Anti-bacterial March 21, 2008
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The phrase anti-bacterial is emblazoned across just about every household cleaning product these days, from floor cleaners to hand soap. This sells a lot of soap because the assumption is that bacteria are small and insidious and will kill us or our kids if we don’t kill them first.
But not all bacteria are bad. The evidence is coming in that too much anti-bacterial soap/detergent does more long-term harm than short-term good. Exposure to some bacteria is paramount to building a good immune system. But as a selling point, the anti-bacterial thing rocks.
The connotation is also, that if you don’t get anti-bacterial soap, you’re buying… ‘bacterial‘ soap…?
How can you turn the problem around? Non-anti-bacterial soaps should be sold with this new evidence in mind: improved hygiene, better health soap.
How about ‘immunity soap’!
What’s a word worth? March 5, 2008
Posted by drew in Blog.add a comment
If you need to say it’s amazing, innovative or improved, why isn’t it any of those things by itself, without you having to point it out? They’re empty words. If your product claims to be amazing or interesting, I’m not just going to take your word for it, I want to know why.
If you’re telling me your product is red and there’s a picture of it being red, you’ve proven that to me. If you tell me it’s compatible with Windows, or my SE phone, or with my type of pool chlorine, you’re making a claim that is able to be tested. If it isn’t what it claims to be and turns my water green, I’ll be bringing it back.
So if you say it’s amazing, how are you proving that and what will you tell me when I bring it back to the shop and say it’s merely good?
Do you DIY or get a professional? February 28, 2008
Posted by drew in Blog.Tags: expertise, writing
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Have you ever listened to a graphic designer talk about graphic design? Or an architect talk about architecture? A typographer talk about fonts?
People with experience and expertise know what they’re talking about. It may look easy to layout a page, draw a facade or use a font because you think it looks cute but what would an expert do? Have you asked one?
One of the frustrations of being a writer is that everyone can write, so why do you need a writer? Have you wondered why people employ writers? What about why people employ builders? Sure, you know how a house is put together… floor, walls, roof… simple! But you probably know you need certain tools and a lot of knowledge about whether to use a nail, a screw or a bolt to hold two particular bits of wood together.
Hmm… maybe there’s more than meets the eye to what a writer does.
