The oldest story ever told?
Is the oldest story ever told, 37,000 years old? It’s hard to date hand-me-down tales in the oral tradition, but The Times reports on a theory that aligns an Australian Aboriginal legend with a volcanic eruption. We’ve previously pointed to this research that traced some Indo-European folk-tales back to the Bronze Age. Photo by Gary Saldana on Unsplash
Footnotes as foot soldiers #contentmarketing
… in the disinformation wars. Here’s an interesting take on the power of a well-deployed footnote… More than ever, we need what this tool provides: accountability and transparency. “Fiddling with footnotes” is the kind of hygienic practice that our era of information pollution needs — and needs to be shared as widely as possible. Footnotes […]
Stories, villains and evolutionary psychology
Here’s an interesting piece on the evolutionary importance of baddies in stories. Far from being escapist titillation, Kjeldgaard-Christiansen thinks that creating these tales may in fact have an evolutionary purpose. Taking these short trips into the dark sides of our natures, and seeing good triumph over evil, helps us to reaffirm our altruistic tendencies, leading […]
Magic, marketing and anomalistic psychology – @RogerDooley, @MattLTompkins
Magic and marketing both rely on directed attention. The conjurer directs the audience away from the palmed coin while the marketer directs it towards the big, shiny, buy button. But attention is a fickle animal. If you’ve never seen the video below, I urge you to watch it now. It’s just 1:21, but it’s impossible […]
Sci-fi for scenario planning
The French army turns to sci-fi writers to imagine the future. Here’s an interesting article from the BBC news site. It was retweeted by Sci Futures who, although not involve in this project, specialise in exactly this sort of approach for business and government. In summary, the French military has engaged a team of sci-fi […]
10 words – @ThisIsSeth
For writers, a sobering thought from Seth Godin: Ten words per page That’s how many words get scanned the first time through. Perhaps five on a billboard. Which means that your memo, your ad, your announcement, your post–you get ten words. He’s right. Read the rest, here. Photo by Romain Vignes on Unsplash
Write simply – @ThisIsSeth
Seth Godin on the importance of simply writing, but writing simply: Overwriting has a long tradition, particularly among academics. Make it a bit more complex and wordy than it needs to be. Write run-on sentences. Apparently, complicated writing must be more true. One reason for this commitment to overwriting is that it keeps the hordes […]
Cognitive load – @ThisIsSeth
Cognitive load is a challenge for content writers … and the answer is NOT more muzak. How do you engage without overloading?
Content marketing for a post-social era
Okay, “post-social” may be a little apocalyptic, but it’s getting ever-harder to get cut-through on social channels. What does this mean for content marketing and the content you create? Cut-through in a crowded, cynical marketplace In this fake-news, foreign interference, data-for-sale world, our audience is cynical of everything they read online. At the same time, […]
Killer techniques for SEO Copywriting – @RobbieRichMktg
It’s getting tougher all the time to drive engagement for even the best content. Search and social channels are more crowded, while audiences are increasingly cynical and overwhelmed. Strong SEO copywriting is vital, however strong your underlying content. Great writing sits at the heart of great SEO. But, it’s not a complete overlap. For SEO, […]