Month: September 2022

One morning last summer I was walking around the local farmers market and as I ambled along the rows I was intrigued by a stall selling mushrooms. Really good looking mushrooms.

The two young men behind the stall started telling me about how they had just started the company, grow all their own mushrooms and this was their first market. I like mushrooms, and these really good looking mushrooms were very reasonably priced. But my head was telling me I’ve got some mushrooms at home. I thanked the stall holders for their information and walked on.

The next stall was a man selling English wines. ‘Red or white sir?’ What do you prefer? There is only one answer to that question. ‘Red’ I said. The wine guy then proceeded to tell me how the red wine compares in taste to the more familiar European wines I might know more about.

I walked away with a bottle of not so cheap wine – and I have loads of wine at home.

‘People don’t buy the best product, they buy the one they can understand the fastest.’ Donald Miller

The difference between the two markets stall vendors was that one told me about themselves, the other made it about me. They bought me into the story.

Marketing and communcation should always be about the customer and the problem that you solve for them.

At Press Creative we help businesses get the attention of their customers by bringing them into a story.

For engaging design, words that matter, and marketing that works visit our website and schedule a call.

The wine was OK, but I bet the mushrooms were nicer.

About 20 years ago I was on a flight to Cairo that had a short stopover at Rome airport. In those days my drink of choice was a bucket of latte from Starbucks or Costa and having never been to Italy before, this 90 minutes on Italian concrete was a chance to have a real Italian latte.

Real coffee from the land of coffee drinkers.

I had a few euros in my pocket and having landed in Rome I scouted the terminal for the best looking cafe. A row of finely dressed, coffee drinking Italians were stood at the bar I had selected and as I queued I felt the anticipation growing.

Real coffee in the land of coffee drinkers.

I don’t speak Italian but as the smooth looking bar tender looked at me for my order I said in my best Anglo Italian ‘Un Latte Per Favore’. He looked at me and repeated back to me what I said. I nodded and repeated back to him. Anticipation was now at fever pitch.

30 seconds later I was stood at the bar, next to many finely dressed, coffee drinking Italians nursing a glass of cold milk.

Caffè latte! It’s Caffè latte!

One important word made all the difference and I missed it!

At Press Creative we help small businesses say the right things to get the results they want. Clear design and strategic messaging that can be applied in clear marketing.

P.S. I now drink a small Americano without milk which, as I discovered after a long lunch in Paris a few years ago, is also a rather strong cocktail. But that’s another story.

Communicate with clarity and get the results you want.

One sunny morning a few years ago I was jogging along my usual country lane route, listening to some helpfully upbeat running tunes when my rhythmic stride was rudely interrupted by an uninvited noise. White van man had been patiently inching along behind me for a few yards before realising I couldn’t hear him so he hit the hooter. Hard.

My need for a soundtrack had drowned out everything else and I did not have a clue that an increasingly irate driver of a vehicle that had clearly seen more than it’s fair share of scrapes was about to invite me to stand aside and let him pass. I swiftly made way. Gandalf I was not.

Our marketing and brand messaging is not always heard because we are not talking about the right things and not using the right words. We are standing in the way of the message.

At Press Creative we help small businesses to create clear brand messaging that connects with their ideal clients, so they are seen, heard, and understood.