When it comes to rags and mags, consumers have never had it this good. Gone are the days when consumer magazines were just glorified catalogues. Countless brands like John Lewis, Waitrose and Red Bull are producing high quality publications to rival the high street’s established glossies. And they’re working for advertisers too – supermarket Asda claims it’s magazine contributes £260m to its business each year.

As you’ve probably noticed, the branded magazine landscape is burgeoning – it accounts for seven out of the the top ten most distributed titles. Sky Magazine tops the pile with just over 7 million readers and Tesco Magazine is at no. 4 with almost 2 million. (Source: ABC Top 100 Magazines – total average net circulation/ distribution to end June 2010.)

What makes them so powerful? Branded magazines seem to be the vehicle of choice for broadening consumer loyalty.

Paul Porral head of brand creative at John Lewis explains how it allows the retailer to spend time with its customers, building relationships that wouldn’t be possible in store. “It allows us to have a different customer relationship – we see it as a 25-minute conversation with our customers. It allows us to be braver and have an opinion, which usually our brand wouldn’t have.”

Brands are tapping into this new demand for content, says Publicis Blueprint’s Richards: “Clients are realising that you can engage with your customer to a greater extent through editorial content because you’re telling them you understand them, and are talking to them in the right tone at the right time.”

And despite the iPad revolution, marketers believe that printed customer magazines will still have their place: Consumers will continue to value them as “free gifts” from their favourite brands.

Hoorah. AOL has launced mydaily, a newsy, fashiony site with a premium magazine feel. It features beautiful glossy-style images and a sharp editorial voice, with emphasis on debate for ‘forward thinking women’.

David Shing, AOL Europe’s top media and marketing suit said: “We’ve adopted a new editorial approach, blending the best of premium publishing traditions with our rich heritage in online content, advertising and technology.”

Indeed. MyDaily’s launch coincides with London Fashion Week, featuring exclusive content like designer and celebrity vodcasts, including Christopher Kane, Yasmin Le Bon and Manolo Blahnik. It’s also nabbed Carla Bevan – former Ed. of www.marieclaire.co.uk as editor-in-chief for the UK.

Says Carla: “MyDaily is the definitive destination for super-stylish, quick-thinking women in the UK. Every day, we’ll be delivering inspiring, entertaining and informative features for women who care as much about today’s headlines as today’s hemlines.”

It’s an elegant move in AOL’s strategy to become the world’s largest content creator of premium content. So what are you waiting for girlfriend? Go and get some: www.mydaily.co.uk

]]> http://thecopysmith.co.uk/blog/2010/09/20/it-may-just-become-my-daily-2/feed/ 0 http://thecopysmith.co.uk/blog/2010/06/23/how-to-get-killer-copy-for-less/ http://thecopysmith.co.uk/blog/2010/06/23/how-to-get-killer-copy-for-less/#comments Wed, 23 Jun 2010 18:34:50 +0000 TheCopysmith http://thecopysmith.co.uk/blog/?p=368 There is a perception out there that copywriting is expensive. SO expensive, in fact, that it’s preferable to use home-made wording on a swish new collateral than hiring a professional to write it, well, professionally. The irony is that your DIY copy probably costs more in the long run. Readers hate bad copy. It’s slows them down. It bores them. And it works their backspace reflex like nobody’s business.

Racking it up
You’ll find the best copywriters are always too happy to oblige. If you’re too busy to write them a brief, they’ll gladly spend time talking it through with you on the phone. If you haven’t been able to give them reference, they’ll happily while away the day doing the research. If you haven’t thought about what you want to say with your communication, or what response you’d like, they’ll sit with your for hours to thrash it out.

The trouble is, the more time they spend doing the stuff that isn’t actually writing, the more you’re going to pay before they even put pen to paper.

Racking it down
The best way to slim your budgets is to appeal to your copywriters’ inherently lazy nature. So ask, “What can I do to reduce your hours on this job?” You probably have loads of info to hand that would save hours of billable time.

Your best ally: The Brief
Very basically, just give your copywriters key info as a list of bullet points, and tell them what the piece needs to achieve. And when it comes to getting the style right, give them samples of what you love and what you hate. Then ask for a sample to approve before they go ahead. This could shave up to a day off your copywriting costs.

Writing a brief isn’t hard, but to make it even easier, click here to download our cheat-sheet. This handy little document will not only guarantee your status as ‘Favourite Client’, it will also save your writer a whole load of time – and you a whole whack of money.

Good luck with your next project.

Well maybe not quite.

With the clocks an hour forward, our clients in Europe and the Middle East will be glad to know we’re just that much closer to your time zone.

Tom Meighan comments on how self-indulgent and irrelevant blogging is losing musicians their star status. Click the link to read more…

Kasabian’s Tom Meighan: ‘The internet has killed rock stars’ | News | NME.COM

Musicians are brands. And blogging for any brand needs to be focussed and well-written.

We’re often asked to write monthly articles or blogs for our clients’ websites. We just ask for the key-points that need to be covered and what the copy should achieve in the heart/mind of the reader. It’s a simple process from there, which frees up business-owners’ time and gives their brands that rock star edge.

Pulteney Bridge, Bath

6 Fountain House was getting a bit cramped, so The Copysmith has moved. We bid farewell to views of greener pastures for, well, greener pastures.

We’re at 5 Argyle Street now (although the street is curiously marked “Grove Street”, as our first visitor pointed out). The building we’re in used to be a library and it stands on Pulteney Bridge. According to history geeks it’s one of the most beautiful bridges in the world and is often compared to the Ponte Vecchio in Florence (it’s also one of those rare historic bridges with shops built in).

Well here we are – on the second floor, amid the pigeons, above Oxfam and some great bars and restaurants. We’d love to have you pop by for a shop, a bite or a natter:

The Copysmith,

 2nd Floor, 5 Argyle Street, Bath, BA2 4BA Tel: +(0)1225 747 223

Images can sway your emotions and sear your mind. But what about words? In this post modern age of relativism, how have words fared? Are they as slippery as some suggest? Or do they represent that most inspiring and defining idea – the truth?

With the rise of web-writing, copywriting is increasingly becoming a vehicle that delivers information well. Readers on the internet are notoriously impatient. Time poor, their eyes scan past boring, waffling copy – typically ditching badly written websites after a second or two.

There are two ways savvy businesses respond to this. They give users easy-to-navigate info-rich sites that do what they say they on the label. Or create virtual places that visit the visitor in their environment, adding to – even shaping – their digital lives.

Nowadays the consumer demands pithy, accurate messaging. And the average advertiser is looking for ways to communicate with less fluff. The climate is right for quality, honest and intelligent copywriting. So words must tell the truth and do it quickly.

Copywriters have never wielded airbrushes. And now finally stripped of last year’s superlatives and long-gone big budgets, our words are standing more stark than ever before.

The perfect opportunity, we believe, to use them for powerful, hardworking ideas.

Bath copywriters

Our second USP is probably even more closely linked to our name. Smiths were artisans – highly inventive people relied on for their creativity and ingenuity. And we pride ourselves on delivering work that really stands out. We do the basics with pleasure, but our speciality is words that turn heads – making budgets go further with simple, clever ideas – and bold, unexpected words.

Our last USP is our experience. We were privileged to work at multi-national agencies on major accounts. The sort of people we worked with, the marketing know-how we were exposed to… has resulted in precious experience that isn’t learned very easily.

Experience, Creativity and a belief in the power of Relationships are the foundations of The Copysmith.

Here are a few kind words from our clients:

“It’s always reassuring to know that your job is in good hands. The Copysmith’s professionalism is reflected in their delivery, quality of writing and constant commitment to deadlines. They make a difference by closely understanding the client and the project.
The Copysmith is a team driven by a genuine passion for what they do.”

Akram Farhat
Regional Client Director Middle East
The Brand Union

…

“We at Interone appreciate The Copysmith’s enthusiasm for the high-standards we share with the BMW Group and, of course, as our language watch-dogs their ability to ‘get’ the subtleties of what we are trying to say from German to English. They have a friendly and flexible work-style; always willing to just give advice and talk about ideas on the phone.”

Werner Plücker
Account Manager for BMW/MINI
Interone Worldwide

…

I’ve been working with The Copysmith since arabianEye started. They’re a pleasure to deal with and have a dedication to their clients you don’t often see in business.

I really appreciate the The Copysmith’s creativity. In the early days, they helped arabianEye define a strong, edgy brand personality. And in writing our website, wrote in the search terms without detracting from the style.

They come with great through-the-line experience which really helps when it comes to finding the right words and ideas that really work. I’d highly recommend hiring them to write your copy.

Celia Peterson
Owner
arabianEye

…

“The Copysmith is a great resource for creative thinking or more copy intensive stuff like brochures. What’s more, working with these guys you don’t feel the distance. They understand the market and we’re always on the same page. Basically, they could be in the office next door – just working slightly different hours.”

Vincent Raffray
Creative Director/ Partner
Tonic Communications

…

“We’ve been working with The Copysmith for over three years and can honestly say that a significant part of our success as a boutique creative agency comes from working with such like-minded people as those at the Copysmith.
The hard work, passion and creativity we receive, from the smallest to the most complex of jobs, is always delivered on time, with great energy and is hugely appreciated!”

Ben Caddy
Managing Director
Extracake

Do an internet search and you’ll notice the top 10 results are websites with many pages. Google doesn’t only read search terms. It assesses your site by its activity, content and relationship to the internet.

That’s why many successful businesses are hiring writers to write frequent updates about their products and services via blogs and tweets. The chief activity on the internet is still reading. And the internet gives brands a unique opportunity to reach and interact with people in their own environment.

The wonderful thing about a blog, is that when the user reads it, you’re not intruding on their time or entertainment – they have come to you. It’s also an opportunity to enter into a two way conversation between the author and the user. And it’s fast becoming an exciting new way to harvest and track information.

Bath and Bristol copywriters, freelance copywriting