Copywriting News - Google Criticised for Lazy Copywriting Call-Out Line – Write House Reports

In the promotion of its new Chromebook Pixel laptop, search engine giant Google has been criticised for lacklustre copywriting efforts.

One copywriting commentator branded Google’s efforts “lazy and stupid”. Often revered for their ability to produce compelling copy regarding their hardware, Google copywriters came under scrutiny based on just one line within the product description of their new state of the art 

laptop.

So what’s got copywriters riled? After going to all the effort to describe the laptop’s “0.55mm layer of touch-enabled Gorilla® Glass fused directly to the screen, which provides smooth touch interactions while preserving picture clarity.”

And,

“Pixel is machined from an anodized aluminium alloy to a tight tolerance, leaving nothing extraneous or distracting: vents are hidden, screws invisible, and stereo speakers seamlessly tucked away beneath the backlit keyboard.”

Google went on to describe the laptop’s ‘light bar’ and here’s where copywriters criticise Google’s lazy efforts. In describing the light bar Google simply said: “Just because it looks cool.”

In a statement from one copywriting expert, he said: “The line is simply lazy and cynical, it sells a product to clients admirably in the first instance and then shatters the whole perception of the product with one piece of lazy, ‘can’t be bothered’ copy. In this instance it would have been better to say nothing at all.”

No comment was made by Google.

Write House, Wolverhampton – Online Advertising Branded ‘Annoying’ by Consumers

Freelance copywriting agency, Write House, has discovered that the majority of online consumers deem online advertising to be irritating, off-putting and mediocre, after referring to research conducted by Adobe.

A survey of 1020 UK consumers and 500 marketing experts uncovered that the majority believed ‘traditional’ marketing methods to be much more effective than the digital equivalent.

Notably, two thirds of consumers surveyed said that TV advertising was far more effective than web advertising. 54% of consumers also believed that online banner advertising had little impact on attracting potential customers.

What’s more interesting is that only 3% of consumers would view an advert via a social media platform such as Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Advertising created by marketing professionals was deemed to be the most effective advertising solution, but in contrast, 27% of marketers and 28% of consumers stated that user-generated content provides the best platform for online advertising.

When quizzed on social media, 43% of survey participants said they would recommend a product or service to friends and/or relative should they like the brand. Yet, in stark contrast, only 2% believed that a brand description, featured on a company’s social media site, is credible.

Furthermore, 53% of social media users also said that they would have clicked a Facebook ‘dislike’ button had one been available, in order to express their opinion of a particular product, service or company.

Write House founder, Daniel Waldron, commented: “This will serve as a reminder for the copywriting industry and the marketing industry that advertising techniques constantly have to be reviewed and adapted in order to keep in-line with consumer trends.”

He added: “The number of marketing opportunities available through online, mobile and social media platforms is vast, especially when you consider the amount of money that consumers spend via these platforms. However, marketers have yet to even scratch the surface of the potential these markets have to offer.”   

New Press Regulation Laws Unveiled: What Impact Will They Have?

A new press regulation system will ensure:
• Upfront apologies from the media to victims of defamatory comments and media intrusion
• Fines of 1% of turnover for publishers found to be breaching regulations. Fines could amount to £1 million
• A self-regulatory body with independent appointments and financing
• A tough code of conduct
• Free mediation service for victims
• A swift complaints system
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However, new regulations have raised fears that bloggers and website owners may be subjected to heavy libel fines under the new laws imposed by a new regulatory watchdog.
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In a statement from political blogger Iain Dale, he said: “I will certainly be covered by the regulator.”
Meanwhile, Carla Buzasi, of the Huffington Post, said: “I am unclear as to the body’s stance concerning the internet.”
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In a bid to appease ‘individual bloggers’, a Government statement said: “The criteria that determines whether a publisher is liable exempts ‘a single blogger.’
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The new regulations have been met with caution as a number of top UK newspapers seek legal advice as to whether they should conform to the new regulatory system.
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The publishers of the Daily Mail, the Sun, the Times, the Telegraph, the Daily Star and the Daily Express have all said that they will explore ‘all the options available’ before committing to a decision.
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The new press watchdog will be established across England & Wales via royal charter and will be supported by legislation.
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The new regulatory system will oust the current regime, under which, the press is self-regulated on a voluntary basis by the Press Complaints Commission.
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The new regulatory regime has been implemented following an investigation into press ethics carried out by Lord Leveson that began in November 2011. The report was undertaken following revelations that News International, overseen by Rupert Murdoch, had been involved in a phone hacking scandal.
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The scandal uncovered that News International had intruded on the personal lives of a number of families facing traumatic circumstances including the family of murdered school girl Milly Dowler and the parents of ‘missing’ child Madeleine McCann.
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The controversy made world news and as a result fresh calls were made for an independent press monitor.
However, the new system has been met with mixed feedback, with supporters of the system, namely the victims of the phone hacking scandal, strongly in support of limiting ‘press power’. Whilst those that oppose the system say that the regulations are a restriction on a fundamental principle of UK life, ‘freedom of speech.’
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One thing has become ultimately clear though. The UK has enjoyed a free press for 300 years, but all of a sudden the status quo has shifted and a new threshold has been crossed. The crossing of that threshold could be dangerous and will certainly change the face of website usage, blogging and social media trends. Whether this is for better or worse, remains to be seen.

Write House News: Twitter, Facebook and Blog Content Could Be Subjected to Journalism Laws

It has emerged that posts on Facebook, Twitter and Blogs could be subjected to Journalism laws regarding content posted on the social networking platforms.
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The Press Regulations Authority (PRA) claims that any posting made on the web by individuals, via social media, must be viewed as publishing their content to the masses, in much the same way as online news publications. Online newspapers are regulated in terms of what can be published and now the Press Regulations Authority plans to apply journalistic laws across social media.
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Social media has been perceived by some to be a loophole in terms of regulating content. After all, social media platforms allow for free speech and remain a largely lawless and unregulated environment.
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However, following the UK riots, authorities appeared to adopt a different stance on what could and could not be posted on social media platforms. Social media made headline news during the riots as individuals were arrested and charged for comments deemed to have been inciting further violence.

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A number of people were also arrested and punished severely merely for implying that they make take part in the riots, without any intention of doing so.
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The plan to impose journalistic law will no doubt enrage ‘free speech’ supporters. However, the Press Regulations Authority does plan to publish clear guidelines highlighting the distinction between credible posts and those that are inappropriate.
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In support of the PRA’s proposal is the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). The DPP has launched guidelines in a bid to achieve an equal balance between adhering to criminal law and protecting freedom of speech.

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In particular, the DPP made reference to Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which ‘guarantees the right to freedom of expression - albeit within certain boundaries.’
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It would now appear that such legislation has already been enforced. In a recent High Court case, a judge ruled that well-renowned search engine provider, Google, had to reveal the true identity of an anonymous blogger, following a case involving a north London Rabbi. The aforementioned case involved a Google-hosted blog which contained details of alleged sexual misconduct.
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It is believed that the above case has set down a marker for what can be expected in the future with Twitter & Facebook users, and bloggers, likely to find themselves in the judicial firing line if posted content is found to be defamatory, deemed as harassment, inciting violence or prejudice in any form.
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In a statement from the judge presiding over the Google related case, he said: “The idea that anyone making, what appear to be, defamatory comments should not be protected by the cloak of anonymity.”
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Changes to the law are to be presented before Parliament later this month (March 2013) and if passed will no doubt re-shape the practices, ethics and culture of the current, and next generation of social media users.

Write House Review: Copywriting Professionals and Bloggers Pardoned by Sultan of Oman

Around 50 copywriters, writing for a series of blogs, have been pardoned by the Omani Sultan after initially receiving long-term prison sentences. A number of human rights activists have also been released despite being charged with defamation, cyber-crime and illegal gathering.
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Members of copywriting teams, individual bloggers and human rights activists were jailed having taken to blogs and social media sites to protest against political issues in Oman.
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Under Oman law, postings on social media sites and blogs, or copywriting that can be interpreted as defamatory are considered to be a breach of Oman law.
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Press freedom watchdog, ‘Reporters Without Borders’ (RSF), based in Paris, France, released a statement saying: “We’re extremely relieved to hear of the pardons granted by the Sultan, Qaboos bin Said, Al-Said.”
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Write House understands that around 20 of the copywriting professionals and bloggers staged a hunger strike in protest of their imprisonment and the length of time it took for the Supreme Court to investigate their appeals.
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In a further statement from the RSF, they said: “This is an encouraging gesture for freedom of information in the sultanate… The [Omani] laws on freedom of information, including online freedom of information, must be reformed so that they comply with international undertakings signed and ratified by the sultanate; this includes copywriting and blogging in all forms.”

Write House Review – Copywriting News – Digital Marketing Agency Launches New Content Marketing Solution

Content marketing has hit the headlines recently, previously labelled as ‘outdated’; the art of content marketing has risen to prominence once more as businesses throughout the world begin to appreciate the value of writing press releases and articles in order to promote business products and services.
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Now, a leading digital sales agency has come up with a new content marketing concept known as Brand Voice.
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The agency behind the design of the software of the new content marketing tool has identified that content marketing has become a high source of expenditure for a number of business enterprises. These enterprises will often outsource content marketing projects and as a result the expense has soared above other marketing sources such as social and mobile advertising.
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The new content marketing software eases that expenditure, allowing companies to retain control of their content marketing requirements, selecting how, to whom and when they distribute their press release or article.
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The unique selling point of this software is that it can be managed by those companies who install it, without the need to rely on article or press release distribution sites.
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Write House Founder and Director, Daniel Waldron, comments: “As a copywriting service provider, this innovative content marketing tool provides a sound solution for our clients in terms of distributing articles and press releases. We would no longer have to rely on third party services allowing us to reduce the cost to the client significantly.”
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The designers of the software, i-Believe, made a statement saying: “We represent over 100 publishers in Ireland that publish a wide range of websites in areas like business, sport, entertainment and parenting. i-Believe works with brands to help them seed relevant content within these sites.”
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“The content may be words, video, email, the distribution may be web, social, and mobile or all of the above and the content focus may be informational, competition oriented or something else. The aim of the software is to assist brands by advising, (co)producing and seeding content which we feel will resonate with users on our specialist sites.”
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The software will serve specifically to generate content such as copywriting, asset production & video production, plus a whole host of other features. The software is due to be launched later in 2013.

Write House Joins Professional CopyWriters' Network

Write House has been accepted as a member of the prestigious Professional Copywriters' Network. The network has recognised the service of Write House for its copywriting, proofreading and editing services that the company provides to its clients.

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In a statement from Write House founder and Director, Daniel Waldron, he said: "Write House is extremely pleased with this news and thanks the Professional Copywriters' Network for recognising the quality service that the company provides to its clients."

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Write House is a trading name of Waldron Enterprises and the brand only launched in February 2013, attracting interest from clients nationally and internationally. Alongside offering a quality copywriting, proofreading and editing service, Write House also specialises in offering social media assistance with social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+, as well as providing a media consultancy service.

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Daniel Waldron comments: "Our focus remains solely on providing every Write House customer a unique service experience that delivers quality and meets necessary requirements. This is the start of something big for Write House and we want our clients to join us on the journey." 

Copywriting News Mainstream Copywriters ‘Stealing’ Ideas from the Signs of Homeless People

Homeless people have always been resourceful, they have to be in order to survive on the streets. It would appear that copywriters across the world have taken a shine to how resourceful homeless people are, particularly when writing signs to encourage the public to give.

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A number of homeless people from around the world have often been credited with producing funny written anecdotes displaying a sparkling sense of humour despite the plight they face. So good are some of these written signs that many of them have been reproduced and featured across the mainstream copywriting industry.
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In fact a number of copywriters and bloggers have actually searched the globe to find such signs, producing feature articles and blogs describing some of the amazing copywriting abilities of the homeless.

Innovative signs have become quite a feature of the homeless community as they become more creative in ways of asking for money, shelter, food and even propositions to marry rich people.

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A leading copywriting commentator said: “Many mainstream copywriters are actually quite amazed at the copywriting ability of the homeless, so much so, that many copywriters simply ‘modify’ the concept and present it as their own, particularly for the purposes of ad copywriting.”
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Hardcore critics and homelessness action groups say that the actions of a minority of mainstream copywriters amount to exploitation. One commentator said: “Copywriters are simply stealing ideas generated by someone else, whilst words are not the right of the homeless, shouldn’t copywriters at least offer a little remuneration for ‘using’ the idea? At the end of the day, homeless people have no idea this is happening and it’s incredibly unfair.”
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Copywriters on the other hand argue that they are using initiative and when feature articles are produced the work of a particular homeless person is rewarded as the gain publicity as many stories often feature a picture of the homeless person holding their sign. Therefore, they receive exposure, which may result in more public help.
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The creative concept of homeless people has grown significantly, but this is worrying as it suggests that the number of homeless people is steadily increasing throughout the globe, especially in major cities.

A representative from a London Council authority said: “The thought that homeless people have to resort to creative copywriting just for a bit of loose change or something to eat reflects the brokenness of British society.”

Write House Founder, Daniel Waldron, Announces Business Re-Launch

Write House founder, Daniel Waldron, today (4th February 2013) announced the official re-launch of Write House based in Wolverhampton, West Midlands.
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Write House emerged with assistance from the Princes' Trust. Vastly different from the competition, Write House is not bound by corporate politics, nor does the company operate a 'revolving door system', where customers and clients are processed before being put out to pasture and forgotten.
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Daniel Waldron states: “Write House is focused on establishing rapport, a service that provides for its customers and building long lasting business relationships on a foundation of trust. The company offers a comprehensive range of media services, providing a complete package that serves as a one-stop solution for businesses in need of media assistance.”
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In a statement from Cormac Donoghue, of SUCS Ltd, Ireland, a current Write House client, he said: "We at SUCS Ltd were all very happy with the final submitted document. Write House provided an excellent proofreading service. The attention to detail and suggestions improved the document quality. We will certainly be in contact with Write House when the next project comes up and we would recommend Write House to anyone".
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Write House has been established due to the growing demand of freelance media services as Britain re-asserts itself following economic recession. Many businesses have turned to freelance services as they have found such services to be more cost effective.
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What makes Write House distinct is its unwavering determination to remain true to its roots. As a company set up with incredible support from the Princes’ Trust, Write House founder Daniel Waldron, established the business following redundancy from employment. Therefore, Write House has taken great strides to understand the needs of businesses on a personal level, not merely as an opportunity to make money.
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In a competitive market, Write House has a unique edge from the point of view that the company is proud of its humble beginnings and modest approach to business and it has not got lost in the ‘ego fuelled’ media environment. Therefore, Write House is able to consistently provide a service to customers, which is reliable and trustworthy.

Details, along with prices, of the services on offer from Write House can be found on the official website www.writehouse.co.uk

The website also provides a portfolio and client testimonials related to work produced by Write House.
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For additional information contact:
Daniel Waldron on mobile number: 07788 997083, or via e-mail: contact@writehouse.co.uk
Write House is a branch of Waldron Enterprises, a registered company, based in Wolverhampton, West Midlands. The business provides copywriting, proofreading and editing services, social media assistance and media consultancy services for all industry sectors and individuals, such as students in need of proofreading services.