…plus, naming your company, clever taglines, and the power of one little word
I’ve been framing, focusing and snapping again, as part of my Copycam series. With my mobile-phone-that’s-really-a-camera, I’ve found some gems.
And this first one shows just how critical it is to proofread. Sometimes, you need to do it more than once, as there’s always something that flies beneath the radar.
As it did with this sign. I wonder exactly what a consutant does?
A friend of mind who’s a recruitment consultant (as opposed to a recruitment consutant) once told me that it was standard practice to invent double- or even triple-barrelled names for companies in his sector.
I asked him why.
“It makes people think they’re dealing with a long-established company, formed by partners. Inspires confidence,” he said confidently.
You simply string together impressive-sounding names, he told me, and presto – you have a long-established company. Flashman Arnold. Ryder, Flyte and Blanche. That sort of thing.
I thought of his story when I saw this sign on a contruction site in Cambridge. For just a moment, I was reminded of Sue, Grabbit and Runne, lawyers to the litigious and the bane of satirical magazine Private Eye.
A walk to my local pharmacy left me scratching my head the other day. Not because I couldn’t read my doctor’s handwriting (prescriptions are laser-printed these days). It was more to do with a clever tagline I simply didn’t get.
First, I felt puzzled. Then dim. And finally, irritated.
I’m not in their target market, since I haven’t got even .2 of a child, but I wondered how many of their potential prospects felt it was just a bit too clever.
A trip to Borders made me think twice about the power of one little word.
How.
It’s got an in-built promise. You’ll learn something. You’ll find out the secrets. You’ll be able to do something new.
In the business section, virtually every cover used it: How to be an entrepreneur, How to get rich, How to lead, How to get more done. And my favourite, How to get your ideas adopted (and change the world).
It’s just three letters, but it’s irresistible.
How could you say no?
