Neal Whitman's recent column on the language of "choice" in education ("Make good choices!") got me thinking about how choice and choose are used in marketing. From the flight attendant's cheery "We know you have a choice when you fly — thanks for choosing us!" to IKEA's "Choose your own entertainment adventure," we're constantly encouraged to select from an array of options. But what does all that choice mean?  Continue reading...

I've got a problem with solutions. Well, it's not solutions, per se, but the word "solutions." Actually, it's not even the word "solutions"; it's the notion that all you have to do is throw that word onto your home page and the world will beat a path to your door.  Continue reading...

When I'm feeling stuck on a naming project, I like to remind myself of brand names' myriad and diverse genealogies. Companies have been named for their founders (L.L. Bean), products for their founders' daughters (Mercedes-Benz). Trademarks have been created from street names and star names, numbers and neologisms, contemporary slang and archaic vocabulary.  Continue reading...

"Taglines" are the slogans that copywriters and marketers devise to make a brand more memorable. New contributor Sarah Williams, founder of the copywriting company Wordsmith, sheds some light on what makes a winning tagline.

Short quiz — which products match these taglines? "Don't leave home without it," "It's the Real Thing," "Think Different." (Answers at the end of the article.)  Continue reading...

As an SEO copywriter and marketing consultant, I look at a lot of Websites. When I'm asked to assess a company's site, the first question that often crosses my mind when I review it is, "Hmmm... what exactly do you do?"  Continue reading...

"A corporate brand is meant to be an organizing principle and filter for all actions, behavior and product development of an organization," explains author and veteran branding expert Scott Lerman. The former president of Siegel & Gale and CEO of Enterprise IG, Americas, Scott founded the consultancy Lucid Brands in 2005 to help organizations shape and develop their "brand story." We had a fascinating conversation with Scott about his work:  Continue reading...