For eight years I acted as editor of a business magazine, published up to four times a year. It was distributed to around 25,000 business clients of a nationwide collection of law firms.

Each of the firms would send out the magazines to its business clients as a way of keeping them informed, demonstrating their own expertise and marketing their services. [continue reading…]

Pirelli is perhaps best known for tyres… and calendars. But the company also makes fibre optic cables.

In fact, Pirelli makes many different types of fibre optic cable. The company needed a way to differentiate their core offerings so customers could relate to them and understand instantly the benefits they provide.

The names needed to be memorable, short and distinctive.

Below are some of the brand names I created – all of them in some way specific to the properties of the particular type of cable.

The UK’s Met Office includes around 30 pages of creative copy at the front of its Annual Report and Accounts, designed to inform stakeholders about the organisation’s work, its progress and advances in forecasting. It’s a wide audience, from senior MoD and Government figures to the business community, media and scientists.

Generating the raw information involved interviewing around 30 to 40 people, ranging from forecasters and research scientists to the Chief Executive. This information has to be turned into readable, but very tight and professional copy.

Keeping everyone happy

[blockquote-right]”skilful copywriting and editing”[/blockquote-right]

A delicate balance was needed. There was no point glossing over problems such as the flooding at Boscastle in Cornwall, which was not accurately forecast. Explaining why (it’s all to do with grids on computer models) called for not only writing skills but also the ability to understand and, at times, ‘translate’ complex technical information, while not upsetting the scientists who hate the idea of “dumbing down.”

Sarah Quick, who at the time was Senior Editor at the Met Office, said: “With skilful copywriting and editing, Simon has helped the Met Office reach all of its customers worldwide.”

When Adobe launched a new version of Acrobat, I was asked to write a direct mail campaign, emailers and a series of press adverts specifically targeting the designer community in the UK.

Adobe also wanted to promote its capabilities in other areas – specifically workflow solutions for large enterprises.

The challenge was to explain what Adobe’s software products had to offer, cutting through a lot of technical jargon and marketing-speak.

The literature was mainly targeted at senior managers, IT departments and C-level board members. My job was to get their attention and convince them of the proven business benefits.

The range of literature I worked on included white papers, direct mail  and advertising. In particular I was involved in writing a series of brochures, some targeted at specific sectors, including government, manufacturing and finance. I also wrote a large overview brochure, which summarised the entire Adobe offering in the area of enterprise solutions.

Some years ago – when print still ruled the roost and the web was in its infancy – I created a name for a large printing company that in one stroke delivered the basis of an entire brand.

I was one of many copywriters asked to come up with a name for a major new print firm, formed from an amalgamation of five companies. Knowing that one of the main audiences was graphic designers, I put forward the name Bezier.

It’s distinctive, but it’s also more than just a name. A Bezier curve (as used by designers in applications such as Adobe Illustrator) is “the smoothest line between a series of points.” It was ideal for a company which wanted to emphasise the quality of its service, not just its printing.

From one word an identity was created that perfectly expressed the company’s philosophy and  ethos.

Which shows it’s sometimes worth making the effort to come up with precisely the right word.

The Tesco Mobile brand makes a promise – one of clear pricing and information, so that you always know where you stand. No confusion marketing here.

Every word of every sentence has to keep this promise. Any lapse in clarity and precision could lose a customer’s trust.

The challenge was to pack in enough information so that prospects could make a buying decision and customers can make best use of the service, even though space was extremely limited.

vBulletin is the world’s leading internet forum software package. If you’ve ever used forum sites on the web, then you’ve probably enjoyed the ease of use and functionality of their software.

When they were revamping their own website, they asked me to take a look at the copy. I edited their text where necessary, created new copy where it was needed, and generally tidied things up, making sure the main messages came through loud and clear.

I also created a long and detailed FAQ for the site, which again had to be crystal clear and helpful.

They proved to be one of my favourite clients for a number of reasons: they were really easy to deal with; everything got done with the minimum of fuss; and they paid me for the work within days (yes days!) of getting the invoice.

Dell is best known for affordable computer hardware. But the company also provides IT consultancy under the brand “Dell Professional Services.”

The company needed to explain its relatively new offering to the target audience, and position itself as the cost-effective and reliable choice.

I was asked to create the copy for a brochure and a number of email “e-blasts” designed to create awareness and generate leads for the sales teams. [continue reading…]

The Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) is a government agency that helps individuals, businesses and local authorities to reduce waste and increase recycling. The aim is the make better use of resources and help tackle climate change.

I was asked to help create readable and compelling executive summaries of two very long, very technical reports on the viability and future of mixed plastics recycling. One of the reports was concerned with how to collect and separate mixed plastics. The second focused on the commercial viability of recycling the materials. [continue reading…]