The always-brilliant site Boxes and Arrows recently posted an essay on the dangers of designing without bringing in the content writer. The piece, authored by a designer no less, included a beautiful example of what happens when a Web page template is created lovingly by the interface designer, only to have the live content come in at the end and muck it all up. (See the image here. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry.)

The author’s strong recommendation was that designers should consult with the copywriter early in the process to make sure pages are designed to account for real content. Sound advice, but it got me pondering — at what point did the idea that we start with content become a novel concept?

When content was king
It used to be, not so very long ago, that content and design were not a chicken-or-egg proposition. Copy came first. Design was the act of presenting that copy in a way that was easy and enjoyable to read and understand. From my magazine publishing days to my early career in marcom, the Golden Rule was to write first, think visually later. (It’s one of the reasons that many classically trained journalists and writers have no skills, and little interest, in design. The written word once was the center of everything.)

But times of course have changed. One reality is simply that people read and experience communications differently now, as a result of an overload of information and changing communications platforms. Everyone balks at large blocks of words, no matter how gorgeously crafted they are. Modern copywriters understand that, though, and are prepared to write accordingly.

Imagine how my world turned upside down the first time I worked for a VP of marketing who insisted that the marcom department start with design. The graphic designer would do the layout first, then I would write copy to “fit.” I fought the process with every ounce of my soul. It went against the grain of everything I had ever learned. He used the argument that I presented above: that people don’t read, that design is everything, that content needs to fit within the boundaries of presentation, not the other way around.

The process problem
To this day I still don’t agree with him, but my belief now is that this has become an issue of process, especially as we as marketers produce more of our communications electronically than in print. Web site design especially has pushed content further down the chronological food chain. Designing page templates early has become critical for building a site in a content management system (CMS); therefore, information architecture and visual design are slated for the first 1/3 of a Web site design project, while content (the stuff that gets “poured in” to the CMS) comes in the last 1/3 of the project, simply because process-wise there are so many other things to deal with first.

On the print side, companies take a similar tact to their collateral systems, striving for so much consistency that they design first, and ask questions about what’s necessary content-wise later.

There are two primary dangers with this approach:

1. Design #fail. Illustrated by the link above, once “real” content is loaded into a Web content management system or flowed into a print layout, the original and pure intent of the design is compromised (i.e., the page looks crappy). This can be an occasional problem on individual pages, but the real danger is that it can affect the whole site or system. One of my projects involved editorial updates for a home page that was designed before the company had a content strategy for the page; much of the editorial team’s time involved trying to make the content work within strict design limitations. Neither the design nor the content were all that they could have been.
2. Vapid copy. The design remains beautiful, but the copy says nothing. When the team focuses too hard on what something looks like without considering content, you’re in danger of delivering absolutely nothing of substance to your customer. A client of mine recently showed me the spectacular capabilities brochure their agency had designed for them: specialty paper, precious die cuts, amazing typography, lovely photography. Then the client, a sales and marketing person, told me: “I can’t use it. I had to recreate my own sales sheets to take to clients and try to make them look like this brochure. It says absolutely nothing about what we do or how we’re different. It’s just fluff.”

Everyone all aboard the peace train
Yet as a professional who plays the roles of both a project manager and a copywriter, I know how difficult it can be to start with content. The world we live in today simply no longer accommodates the write first, make-it-pretty later approach (which is condescending and erroneous in its own right). Content and design must work together from day one. Even in proven, recognized process flows (such as with large-scale Web site design) there are some slight tweaks we could all make to more harmoniously help these worlds work together. Some examples:

• Write real (not sample) new content before starting visual design. That doesn’t mean you have to have all 300 pages of a new Web site completely drafted. But understanding the structure, flow and content of a page before designing it is essential for designers. A really well-designed Web site considers the “frame” of the page as well as the inside page layout. Think about five or six main kinds of content you plan to create (about us pages, product pages, catalog pages as examples) and write them, using your planned tone and style. Avoid greeked text as much as possible.
• Think about the whole package before beginning anything. The copywriter, designer, creative director/project manager and business subject matter expert should all be on the same page before beginning. Copywriters and designers need to be allies. A writer needs to understand the vision for the design, and vice versa.
• Work together harmoniously. Remember that in the end, you’re creating communications for your customers (and for your salespeople to help them reach those customers). No one on the creative team should bristle if copy needs to be cut or rewritten. Likewise, no one should feel offended if design ideas go by the wayside due to a shift in direction with copy. In the words of Don Draper on last night’s episode of “Mad Men”: “You’re not an artist Peggy. You solve problems. Leave some tools in your toolbox.” Work to make content and design support each other.

We’ve all seen examples of bloated, jargon-heavy marketing copy that makes our eyes roll into the backs of our heads. Seeing it out of context from the Web site or brochure that is its normal habitat, called out as an example of lazy, long-winded space-filler, makes us laugh.

We laugh as the consumers of such copy — the intended audience digesting message after message about “state-of-the-art solutions.” And we laugh as copywriters — because at one time or another, we have been guilty of churning out that kind of drivel to make a paycheck.

But even copy that is punchy and interesting to read is in danger of falling in to the same trap as copy laden with generic marketing-speak. Polished, creative copy with real rhythm and personality may go a long way to helping express a company’s brand, but a true prospect or customer will see right through it if it doesn’t deliver the right substance. At the end of the day, your audience is there in front of you, ready to receive the single most important thing they need to learn: what’s in it for me?

What are you going to tell them?

Let the games begin
I think back to my journalism school days when we learned to write news articles with the 5Ws (and the less convenient “H”) — what, who, where, when, why and how. In newspaper ledes, we were told that the most important were the first four Ws, the pure facts. The “why” and the “how” were nice-to-haves in short, factual news stories, but the basic facts were most important.

Marketing and sales people tend to begin sales presentations, brochures and Web pages with the most obvious “Ws” — typically, the “what” and “who.” They may dedicate a half-dozen upfront slides or begin with a few paragraphs to describe what the company does. (For many large companies, it is so hard to consolidate this into a single pithy statement that the description ends up saying nothing at all.) Then the content speaks to how long the company been in business and who its customers are, maybe offers up an org chart or summary of fiscal earnings. This is all meant as an introduction, a way to establish credibility. But:

So what? The customer doesn’t really care about your company. The customer cares about himself or herself — and how you can help him or her succeed.

Perhaps, instead, you start out by talking about what the product (sorry, the “solution”) does:

The Best Solution Ever™ is a patent-pending, innovative business productivity solution that is part of an award-winning, comprehensive suite of information technology solutions designed to improve processes and save money.

You’re explaining what the product is (vaguely), what it does at a high level, and the fact that your company took the time to file a patent on the technology behind it. And the prospective customer asks once again:

So what? It all sounds nice, but what does it really mean for me?

How about if you approach it a little differently? Maybe your copy can put a little context around why customers need a solution to all their many problems:

Times are tough. Sales are down. Your business can’t get as much financing as it used to. To succeed, you need to be more productive. The Best Solution Ever™ gives you the ability to do more with less, increasing staff productivity while saving time and reducing costs.

Hmmm. You’ve piqued my interest. I’m listening, and you’re right. But — so what? Why are you the people to solve my problem?

You’ve hooked the prospect. You’ve overcome the initial incredulousness. But how many companies out there can say the exact same thing you’re saying?

Three strikes!  But don’t give up
In a sales presentation or live marketing copy, you’d be out by now. The prospect will have tuned out and moved on.

But because we’re just experimenting here, you’re still in the game. Let’s try this one more time. Consider these four principles as you consider how to begin your marketing pitch:

1. It’s all about the 5th W and the H. This isn’t newspaper writing. The basic facts — the what, who, where and why — are important, but they shouldn’t lead the story. In fact, they should possibly be relegated to proof points. You want to lead with why and how — why do you provide the best solution, and how can you help the customer?
2. Walk in the customer’s shoes. Remember that, while you’re most likely very proud that your company has been in business for 25 years, won a major award two years ago and has offices in 17 different cities, the customer doesn’t care. All that stuff provides confidence that you’re not going to disappear off the map in two years — but the customer needs primarily to know that you provide a product that does 95% of what he or she needs it to do, does it in a way that nobody else can provide, and will actually change the customer’s day-to-day reality. You’re dealing with an impatient audience who is seriously overwhelmed with information, so you have to find a way to convey that quickly and succinctly in a way that resonates with the reader.
3. Address specific results. Several weeks ago I participated in an all-day workshop by Corporate Visions, a company that specializes in helping corporations turn their brand messaging into sales-ready communications. One of their strategies is to think about the specific audience — the decision-makers or influencers whom salespeople most often approach or who will be doing the majority of the research about new solutions — and what keeps those people up at night. Yes, ultimately they want to “increase staff productivity and save money,” or “increase quality,” or whatever the high-level benefits touted in marketing copy may be. But what they really care about is being able to report to their bosses in their next weekly status meetings that they’re on budget, that their teams are producing results, that the work that they’re doing is tangibly making a difference.
4. Call out what’s different. This is one of the hardest things for companies to do. In branding and marketing departments across the world, very experienced marketers spend a lot of energy coming up with value propositions that are truly distinctive from the competition, especially in B2B spaces where there are four or five clear leaders in a category. The challenge also is to do this in a way that’s not overtly confrontational by stating explicitly that your solution is best — because there’s always somebody out there who can find some fact to dispute that. You need to set yourself apart right from the start, but in a way that doesn’t seem like you’re looking for a fight.

Driving it home
So, using these principles, I took a shot at writing marketing copy for our fictitious software solution:

Simple to use and easy to adopt, The Best Solution Ever™ lets workers collaborate on projects, automate contact management and track tasks — without installing costly, burdensome software that absorbs IT resources. Built with unique technology that lets employees work together simultaneously on a project or account from multiple locations, The Best Solution Ever helps companies more effectively meet deadlines, close leads faster and improve departmental productivity by as much as 75%.

How is this copy different? Notice that:

• The copy talks about what the software does, but from the customer’s perspective — it immediately addresses what customers can do with it, rather than how it works or what it is.
• The differentiators are woven into the copy, calling out how the product is distinctive (it’s an ASP, it has an intuitive interface) while subtly referencing some of the biggest pain points customers may experience with other types of business productivity software: it’s difficult to use, employees think it’s hard so don’t adopt it, and it sucks IT resources.
• It describes the true market differentiator, the “patent-pending” collaboration technology, by talking about how it actually makes a difference.
• It references real, everyday benefits — the stuff that on-the-ground salespeople and managers care about. And it relies on customer case studies or research to put some proof behind the sweeping statement that the software helps “increase productivity.”

Prospective customers are overwhelmed with navel-gazing, bloated marketing copy. They’re jaded. Get past their filters by beginning the conversation focused on real needs and real results — and hit a grand slam with your marketing copy every time.

The visionary Guy Kawasaki guest-blogged on innovation over at Sun Microsystems’ site last year. In his final post on the site, he offered a piece of advice that has continued to resonate with me, and in a way has become the little mantra that I whisper to myself as I work each day. His simplistic recommendation? Try stuff.

This was one of five lessons Guy says he’s learned as an entrepreneur, and all the lessons were good. But I particularly like this one, especially when it comes to the way we communicate.

Often, companies suffer from one of two problems in their brand communications:

• They lose sight of what they’re trying to achieve, and fall into comfortable patterns — or even bad habits. They forget what the audience cares about. They forget that their customers are people. And they forget what their company stands for, the overall journey of which they are part and their role in moving the company ahead in that journey. Or:
• They get so caught up in strategy that they become paralyzed. It’s impossible for them to move forward, and when they do, their communications become the equivalent of the legislative bills that grow more bloated and corrupted as they move through the legislative process, losing the purity of their intentions as more people tack on their own special interests. To paraphrase my former boss: when a committee of marketing people came together to design the horse, they instead ended up with the camel.

Whatever the situation, it’s easy to get stuck, and to stay within the boundaries of the familiar and proven because it’s easier, safer or because it’s working. But to Guy’s point: change happens when people take risks and try new stuff. “Luck favors the people who try stuff, not simply think and analyze,” he writes.

How do you know if what is working today always will — or that something won’t work better? Keep throwing “stuff” into the water to see what floats. Whether your stuff be new or borrowed or reinvented, it serves one important purpose in that it keeps you on your toes: it opens your eyes to new possibilities, keeps you attune to what’s going on around you, and helps you clarify your purpose as you think about it again and again from different perspectives. And however you look at it, that’s good stuff.

It appears we are finally here: recession. The 24-hour news stations are talking around the clock about the economic implosion, and sharing the nightmare stories of what’s happening to ordinary Americans (these would be the people who live on “Main Street,” according to the folksy colloquialisms of our political candidates) — they’re losing their houses, they’re losing their jobs, they won’t be able to retire until they’re 103. Those of us who haven’t been directly impacted fear that we somehow eventually will be. It is not, to put it lightly, a happy time.

And contrary to the industry wisdom about maintaining a strong marketing presence during an economic downturn, marketers are indeed thinking about cutting back. A Marketing Sherpa poll in September shows that 52% of marketing departments at large companies are cutting their budgets. Of the survey’s respondents, 48% say they’re scaling back on traditional advertising while 29% are cutting back on online.

But what about what the marketing is saying? With so many consumers stressed out and, in some cases, downright suffering, how does the tone and substance of marketing and communications need to change during this time?

I have one client who responded very quickly to the crisis in the area of internal communications, acknowledging that some of its employees may very well be in the midst of foreclosure, and that all of them are most certainly worried about their 401(k)s. The call was to be more sensitive in their communications, always mindful of how messages might come across to those struggling in their personal lives.

In external marketing and advertising, high-profile brands are already making visible changes in their approaches. In the U.K., a major national bank yanked a funny and popular TV ad in which an abusive bank manager at a fictitious rival bank insults customers, at a time when the image of all banks is suffering there. And here in the U.S. of A., our ol’ reliable WalMart headed off the financial crisis last fall with its first new tagline in 19 years: “Save money. Live better.” As the economy gets worse, WalMart’s payoff for the new message gets better — same-store sales are way up over last year and the stock has risen by 30%, according to AdAge.

Brand mavens say the best possible way to fine-tune marketing during tough economic times is to come back home — to return to a company’s core brand and reinforce a company’s “brand soul,” as one reader put it during an online discussion on brandchannel.com, in all communications. Many say with grave wisdom that a recession is in fact a test of a strong brand — the strong will indeed survive.

But what does that actually mean in terms of how to think about your internal and external communications during this tumultuous time? Many companies stray away from their core brand message over time, with brand extensions and evolutions intended to capture new audiences or put a contemporary “spin” on a brand — brand experts say it’s time to revisit who your brand really is, and use your advertising and marketing dollars to communicate that original vision.

There’s also never more important time to really focus on your customers – their pain, their goals, the context of their reality. What do they need from you? If you’re still guilty of navel-gazing in your communications (as most companies are), this is an opportune time to turn that around.

In terms of marketing messages, we should take a page from the book of companies who marketed successfully during the 1990-1991 recession. The companies who did it right focused on two core strategies:

Value. Marketing case studies look at the success during the early ’90s recession of a companies such as Dell, which increased its advertising spending by 346% during a time when all other computer companies were slashing their marketing budgets, and pushed a clear message about cutting out the middleman and offering superior customer service. Also, at a brand such as A1 Steak Sauce, which rolled out a campaign about how “A-1 Steak Sauce isn’t just for sirloin anymore” — it offers so much more for your money.

Values. Losing money, jobs, houses, or even just watching it happen to others around us, is incredibly demoralizing. To survive, people begin revisiting what it is that’s truly important in their lives: love, marriage, family, friends. Emphasizing these core values during an economic downturn pulls at heartstrings that perhaps weren’t so easy to pull previously. One case study from the ’90s is that of De Beers, the diamond company, which aimed to increase its slumping sales at a time when consumers simply weren’t spending money. Taking the tact that “love conquers all,” De Beers and its ad agency J. Walter Thompson introduced the now-famous De Beers “Shadows” campaign, those uber-romantic black-and-white TV ads that stirred the emotions of even jaded consumers for more than a decade. (Just as an aside, when I was a journalist covering the jewelry industry, I once got invited to JWT to a viewing of a newly created “Shadows” commercial. When the lights came up, there wasn’t a dry eye in the place — even the account execs, who had seen the commercial a bazillion times already, were crying.) The campaign worked: it contributed to a considerable rise in sales during a challenging time.

In fact, WalMart, in its simple new tagline, has managed to capture both “Vs” in its tagline to speak to consumers’ major needs and desires during the downturn: the need to dig in and save money, and the desire to remember what life is really all about.

Always remember that even in B2B marketing, delivering value (time and cost savings, superior service) is often just a means to an end — what your audience really wants is satisfaction, whether that’s in the success of the work or in a great work/life balance. The “2Vs” promise that to your audience during a time when they need more for less and desire real happiness.

I recently returned from a three-day trip to Chicago to attend the inaugural Creative Freelancer Conference, an event put on by HOW magazine (for which I have been a long-time contributor, and to which I fully attribute my one-thing-leads-to-another brand of career success) and Marketing Mentor. HOW is renowned for its excellent HOW Design Conference, with great content and big-name speakers in the design world every year. I was excited about being part of getting the CFC off the ground.

Over three-ish days (short programs on Wednesday and Friday and a full day on Thursday – no doubt meant to address the internal struggles that all of us freelancers felt with taking three days away from ridiculous piles of work) we addressed the big stuff. This being the first conference, we jumped right in to the stuff that really bothers us. How do we charge? How do we manage our time? How do we make sure we get paid? It shouldn’t have been a surprise to any of us that our fellow creatives struggle with exactly the same things. I’d say 25% to 30% of the people there were copywriters — the rest were designers, natural due to the HOW connection — but whether talking to writers or designers or Web developers or illustrators, I discovered that many of us were there for the same reasons. We all grapple with the insecurities that being isolated can bring; the head-scratcher about how to take the time to market oneself when inundated with client deadlines; the universal battle with learning how to say “No!”.

I took two major things away from the conference. First: I’m not doing so badly after all. I have a contract and a process for doing estimates in place; I’m doing pretty well with client communications; I am slowly but surely learning how to better manage my time so I don’t take on too much work.

But second: I have a lot left to learn. I have major problems with overpromising. I still, in my gut, think like a full-time employee who believes all my clients are looking over my shoulder, expecting me to jump when they call. I feel scared a lot. I worry about the future even when I’m underwater in the present.

But the conference was a great way to get away from all of that for a few days, clear my mind, be around a lot of amazing people with great ideas floating in their heads, and gain some perspective. Here are a few key takeaways that I brought back to my office from the week — and that I’m working on putting into practice as we speak:

• Say “I am,” and then be it: Too often, creatives fall into the trap of not being assertive when it comes to saying what services they provide. They say things like: “I’m just a writer,” or worse, try to be everything to everyone without clearly defining what they do well. Decide what you are, and then say, “I am this.” People will believe you. Do what you need to do to back it up, and be this with all your heart.
• Lions don’t apologize. The lead-in title of this bullet is taken from a line in a fun storybook I read to my daughter — but it’s appropriate. Many times creatives share their costs with clients or prospects and then either apologize for them or immediately retract by offering flexibility in pricing. I am guilty of this, especially with my small business clients who are on budgets. The outcome of course is that we feel resentful or tend to back-burner the project if it’s not paying enough. Be strong upfront. You cost what you cost. I like the analogy that your lawyer or doctor wouldn’t blink when stating the price of a consultation. And would expect the money upfront. Creatives need to do the same thing. Our services are equally valuable.
• Creativity doesn’t happen at your desk. OK, this isn’t always true. But the point is that learning what your sources of inspiration are, and making a date to go and find them, is invaluable with creative freelancing. Suggestions included everything from visiting stationery stores to going to museums and galleries. We don’t have the benefit of a team surrounding us to constantly share things they’ve read, leave articles on our chairs, drop by with gossip and ideas, or bounce things off of when we’re stuck. We need to find these things ourselves. I was living this at the conference. I arrived in Chicago with a half-dozen or so creative blocks. Within two days, I had a new elevator pitch, a new business card design, and a revised design for the home page of my Web site, which I’ve been working on redesigning and have been stuck on for weeks. This was all just from talking to people, trading business cards, seeing samples of what other people were doing, and talking about my business with others. My account got unlocked, if you will. Things started flowing again.
• The best time to market yourself is when you’re already busy. I liked this advice from well-known logo designer Jeff Fisher. His advice is to carve out time for yourself, and make it non-negotiable, even when you’re swamped with deadlines. Because it’s better to take time now than to have three or four really quiet months in the near future. This is the toughest one for me, but I love that I feel like I have permission to do it now. The “reading and blogging” recurring event that appears on my calendar twice a week will from here on in be the real thing, not just another calendar notification to be ignored.
• You’re in control. This is seriously the toughest one to reconcile. I’ve been a full-time employee for nearly 12 years, with internships and plenty of part-time minimum-wage jobs before that. If there’s one thing I’ve gotten from that, it’s the ingrained workers’ guilt — that I’m not working hard enough, not performing well, that I’ll “get in trouble” for taking a lunch break — and that creeps into my daily work now too. If a client calls while I’m at Peets writing, for example, I immediately apologize for the noise and worry that my client will disapprove of the lack of professionalism. The truth is that I’m the “Night Writer” for a reason. I work where and when I can, and sometimes my best work happens on my sofa, or at the wi-fi café at Whole Foods! Jeff Fisher’s advice: “Don’t let clients tell you how to work.”
• Refuel before you’re on E. We didn’t talk about this an awful lot at the conference, but there was an undercurrent of it that I picked up on simply because it’s a major theme for me right now. We all have our limits. We all have our ways of refueling. I have learned that if I wait until I’m running on fumes, I do not perform my best. Clients don’t get my best work out of me. I’m unhappy with the result. I need to find ways to refuel every day. Blogging, reading, playing choo-choo trains with my daughter, snuggling with my dog, doing yoga, going to the gym — they all have to be part of my schedule. They are essential parts of my work. Without them, my work will be nothing.

The lead story in The New York Times’ business section today featured James Farley, Ford’s CMO (and chief “believer”) who left a cushy position at Toyota to turn around sales for the Detroit automaker. A former Ford owner myself, I count myself among one of the people Farley is trying to convert. I am a nonbeliever in the brand, based on the number of times I got stuck on the side of the interstate waiting on AAA with my Ford. (Easily four or five. Compare that to the big fat zero times my previously owned Corolla has broken down in the 10 years I’ve owned it, and you can see where my brand loyalty lies.)

I’m fascinated by this article, because Farley has a really interesting story to tell — the renewed commitments to innovation and quality at Ford in recent years — and a seemingly insurmountable obstacle in telling it: public perception that the company’s product is crap. The outcome of this story remains to be seen, but I’m interested in the elements of his strategy:

• He seeks the truth. Farley talks about how, when he first worked for Toyota in Europe, he used to walk around parking lots for hours looking at what kinds of cars people were driving, and then he started exploring why. “When I’m in a new situation, my formula is to really find the truth in things, to observe and get close to the truth.”A couple of my clients told me recently that their organizations “don’t believe in testing,” making me realize how rare it is for companies to want to spend the time getting to the true heart of the matter, especially if it makes things much messier. Farley’s approach takes longer and isn’t convenient, but when he’s a position of turning things on their ear, it’s what’s necessary to find the right direction.
• He engages his sales channel in a unique way. Through the years of Ford’s lame advertising campaigns and watered-down messaging, the real victims have been the dealers, who don’t know how to talk about the product at the point of sale. The Times article talks about how Farley has brought together small gatherings of dealers and paired them up with Ford engineers, so the true experts can bring valuable information about what the company’s doing to improve its cars to the salespeople, who can in turn use real-life examples and anecdotes to educate and impress customers. The article shared how in one case, a Ford chemical engineer was talking in great detail to dealers from agricultural communities about the soybean foam used inside Ford seats. “‘Do you know how happy it makes me to see a Ford engineer talking to Ford dealers about soybean foam so they can tell their customers who are farmers?’ Mr. Farley said. ‘I mean, how freaking cool is that?’”
• He’s building a brand on real emotion and tangible facts. Rather than rolling out yet another series of copycat TV ads with pop songs and Gen Y actors, Ford is figuring out a way to talk about its brand with actual examples of technical innovations and improvements, while trying to express real heart in the importance of Ford as part of America’s heritage and its survival in the future. The article said Farley recently told a crowd of Ford dealers: “‘I believe, in many ways, the future of Ford is the future of our country … The work here is simply more important than the work I was doing at Toyota.’”