Vladimir Nabokov (Russian novelist, Lolita et al) said great writing is "a merging of the precision of poetry and the intuition of science." Read that again: precision/poetry and intuition/science. It got my attention, too.
Specifically, I think this insight explains why so much technology marketing stinks: we talk on-and-on-and-on about the precision of our science, and then we try to superglue some poetic intuition onto the side. That makes perfect sense for engineers: you start with the wonderful thing you’ve figured out how to do. Great reasoning. But, not great writing.
Great writing starts with an understanding of the needs, aspirations, and emotional hot-buttons of the audience. It’s a careful, intentional study of how to engage the mind of the audience. If you object to this as manipulation, then compare it to how one woos a lover. It’s certainly not by starting with an inventory of SAT scores, bank accounts, degrees, career path, investment history, cars, and body mass index. So then, are courtesy, attention, empathy, wit, appearance, and eloquence manipulative? Or, are they simply attractive behaviors? And, if they are attractive behaviors, to what deep-seated cognitive/biological mechanisms are they appealing?
Great tech marketing should focus 99% on precision in the emotional connection with our customers and 1% on intuitive hinting at the science beneath. Happy courting!
Comments