(Explaining why the event was important. Using less than 300 words that could be delivered in less than two hours. Including a call of action to remember. We did.)
Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate-we can not consecrate-we can not hallow-this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us-that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion-that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain-that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom-and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.
“Well, the ancient myths were designed to put the mind, the mental system, into accord with this body system, with this inheritance….To harmonize. The mind can ramble off in strange ways and want things that the body does not want. And the myths and rites were a means to put the mind in accord with the body, and the way of life in accord with the way that nature dictates.”
“National Blonde Brownie Day on January 22nd recognizes a treat often referred to as blondies.”
Blondie and Blondies.
Now if you had asked me on January 21 what a blonde brownie is, I wouldn’t have known. Now I do…and you will also.
“[A] a blonde brownie is similar to a chocolate brownie. In place of cocoa, bakers use brown sugar when making this delicious brownie, giving it a sweet-tooth-satisfying molasses flavor!”
Just one change and you get something that looks and tastes different.
As you know, one of the seven questions I ask before writing client content is about the emotions that the piece should invoke.
Look at the seventh question I ask.
Should prospects be angry? Scared? Motivated?
Or, can a change in the emotional content of a written piece evoke great paralyzing fear?
(Maybe those tasty brownies contain deadly bacteria.)
If you change the emotion words in a piece of content, you get something that looks and tastes different.
The third version, using Frank Zappa’s “A Little Green Rosetta,” was only created as an Instagram story and will therefore disappear from public view by Tuesday evening.
I guessed that’s supposed to encourage you to subscribe to the Bredemarket Instagram account, but I don’t think Green Rosetta is a strong selling point. Too bad “Watermelon in Easter Hay” doesn’t fit the reel subject matter.
On Monday afternoon, I was writing “draft 0.5” of a document for a Bredemarket client. Among other topics, the document noted how the quality of biometric capture affects future identification capability.
Although when I was originally conceptualizing the silhouette, I was thinking of the instrumental interlude toward the end (about 4 minutes in) of Elton John’s “I’ve Seen That Movie Too.”
Yeah, that song’s over fifty years on. Something I will address on my personal LinkedIn profile later this evening.
Each person has certain immutable attributes associated with them, such as their blood type. And other attributes, such as their fingerprints and iris characteristics, which are mostly immutable. (Although I defy anyone to change their irises.)
But other things associated with us are all too mutable. If we use these for identification, we’ll end up in trouble.
Elvis Presley, songwriter?
Let’s take one of the many attributes associated with Elvis Presley. If you haven’t heard of Presley, he was a popular singer in the mid 20th century. He’s even in Britannica.
(As a point of clarification, the song “Radio Radio” is associated with a DIFFERENT Elvis.)
Among many other songs, Presley is associated with the song “Don’t Be Cruel.”
Elvis Presley.
Presley was not only the performer, but also the credited co-songwriter.
After all, that’s what BMI says when you search its Songview database. See BMI work ID 317493.
“…he listened to a selection of acetate demos provided by Freddy Bienstock, the new song representative assigned to Elvis by his publishers, Hill and Range. He chose “Don’t Be Cruel” by an obscure Brooklyn-born r&b singer and songwriter, Otis Blackwell. As per Hill and Range’s contractual requirement, it came with the assignment of half the publishing to Elvis Presley Music and half the writer’s share to Elvis Presley, but as Blackwell, the first of Elvis’ great “contract” writers, was always quick to point out, it was the best deal he ever made.”
Many songs are credited to Presley as a songwriter, but in reality he wrote few if any of them. Yet the “songwriter” attribute is assigned to him. Do we simply accept what BMI says and move on?
But there are other instances in which there are no back room deals, yet a song is strongly associated with a musical entity who never wrote it.
George Jones, not a songwriter
Take BMI Work ID 542061. The credited songwriters for this particular song are Robert Valentine Braddock and Claude Putnam, more commonly known as Bobby Braddock and Curly Putnam. According to RolandNote, Braddock and Putnam began writing this song on March 4, 1977 and finished it on October 18, 1977.
It was recorded by Johnny Russell on either March 7, 1978 (RolandNote), or January 18, 1979 (Second Hand Songs), or both (Classic Country Music Stories). But no recording was released.
Then George Jones recorded the song on February 6, 1980 with subsequent overdubs (“You know she came to see him one last time”) when he was more sober. His reaction?
“I looked [producer] Billy [Sherrill] square in the eye and said ‘nobody’s gonna buy that thing, it’s too morbid.’”
And morbid it was. Although popular music in general and country music in particular has never shied away from morbid songs.
Released the next month on March 18, the song was never associated with Braddock, Putnam, Russell, or Sherrill ever again. “He Stopped Loving Her Today” is completely associated with George Jones.
Now there’s a particular article that I wrote for a Bredemarket client a couple of years ago that used a slow reveal “reverse timeline” effect. Starting with 2022 and moving back in time to 2019, I slowly dropped the details about a missing person who was identified via biometric technology, finally solving the mystery of the person’s identity (Connerjack Oswalt).
“Step 1: Talk with your client, whether by email, on the phone, or in person. This will give you a clear understanding of the project, the audience and your client’s goals.”
Allsop asks multiple questions, including why, what, and who.
“[A]nswers to these questions will help you write copy that resonates with your audience….”
Great. Bredemarket and Allsop are pretty much in alignment.
But Chris is only on Step 1.
“Step 2: Take your conversation with your client a step further with thorough research.”
I gloss over this but it’s important. If you don’t know an industry it’s important to understand it. And if you do know an industry it’s important to understand it better. Even if a biometric product marketing expert is writing biometric content, it always helps to conduct research.
(Yeah, I’ll share the video. Later.)
Oh, and Chris isn’t done yet.
“Step 3: Study successful promotions, websites, and content in the topic or industry you’re working in. Ask yourself how each promotion got your attention.”
Good idea…to a point. Don’t slavishly imitate other promotions. The content from your client still needs to differentiate from the content from the competitors. And aping some popular brand to call yourself the “Uber of lawn care” just sounds bad when you spend two seconds thinking about it.
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