…PLUS my thoughts on the new Bond movie “Quantum Of Solace”.
(There is a connection…as you’ll see!)
Ben Settle has a great post over at his blog titled “The 9 Horsemen Of The Email Copywriting Apocalypse”.
Contrary to what the title might suggest…
…it’s actually a list of 9 of the best email copywriters around (people like Matt Furey and John Anghelache).
One of the best ways to raise your email copywriting game is to model people like these. Get on their lists and see what they do and how they write.
As a general copywriting tip, you’ll notice that most of what they write is content, rather than pure promotion.
And often, any promotion is linked in very naturally as the solution to a problem that’s been discussed in the email.
Matt Furey is a master of that.
Now, when you get to the end of the post you’ll notice there’s a few comments…
…including one from yours truly.
There’s a serious copywriting point in my comment.
As I point out, there’s something of a disconnect between Ben’s attention grabbing title and the actual content.
That has the potential to…
…firstly confuse the reader…
…and as a consequence interrupt the “greased slide” of your copy.
Top copywriters Joe Sugarman, John Carlton and my good mate Pete Godfrey all emphasise the importance of taking the reader smoothly through the copy…
…with no “jarring” points where they might stop and wonder…
…”What was that about?”
You see, if they stop, they might very well not continue reading…
…and you’ve lost the sale.
Now, I know this is a blog post from Ben, rather than copy, but I hope you see the point.
Ben knows exactly what I’m talking about, of course, and I’m sure he wouldn’t do something like that in an actual letter.
In his reply to my comment he jokingly makes the comment about ignoring “plot holes” and enjoying the “story” anyway.
Which leads me to my thoughts about…
…the new Bond movie “Quantum Of Solace”.
Because, in this case, the “plot holes” ruin the movie as far as I’m concerned.
Gee, I was so looking forward to this movie.
But my reaction was…
…disappointment.
It’s certainly fast paced and full of style and action…
…but there is something very unsatisfying about the experience.
On reflection, it seemed to me that the problem is a poor script.
OK, I know the Bond movies rely on a certain suspension of disbelief…
…but most of the time the plot has a certain coherence and plausibility.
Not this time.
I don’t think the movie tells us too much about the current “Social Mood” either.
Sure it’s “dark” and more edgy, continuing where “Casino Royale” left off.
So it’s in tune with the times and it’s been quite successful at the box office without being a runaway hit.
But it’s not really breaking any new ground.
To be honest, a lot of the time watching the movie I was reminded of the “Bourne” movies.
I think the scriptwriters missed the point about what a Bond movie is all about (and it can be dark, edgy and gritty and still be a Bond movie).
Enough of this…
…what’s much more interesting from a “Social Mood” point of view is the success of the Teen Vampire movie “Twilight”.
I confess, I know very little about this movie…
…so I’ll be looking into it further and will comment in a future post.