Owning vs. buying

By Walt Kania

Instead of saying:

Sign Up Buy Order Register Pay

Try:

Get your own Be a member Open your account now Be using XXX in 24 hours Receive the latest reports each month Have the newsletter delivered

“Having” and “owning” and “receiving” are what the customers are after.  That’s the fun part.  [...]

The service paradox: Don’t promise it

By Walt Kania

Should you build your big story around ‘great service’, ‘personal attention’?

I’ve tried this for several clients, but it doesn’t cut much mustard.

Everyone yacks about service.  The promise is limp and tired and vague and a yawn.  Service is a non-advertisable attribute.  (That’s consultant/pundit talk.)

The other problem: If you brag about exceptional service, [...]

Nix this: Executive Summary

By Walt Kania

How, exactly, is an “Executive Summary” different from, say, a “Summary”?

It’s an elitist holdover from the 60s, when we had executive washrooms, executive dining rooms and executive secretaries.

The idea is that a busy ‘executive’ has no time to read the whole dang document.  Just get to the nub of it.  Of course, those [...]

« Newer Entries