Brand Agony

What's the best way to turn a bunch of non-writers into competent copywriters?

The person commissioning a copywriting course has lots of choices to make. What topics should you build into the day? How do you find out what the team really needs? And what's the best way to make sure your people apply their new skills straight away?

In this episode, Alan, Siân and Chris find a way through the complexities – and figure out how to tame the trainer.

Share your agonies (and anything else)
Got a brand agony you'd like us to answer? Send an email to [email protected] and we'll do our very best to help.

Or maybe you just want to tell us what you think of the podcast. It's the same address: [email protected]

Clasp your face in horror at the dodgy spelling on your homepage. Pay thousands to fix the wonky phone number on your voiceover. Or mumble something unmentionable at the corporate Tweet that just doesn't make any sense.

In this episode we give proofreading a thorough once-over, looking at modern tools, how to set high standards, and the issues that often lie beneath.

Share your agonies (and anything else)
Got a brand agony you'd like us to answer? Send an email to [email protected] and we'll do our very best to help.

Or maybe you just want to tell us what you think of the podcast. It's the same address: [email protected]

When it comes to content, how much technical detail is enough? And how much is too much?

For specification sheets and white papers, the answer is pretty obvious. But what about the homepage and landing page? Is there a way of selling to the main buyers – without annoying the people who just came for the amperes, ohms and microns?

Share your agonies (and anything else)
Got a brand agony you'd like us to answer? Send an email to [email protected] and we'll do our very best to help.

Or maybe you just want to tell us what you think of the podcast. It's the same address: [email protected]

Clients and agencies want to produce great work. So why does so much content work to meet the client's brief?

We look at three possible causes, and offer a way through the calamity of mis-briefs, re-briefs and non-briefs.

Share your agonies (and anything else)
Got a brand agony you'd like us to answer? Send an email to [email protected] and we'll do our very best to help.

Or maybe you just want to tell us what you think of the podcast. It's the same address: [email protected]

When investment flows into a scale-up, marketing often gets a boost.

And with bigger budgets and bigger targets come bigger teams – it makes a lot of sense to build at least some content capability in-house. So when should you grow your own, and when should you bring in a supplier?

Alan, Chris, Helen and Rachel help a listener build a content operations model fit for anything growth can throw at it. 

Is it ever right for a brand's tone of voice to change from one day to the next?

As marketing professionals, isn't it our job to aim for consistency above everything else?

Alan, Chris, Helen and Rachel help a listener connect a brand voice to audience needs – with some help from a pillar or two.

Getting content signed off is hard. 

Who's really in charge? What are the ground rules? Why are we even producing content in the first place?

Alan, Chris, Helen and Siân help a listener struggling with one of the biggest brand agonises of all: approvals.