Marketing – Fredricks Communications

Cropped image from Itch outdoor campaign by NOW

Itch – Killing It Right. NOW.

July 12, 2019/in Advertising /by Martin Fredricks

London Creative Agency’s Campaign is Long in the Face

This advertising campaign in the London Underground stopped me in my tracks. Not literally – the posters were on the walls along the fast-moving escalators down to and up from Underground stops – but definitely in terms of snagging my attention.

Maybe it’s the eyes, so expressive of adoration and love, discomfort and sometimes even mischievousness.

Maybe it’s the noses. I can almost feel the cool dampness.

Or maybe it’s just the fact that they’re dogs and cats, for cryin’ out loud.

For me, it’s all of those, plus the clever use of the animals’ breed names in the headlines.

Love it.

Whatever makes it so arresting, the campaign is for itch., which develops and sells flea and other treatments for humans’ best friends. The company developed the campaign in collaboration with London-based creative agency NOW.

Not only did it grab my attention, but it made me stop and think about our dog and whether we’ve treated her properly. Which is the point.

“Charlotte Harper, Chief Marketing Officer at ITCH, says: ‘ITCH was launched with the aim of infusing the pet care market with a massive dose of personality, whist offering pet owners direct access to the best personalised flea products for their pets… We wanted a unique, playful and unforgettable ad and NOW have really delivered on our brief to delight and scare us!’ said Charlotte Harper, Chief Marketing Officer at ITCH.”

Check out itch.’s Instagram for better images and more of them, read more about it in the Marketing Communication News and check out what NOW has to say about bringing out the brilliance to kick out the fleas.

Forgive the quality of the images. Like I said, the escalators were really moving.

Brand Story: 10 Reasons to Work with FredComm

November 1, 2018/in Brand Story /by Martin Fredricks

it’s your business. it’s your story. let’s tell it well.

Focus on Your Strengths
There’s no need to steal time and energy from your passion and core competency. Instead, benefit from a great brand story without taking your eye off the ball. Listen, you’re great at what you do. Why not hire someone who is great at strategic messaging development, copywriting and content creation for advertising, marketing, public relations and social media?
You’re Too Busy
Isn’t everyone? Let me take that copywriting or content creation project off your plate, get it done well and give it back to you, ready to go.
Copywriting Is Not Like Other Writing
Anyone can string words together, but few can effectively copywrite. Advertising, marketing and promotional materials require specialized experience and expertise, and Fredricks Communications has it.
Fresh Perspective
You’re close to your business or institution, as you should be. But maybe you’re too close to give the branding and messaging a new, more objective and more effective approach. I’ll bring a fresh eye to the project and to your business.
Experience
I’ve been in advertising, marketing and advertising for a couple of decades, and I was a newspaper reporter/editor before that. I’ve served all kinds of clients, from sole proprietors to companies with hundreds of employees, that do business in my region, across the country and globally. And they keep coming back.
Strategic Focus & Execution
You need more than just a wordsmith; you need someone who can help with strategic direction, too. I’ve been building brands and strategic messaging for a long time, so I can, and do. Plus, I can do it better, faster and cheaper than a large agency with several layers of people (bottlenecks) on your account.
Deadlines Are Sacred
FredComm has a rock-solid track record for on-time delivery.
Pout-Free Service
You want someone who is easy to work with, puts ego aside, produces crisp and effective writing, and won’t make a scene if you make copy changes. That’s me.
Best Team for Every Client
I’ve worked in agencies and as part of an in-house marketing team. That background trained me to think visually and work closely with art directors and graphic designers on creative concepts, a valuable skill essential to producing strong work. With my “virtual team,” a group of talented professionals who provide complementary services like graphic design, website design, photography and so on, I’m able to deliver exceptional work without breaking your bank.
Less Expense
Some people think hiring outside talent on a project basis is expensive. In fact, the opposite is true. You get exceptional results while saving the costs of salary, benefits, and office space for an on-staff writer. Plus, the more you work with me, the more I get to know your organization, products and services, and the faster I can do every new project.

Bonus: Fun
I like to have it. So do the pros I work with. And FredComm clients appreciate it.

Let’s get started. To build an effective brand story through strategic messaging development, copywriting, content creation and all the associated services that lead to advertising, marketing and public relations success, get in touch today.

Tip Tuesday – Work Without With

October 9, 2018/in Copywriting, Tip Tuesday /by Martin Fredricks

Some rules are made to be broken.

Sometimes rules are made to be broken. That’s often the case when you’re talking about “proper” grammar vs. advertising, marketing and public relations copywriting. And it’s definitely the case when using “proper” will undermine “effective.”

Consider these two sentences:

I will provide Fredricks Communications with access to my Google drive.
I will provide Fredricks Communications access to my Google drive.

Get rid of that proposition, “with,” and nothing really changes. People still get it, and the sentence is shorter. And those who pay any attention to this blog know I push brevity as Rule #1 for clarity and keeping hold of readers’ short attention spans.

According to several “proper” grammar sources like the English learning website VOA, “with” is necessary:

With is a preposition, and the verb provide has two different subcategorization frames:

Provide somebody with something. – The recipient of the thing (Fredricks Communications) is the indirect object.
Provide something (to somebody). – The thing provided (access) is the indirect object.

Subcategorization frames? Recipients? Prepositions? Indirect objects?

Clear as mud in the eye to your average Joe.

Here’s the important point – nobody cares, except your former English teachers. And, with all due respect, they never had to sell a widget.

You and me and our bosses and clients care about selling that widget, and we know we need lively, engaging copy to do it. So keep your copy clear, keep it brief and work without with in your advertising, marketing and public relations copywriting.

Oct. 9, 2018

Tip Tuesday – What Advertising, Marketing or Public Relations Costs

May 7, 2018/in Consulting /by Martin Fredricks

The Bridge to Everywhere

Everyone asks the question. “What’s it gonna cost?” for <this or that advertising, marketing or public relations service>?”

Few are ever happy with the answer – “That depends.”

But it’s the most honest response, even if it is lacking precision.

Asking a creative firm, “How much is it going to cost to get a (your need here),” is like asking a construction company, “How much is it going to cost to build a bridge over the Red River?”

Neither the creative agency nor the construction company will be able to provide a reasonably accurate answer before finding out precisely what you want to get done and defining the scope of the work it’ll take to get you there.

A colleague recently gave the best answer I’ve heard in nearly two decades in this business:

“Somewhere between affordable and optimal.”

I understood precisely what she meant.

Ask me the question, and I’ll ask you a bunch more. We’ll talk. We’ll hash over the big picture. We’ll go back and forth on the details.

I’ll recommend advertising, public relations, online marketing, blog posts or a combination of those and a bunch of other communication tools, whatever I believe will build the best bridge between you and your customers or prospects. Then I’ll tell you what it’s going to cost. The number will be somewhere between affordable and optimal (good-better-best, anyone?), and I’ll stick to it, no matter how much time it takes me to do the job well.

Learn more about FredComm pricing.

Graphic icon for Fredricks Communications

Tip Tuesday – In Copywriting, “Up” Gets the Thumbs Down

March 20, 2018/in Copywriting /by Martin Fredricks

Old-style ink pen writing "Tip Tuesday" on paper

Elevate your copywriting – down with “up.”

All due respect to Mick and the rest of The Stones, but I do not want you to start me up. More specifically, I don’t want to see the phrase “start up” in any advertising, marketing or PR materials. In Mick’s words, it’s enough to “…make a grown man cry.” (Well, this one, anyway.)

For some reason, we Midwesterners love to add “up” to “start whenever we can:

I wandered over to start up a conversation. / I wandered over to start a conversation.
We started up deliveries in the southern part of the city about a month ago. / We started deliveries in the southern part of the city about a month ago.
There’s a dude in a mask with a chainsaw coming! Start up your car and let’s get aych-e-double-toothpicks outta here! / There’s a dude in a mask with a chainsaw coming! Start your car, and let’s get aych-e-double-toothpicks outta here!

In each case, dropping the “up” makes the sentence shorter. (We’ll tackle the overuse of exclamation points in another Tuesday Tip, mmmmmmm-k?) The only time “start” and “up” should show up as a pair is when they form a compound adjective – “It’s a start-up venture.” And, let’s face it, the only place it has to go is up.

There’s no downside to dropping “up” from your advertising, marketing and public relations copywriting. I’d lose that if I were you.