I don't know about you guys, but I'm a little confused. I have literally watched three different ad campaigns by Geico in a single evening. First, there was Geico's gecko being interviewed on his success as a spokesperson. Then there was the woman who related her sob story while Little Richard translated in celebrity-speak. Finally, there was the sensitive caveman waging a righteous fight against Geico's tongue-in-cheek campaign. A quick view of all three campaigns.
I mean, I get the gist of each campaign.
Gecko: Informative, friendly, approachable
Caveman: Easy-to-use online format
Celebrity: Customer testamonials
So, where is the Martin Agency going here? Each campaign is fun and quirky in and of itself. But, why run all three simultaneously?
Surely, there's some genius amid this madness.
Friday, January 19, 2007
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Copy Ban: Nothing's 'unique'...
Copywriting is an artform. It takes practice, skill and patience. To this end, I'm starting "Copy Ban." Tentatively, this section will be devoted to improving the art copywriting through the banishment of certain words or phrases. Time to clean house!
If there is one word out there that deserves the ax, it's unique. Let's take a moment to examine. (Please note, that I pulled the following information from my little built-in iMac dictionary widget.)
unique: adj. being the only one of its kind; unlike anything else
derivatives
uniquely adverb
uniqueness noun
usage
There is a set of adjectives — including unique, complete, equal and perfect — whose core meaning embraces a mathmatically absolute concept and which therefore, according to a traditional arguement, cannot be modified by adverbs such as really, quite, or very. For example, since the core meaning of unique (Latin for one) is 'being only one of its kind,' it is logically impossible, the arguement goes, to submodify it: it either is unique or it's not, and there are no stages in between... It is advisable, however, to use unique sparingly, and not modify it with (adverbs)... Often, a writer can instead make accurate use of rare, distinctive, unusual, remarkable or other nonabsolute adjectives.
In other words, there are better options in our copywriting arsenal then unique. It is a tired, overtaxed word whose perception is mere puffery. The copy ban is in place!
If there is one word out there that deserves the ax, it's unique. Let's take a moment to examine. (Please note, that I pulled the following information from my little built-in iMac dictionary widget.)
unique: adj. being the only one of its kind; unlike anything else
derivatives
uniquely adverb
uniqueness noun
usage
There is a set of adjectives — including unique, complete, equal and perfect — whose core meaning embraces a mathmatically absolute concept and which therefore, according to a traditional arguement, cannot be modified by adverbs such as really, quite, or very. For example, since the core meaning of unique (Latin for one) is 'being only one of its kind,' it is logically impossible, the arguement goes, to submodify it: it either is unique or it's not, and there are no stages in between... It is advisable, however, to use unique sparingly, and not modify it with (adverbs)... Often, a writer can instead make accurate use of rare, distinctive, unusual, remarkable or other nonabsolute adjectives.
In other words, there are better options in our copywriting arsenal then unique. It is a tired, overtaxed word whose perception is mere puffery. The copy ban is in place!
Monday, January 15, 2007
Microsoft redesigns iPod packaging...
The Evil Empire takes on angelic iPod. Some things in life are just worth another glance. Enjoy!
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