{"id":298,"date":"2011-12-02T18:32:05","date_gmt":"2011-12-02T18:32:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.write-angle.com\/thewritestuff\/?p=298"},"modified":"2011-12-02T18:32:05","modified_gmt":"2011-12-02T18:32:05","slug":"why-guarding-the-brand-is-job-one-for-technology-writers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.write-angle.com\/thewritestuff\/why-guarding-the-brand-is-job-one-for-technology-writers\/","title":{"rendered":"Why guarding the brand is Job One for technology writers"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Brand<\/a><\/div>\n

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Our flagship client<\/strong> McAfee <\/a>invited us to participate in an exclusive writing workshop yesterday designed to better communicate the company\u2019s brand promise. The practical tips and guidelines imparted during this exceptional session inform good writing for any technology brand.
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When it comes to effective brand communication, McAfee gets it.\u00a0 And it’s gratifying\u00a0 to learn that we<\/a>, as a writing service, share the same philosophy when it comes to creating content that engages readers<\/a> and gets them to take action.<\/p>\n

It begins with the “brand”<\/strong>, which means that it all starts with an understanding that your first responsibility as a content-generator is fidelity<\/em> to the brand you’re writing about. To stay true to whatever it is that your client’s brand is promising to its buyers is your first obligation. To bend the rules is to break that faith. To over-promise and under-deliver is the death knell for any brand, all the more if you compete in a technology category where your product’s performance is so important.\u00a0 As the chief steward or keeper of the brand promise, the writer has nothing less than a fiduciary responsibility to keep asking the right questions designed to keep the content honest \u2013 and by extension, trustworthy.\u00a0 This may not always make you a favorite in product-management quarters, but anything less does a disservice to the brand over the long haul.<\/p>\n

As it often turns out, it’s the folks inside the company who inadvertently<\/em> put the bending pressure on the content they’re trying to create for this or that project. They want to stretch the truth. They want to make bolder claims. They want to disparage the competition.\u00a0 They want to do those things that put the brand promise at risk. Quality control in these instances has multiple meanings and it’s the writers who must wear the QC mantle. It’s not about just ensuring readability and correct grammar, but strict fidelity to the voice of the brand.\u00a0 At Write Angle, we “QC” the content by commencing every project with a set of questions that begin by simply asking for the project’s primary purpose and conclude with a request for the three, key takeaways the project team wants to imprint on their reader.\u00a0 For what it’s worth, it’s all pretty consistent with the McAfee approach.\u00a0 How does your <\/em>process compare?<\/p>\n