levels that “…derive their strength from big ideas rather than big budgets.”

The award, in the “Promotional, Invitations/Cards” category, recognizes “Time Flies,” an invitation that Fredricks Communications and Advertising Marketing developed for the Fargo Jet Center for its June 2008 open house. Contributors to the piece were Martin Fredricks, John Holland, Travis Kurtz and John Petersen.

The 2009 competition featured more than 4,000 entries from around the world. Winners included firms from across the United States and countries such as Germany, Kuwait and Singapore. Winning entries were created for high-profile clients such as GE, Walt Disney, Cracker Barrel and Red Bull.

The Davey Awards is judged by the IAVA, an invitation-only organization that consists of top-tier media, advertising, and marketing professionals from leading organizations and firms, such as Yahoo!, Estee Lauder and Polo Ralph Lauren.

Advertise & Market Your Way Through the Recession

Cut your advertising and marketing during a recession - like the one we're currently enduring - and not only will you lose sales during the downturn, but you'll be playing catch-up for years.

Common sense dictates that, since no one is spending, anyway, it's a waste of time and resources to try and get them to buy. Taking it further, conventional wisdom suggests, companies can save much-needed money by cutting marketing staff and expenditures.

Wrong, according to many business analysts. "You're cutting your throat now, and you bleed out over time," said marketing expert Hayden Noel in a University of Illinois news item in July. "The field is thinner because your competitors are spending less, so recessions are a unique opportunity to increase brand equity. With less competition, you not only can strengthen your base, but you also can attract new customers, primarily from competitors who reduced spending."

In backing this up, About.com cites studies of advertising activities during previous recessions. American Business Press found that, of the 143 companies it looked at for the 1974-75 recession, those that advertised during those years saw the highest growth in sales and net income during that period and for the following two years. McGraw Hill Research analyzed 600 business-to-business companies for the period of 1980-85 and found that those that continued to advertise during the '81-'82 recession "...hit 256-percent growth by 1985 over their competitors that eliminated or decreased advertising spending."

"At least a dozen studies ranging from 1923 through 1991 show nearly identical results," wrote Chuck McKay at Allbusiness.com. His reasons for maintaining or even increasing advertising and marketing spending during a recession –

• As the overall level of advertising drops, media responds by dropping rates. It's like "buying stocks at the bottom of the market."

• As the "noise" in your marketplace lessens, your "share of voice” increases.

• As timid competitors reduce or completely kill advertising spending, "...your 'share of mind' is often uncontested for months."

"Brand equity is intricately tied to sales," according to Noel. "So if you lose brand equity because you reduced advertising, your product isn't going to be top of mind and you won't be one of the products people think about - now or when the economy rebounds."

I’d Be Lying If I Said I Remember These Rules

Lay, lie, lain, lying, laid, laying…man, I can never remember how and when to use them.

Lay is a verb that means “to put” or “to place,” and it requires an object. Examples:

• Please lay the boxes on the pallets.
• He is always laying the blame on assistants.

Lie is a verb that means “to recline, rest or stay.” It refers to a person or thing as either assuming or being in a reclining position, and it cannot take an object. Examples:

• He lies in bed all day.
• The mountains lay before us.

If you’re confused – as I usually am – there’s a simple test you can use. Substitute place, placed or placing for the word in question. If it fits, use lay; if it doesn’t, use lie. For example, you wouldn’t say, “I will place down now,” so you should use lie.

Straightforward as a lie? Exactly.

Concise?

Funny thing (to me, at least) a couple of weeks ago…

I was working on content for a client’s quarterly newsletter. This isn’t Pulitzer caliber writing, but it pays the bills.

Generally, these stories highlight work that my clients have done and, whenever possible, they include quotes from my clients’ clients. As I tell my clients, it’s always better to have someone else saying something good about you than saying it yourself. I usually conduct short interviews with the primary contact at the company my client worked for to draw information and quotes. Once I have a draft done, I send it to that person for overall approval and to ensure the quote is what s/he actually wants to say.

In this case, the quoted person e-mailed me back, saying he had changed his quote "...to be more concise."

Thing was, the original quote contained 43 words; his new one contained 58.

The Magnificent Seven - References for This Writer

When I speak to groups, I’m often asked, “Which reference books should I have on my office bookshelf?” The answer varies depending on the writer. As for me, I wouldn’t do the job without these:

• Dictionary – Obviously.

• Associated Press Stylebook – Thanks to my former professor at NDSU, Lou Richardson, I learned how to use this invaluable little handbook. Since most news organizations in this region adhere to the AP style, I’ve done so nearly every working day since.

• The Gregg Reference Manual – Handy for just about anything you either isn’t in the AP or when the AP rules don’t fit your application.

• The Elements of Grammar by Margaret Shertzer

• The Elements of Editing by Arthur Plotnik

• The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White

• The Copywriter’s Handbook by Robert W. Bly – This is the one I refer to from time to time, but just about any book by a professional copywriter will do.

In addition, I keep handy a host of books – on advertising, brand development, copywriting, marketing, and sales – that I’ve read once and refer to from time to time.

Find the references that work for you, use them, and your work will be better for it.

NFPW Sweepstakes Winner

I learned last week that I am the winner of the Sweepstakes Award in the 2009 National Federation of Press Women (NFPW, also open to men) Communications Competition. This is the first time my work has won the top award; I've been first runner-up and second runner-up in previous years.

Awards were distributed last night in San Antonio during the NFPW's annual conference. Although I wasn't able to be there, the competition coordinator asked me to submit a message to be read in my absence. Here's what I submitted -


To my National Federation of Press Women colleagues:

Good evening. I hope you are all having a wonderful time in San Antonio. I am sorry that I cannot be there to enjoy your company and camaraderie.

I want to thank the NFPW for this honor. It is truly humbling and exciting to have my work recognized by my peers. It means a great deal to me.

When Karen Galanaugh asked me to prepare this message, she asked if I might have any words of wisdom to share. The truth is I couldn’t possibly tell this room full of accomplished professionals anything new. We all are very good at what we do, and every day we strive to do the best work we can for our clients, our publications, our employers and, ultimately, for ourselves.

Because if you’re like me – and I suspect you are – it’s all about the work. We listen, we think, we write, we rewrite, we push the envelope, we surround ourselves with talented, intelligent and dedicated people, and we apply everything we know to developing the most effective stories and materials possible.

Speaking of intelligent and dedicated people, I’d like to say that the women and men of the North Dakota Professional Communicators are tops. Year in and year out they work hard to ensure our state affiliate is vibrant and relevant. They make this award possible, and I thank them.

One of the bedrock tenets of my communication philosophy is less is more – get attention, deliver the strategically creative and brand-appropriate message and get out. With that in mind, I’ll wrap this message now.

Thank you again. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.


The Sweepstakes is determined based on a point system, with points assigned for first, second and third place in each category and the total number of entries in a category. To be entered into the national competition, an entry must win first place in the state affiliate competition. My affiliate is the North Dakota Professional Communicators.

Fall's a'Comin

The nights are cooler and the first yellow leaf has appeared on one of the Laural Willows in our back yard. Fall is on its way in the Red River Valley of the North.

Break Out

Not one stray scratch. Not a pink mark outside the pattern. Not a hint of black beyond the eye sockets. My 4-year old son was coloring the Pink Panther, and he’s determined not to stray from the lines, not even once.

In coloring and many other tasks, Little Martin, who is now almost 6 years old, was learning the importance of rules. He still is, and I couldn’t be more proud. But one day soon I’ll be telling my boy that success can depend on breaking rules from time to time, and knowing when to do it.

For nearly the same six years, I’ve been giving readers of The Red letter my off-kilter take on rules for creating and disseminating effective communications. Rules are good. Rules are necessary. Rules – warning, cliché ahead – are made to be broken. Or at least twisted once in a while to suit a higher purpose. I’m not alone in this view.

One of my favorite lists of rules, by George Orwell, wraps up with this humdinger: “Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.” Robert W. Bly, author of numerous books on effective copywriting, says, “Following the rules makes you a better advertising writer, because the rules work 90 percent of the time. But the top copywriters succeed because they know when to break the rules.” It was even the premise of a recent best-selling business book, “First, Break All The Rules.”

But here’s the catch. Before you can break the rules for effect, you first need to understand them and why they work. No one will be surprised or entertained with a rule twist unless you’ve been applying the rule correctly and consistently all along.

Expect to see more quirky and, hopefully, amusing takes on the rules in future issues of the Red letter. Just don’t be surprised when I go outside the lines.