Project Complete: LSC 2013 Product Catalog

Just received the final pdf of the 2013 catalog for Lebanon Seaboard's flagship brands, GreenView fertilizers, Preen Weed Preventer and Lyric Wild Bird Food. It's the second year I've provided copy for the catalog. I also write their seasonal newsletters, including researching topics of interest to customers of their fertilizer, lawn care and bird food products. It's been quite a learning experience -- although you couldn't tell from looking at my own lawn! I guess it's easier to write about it than to get off your butt and do something about it!

Follow the links in the copy above to find out more about each brand, or to see the latest newsletters. View a PDF here. Catalog design by Bevel Design.

 

This Week: On the Bench

Just finished some business development projects for one of my clients (they are too busy to work on proposals, so they often have me work on them when there's a hot RFP in hand). Also working on some positioning and "launch phase" messaging for a new medical device; and finished an email announcement for new book a prominent political author. Just started a direct mail package, along with customer care emails and SMS messaging for a major telecomm client.

Contact me for projects large and small, and have a great Labor Day weekend!

Summer 2012 Update

It's been a bit more difficult keeping this site updated than I anticipated... thankfully, it's because there's a lot of work coming through. Unfortunately, because much of my work is for other agencies, I can't really link to it from here or claim "credit" for it -- you know how it goes.

One direct client that's been kind enough to let me link is Lebanon Seaboard -- they own brands like GreenView with GreenSmart fertilizers, Preen lawncare products, and Lyric Wild Bird Food. In addition to working on the 2012 and 2013 catalogs for those brands, I also write their monthly/quarterly newsletters. It's been quite an education! Here's the latest issue of the GreenView newsletter:  http://www.greenviewfertilizer.com/newsletter/issues/summer-2012

Agencies I've been proud to work with over the past year include Emerge Partners, Accelerate Media, Brand Cool, Spoon Events and a few others.

As far as types of work -- it's been a little bit of everything, including product naming and positioning, audience messaging, technical writing and white papers, web strategies, information architecture and copy for interactive apps, special messaging for crisis management, e-newsletters and loyalty program maintenance, customer lifecycle communications and direct marketing. Good mix of B2B, consumer direct, and channel... end clients have included Cisco Systems, Kahlua, Chivas Regal, AT&T and many others. I've also developed proposals for some of my clients, and even participated in a major pitch -- for which I had to ditch my flip-flops!

Hope you're enjoying your summer -- and if you find yourself in need of strategic copy help, creative direction, concept development, ghost writing, etc. -- give me a call!

On My Desktop...

I guess you could think of your computer desktop as a kind of virtual workbench... on mine this week:

• Waiting for feedback on some web copy for a new Cisco website (via Emerge Partners)
• Waiting for feedback on a major DM campaign for a NY-based client (via Brand Cool)
• A couple of FSIs
• An outline for a recruitment package
• Some pre-reading for a client presentation on a new interactive strategy

Recently completed:

• A series of email blasts and some web copy for a major liquor distributor
• Naming and themeing of an annual corporate event
• Copy for a 2012 catalog featuring three of your favorite lawn and garden products

Busy week ahead!

Re-imagining a Classic?

Having switched "away" from cable to Apple TV and Netflix, I had NO IDEA that a mini-series based on James Cain's Mildred Pierce was in the making... The movie (with Joan Crawford) is probably my favorite noir film of all time.

I guess if we live long enough everything will be remade -- but I can't complain. After all, I was originally afraid they would "ruin" Star Trek on me, and they actually made it better and more relevant.

I hope the remake of Mildred Pierce retains a nice big bitch-slap for Veda though. As I recall, in the novel she is even worse than she is in the movie. It's been a long time since I read it, but I think she's an opera singer in the book. I'll have to re-read it before the mini-series comes out.

So, since I don't have HBO, who's inviting me over to watch it?

Making Of