Why branding lingo has to create connection - copywriting

I love words - they are my tools. But like any craftsperson, I need to make sure these 'tools' are used reflectively and not just for my own enjoyment or to impress a creative colleague, boss or agency.

Clients entrust content specialists and copywriters with conveying their brand or product's story and for that story to make sense. How do we do that? Without fuss.

One of my favourite words and sensations is connection. It's at the heart of the work I do - be it an ad tagline, a script for a commercial, a brochure or speech for a CEO. It's that warm feeling of recognising that the words not only land with the targeted recipients, but make sense too.

I recently worked with a brilliant brand that has stripped back all its messaging after getting lost in a lot of obscure and overly clever lingo when it rebranded some years back. They had a brilliant tagline that not only their audience immediately loved and connected with, but one that the general public immediately recognised.

Then they rebranded and the tagline disappeared. And do did the customers! Engagement dropped ... connection was LOST.

They've gone back to what works, what connects and they have returned to that sweet spot where everything as a result is falling into place again. My training as a journalist taught me a lot but especially that it is not what I write that matters but what it MEANS to the reader.

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