The core of great brand writing is reporting
I used to be a journalist. I wrote about how riders pee during the Tour de France for GQ, produced video features for the first-ever iPad-only newspaper, explored Tracksmith’s rise in the running world, and took a helicopter to the top of an Alaskan mountain range with legendary snowboarder Travis Rice for Vanity Fair. As a reporter I learned how to tell stories: by talking to people, researching, and translating the information gathered into a concise and powerful narrative.
Then, in 2014 an agency asked me to work on a GE campaign. They were looking for someone with an editorial background. I had never done any copywriting or agency work but the transition was seamless. In fact, my background as a reporter was an asset—I was curious and unafraid to ask questions, my writing was succinct with a focused and accurate narrative. This was the impetus and founding principle for Three Point Four Media: apply the skills learned as journalists to help companies with their storytelling, strategy, and copy needs.
My journalism days are behind me, but I still employ everything I learned in newsrooms to brand work. Here’s how.
Put on your reporter’s hat
The best writing is informed by good reporting and the same goes for copywriting, whether it’s a manifesto or a product page. It may sound simplistic, but you can’t sculpt if you don’t have the clay. My business partner Noah Davis and I conduct interviews with clients to understand a company’s narrative, goals, and business needs—and use those interviews to inform the work. We’re not afraid to ask a client hard questions about their loftiest ideas and these conversations provide us with the yarn we need for copy.
We then supplement interviews with market research. We mine industry reports, news stories, and studies for trends, statistics, and big ideas. This gathering of information isn’t solely to procure details about products or messaging, though. We use it to get to the bottom of what the company wants to say, how they want to say it, and where it should live. This is the same method I used for writing articles: ask questions, dig into stats, and then mold it all into a compelling story for a specific audience.
Copywriting is equal parts taxonomy and poetry. It needs to be informative and stylish, detailed and organized. A reportorial approach helps you uncover where the copy belongs, how to frame it, and the most elegant way to tell the story.
Don’t forget to fact check that reporting, though
Always make sure claims, statistics, and bold statements are true. This is the old reporter in me. It’s not a weariness or distrust of the client and what they have shared, but a desire to ensure everything is accurate. A client might tout a big, shiny number on a call that would sound great in a tagline. It’s up to you to verify that number is correct. Same goes for the troves of information and pitch decks clients send. I vet big claims before I work it into copy—and if the information is incorrect or extremely out of date, I’ll find new statistics that fit the copy and client’s goals.
Same goes for naming projects and taglines. Not only do you want to double check if a name or tagline is owned by another brand, you should check your client’s catalog (and back catalog) for product names too. Sometimes a name is too good to be true—it’s already taken, by your client no less.
Fact checking isn’t just for magazines. It’s essential for good brand writing and messaging. The last thing you want is an email campaign you worked on to get blasted out with an old statistic in the subject line. Statistics can be a powerful copy device—if they’re true. So channel your old high school teacher and double check all your work.
Ask yourself where the real story is
Companies get too close to their own and lose track of how to tell their story. The key to good brand writing is listening to the client and shaping all the inputs into a true and cohesive narrative. When I worked in magazines the best editors would look at a first draft and tell me, “this is all good and fine but this idea buried 400 words into the piece is what the story is actually about—rewrite it with that as the focus.”
I bring this same approach to client work. Intake information and identify where the real story lies. Don’t be afraid to tell your client what you think will actually resonate and why—that’s how editors always made my work better and now I’m returning the favor.
Bill Bradley is the co-founder of Three Point Four Media. His writing has appeared in GQ, Vanity Fair, and Bon Appétit, among many others.
The core of great brand writing is reporting
I used to be a journalist. I wrote about how riders pee during the Tour de France for GQ, produced video features for the first-ever iPad-only newspaper, explored Tracksmith’s rise in the running world, and took a helicopter to the top of an Alaskan mountain range with legendary snowboarder Travis Rice for Vanity Fair. As a reporter I learned how to tell stories: by talking to people, researching, and translating the information gathered into a concise and powerful narrative.
Then, in 2014 an agency asked me to work on a GE campaign. They were looking for someone with an editorial background. I had never done any copywriting or agency work but the transition was seamless. In fact, my background as a reporter was an asset—I was curious and unafraid to ask questions, my writing was succinct with a focused and accurate narrative. This was the impetus and founding principle for Three Point Four Media: apply the skills learned as journalists to help companies with their storytelling, strategy, and copy needs.
My journalism days are behind me, but I still employ everything I learned in newsrooms to brand work. Here’s how.
Put on your reporter’s hat
The best writing is informed by good reporting and the same goes for copywriting, whether it’s a manifesto or a product page. It may sound simplistic, but you can’t sculpt if you don’t have the clay. My business partner Noah Davis and I conduct interviews with clients to understand a company’s narrative, goals, and business needs—and use those interviews to inform the work. We’re not afraid to ask a client hard questions about their loftiest ideas and these conversations provide us with the yarn we need for copy.
We then supplement interviews with market research. We mine industry reports, news stories, and studies for trends, statistics, and big ideas. This gathering of information isn’t solely to procure details about products or messaging, though. We use it to get to the bottom of what the company wants to say, how they want to say it, and where it should live. This is the same method I used for writing articles: ask questions, dig into stats, and then mold it all into a compelling story for a specific audience.
Copywriting is equal parts taxonomy and poetry. It needs to be informative and stylish, detailed and organized. A reportorial approach helps you uncover where the copy belongs, how to frame it, and the most elegant way to tell the story.
Don’t forget to fact check that reporting, though
Always make sure claims, statistics, and bold statements are true. This is the old reporter in me. It’s not a weariness or distrust of the client and what they have shared, but a desire to ensure everything is accurate. A client might tout a big, shiny number on a call that would sound great in a tagline. It’s up to you to verify that number is correct. Same goes for the troves of information and pitch decks clients send. I vet big claims before I work it into copy—and if the information is incorrect or extremely out of date, I’ll find new statistics that fit the copy and client’s goals.
Same goes for naming projects and taglines. Not only do you want to double check if a name or tagline is owned by another brand, you should check your client’s catalog (and back catalog) for product names too. Sometimes a name is too good to be true—it’s already taken, by your client no less.
Fact checking isn’t just for magazines. It’s essential for good brand writing and messaging. The last thing you want is an email campaign you worked on to get blasted out with an old statistic in the subject line. Statistics can be a powerful copy device—if they’re true. So channel your old high school teacher and double check all your work.
Ask yourself where the real story is
Companies get too close to their own and lose track of how to tell their story. The key to good brand writing is listening to the client and shaping all the inputs into a true and cohesive narrative. When I worked in magazines the best editors would look at a first draft and tell me, “this is all good and fine but this idea buried 400 words into the piece is what the story is actually about—rewrite it with that as the focus.”
I bring this same approach to client work. Intake information and identify where the real story lies. Don’t be afraid to tell your client what you think will actually resonate and why—that’s how editors always made my work better and now I’m returning the favor.
Bill Bradley is the co-founder of Three Point Four Media. His writing has appeared in GQ, Vanity Fair, and Bon Appétit, among many others.