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Issue 3
October 2007
Vague Promises Are Easy to Keep
Here at The Awkward Adverb, we often work with advertising agencies, and we appreciate the clean, crisp prose that is the hallmark of advertising copy. So, we were surprised when we happened across convoluted corporate gobbledygook on the website of a large, reputable ad agency.
A sentence in the text below reads, "By leveraging integrated aspects of meaning and expression, LPK creates, manages and delivers brand equity across the extended touchpoints of a brand throughout the continuum of brand communications."
Come again? The big words are quite impressive, but what exactly is being said here and in the rest of the text? We're not entirely sure, nor do we want to spend a half-hour trying to figure it out. Clear communication, after all, is the writer's job.
The full text in the image reads:
The Differentiated Brand Promise
LPK offers an extended array of brand-building competencies that support the identity of a brand. By leveraging integrated aspects of meaning and expression, LPK creates, manages and delivers brand equity across the extended touchpoints of a brand throughout the continuum of brand communications.
The ability to reinforce core brand assets all along the experiential paths that consumers take when selecting and interacting with a brand serves to create an indelible impression in the hearts and minds of consumers.
About this E-mail
The Awkward Adverb, an e-mail newsletter sent out once a month, highlights English-language flaws that have appeared on a sign, in print, on the Web, or anywhere in the public sphere. It may address grammatical errors, careless usage, bothersome buzzwords, punctuation problems, misspellings, or confusing writing in general.
Subscribers are encouraged to submit their findings for future editions of The Awkward Adverb by responding to this e-mail. Archived past issues of the newsletter are located here.
Henry Alpert, editor of The Awkward Adverb, is a New Orleans-based copywriter and business writer who works with businesses, ad agencies, and graphic design firms on a wide array of writing projects. For more information about his services, visit action-copy.com.
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