One of the things I’d like to do with my life is market a simple product. So when I read about Clip-n-Seal, I became jealous. Their marketing materials made me even more so.

http://www.clip-n-seal.com/

I ordered a Clip-n-Seal Variety 3 Pack from their website. The package arrived in two days. The friendly green and white identity from the website continued throughout their packaging. The product is pretty straightforward, and the insert continues this theme. The simple illustrations detail how to use the product, and the copy explains where to use the product and how the idea came about. Their voice perfectly matches the design of their identity-friendly and as easy to read as the product is to use. But the true brilliance of the copy is the use of specific phrases that resonate with the type of person who spends $5 on three molded plastic seals. Espresso beans. Blue corn chips.

I also love the handwritten “thanks” on the invoice. I love the way the enclosed business card is sealed in a small baggie with a miniature Clip-n-Seal. I love the fact that they turned the mailing package inside out so that their mailing label, and brand, are all that I see when I find the package on my doorstep. Clever and thoughtful. I love designers.

They have a blog. I follow their blog because I like to watch how small, innovative companies are using blogs to narrate their experiences.

“It is my contention that the only way to adapt to the ‘new’ media ecology in an economically successful and, in a normative sense, socially desirable way is to include the former ‘audience’ as fellow narrators.”

—Mark Deuze in his paper, “Towards professional participatory storytelling in journalism and advertising” on First Monday.

“I would like to argue that a future professional identity of media work could only be maintained if it includes a participatory component—such as a notion of storytelling as a collaborative experience. In other words: advertisers and journalists should be trained to think about the stories they tell as co–created with those they once identified (and thus effectively excluded) as audiences, users, consumers or citizens.”

This is an interesting angle. I frequently throw around all of the words Deuze mentions, “audiences, users, consumers or citizens” but I also think of them as co-creators. I interview a lot of people before I ever start writing for a client. It is a very participatory process and he’s right to acknowledge the role of the person we’re trying to attract.

I’ve been working with a leading stock photography company on print and electronic pieces. They are like a bodybuilder. To look at them is inspiring. They’re huge, a global company with serious presence. Yet when they open their mouth, it’s shocking. Their brand voice is the squeaky aftermath of excessive attention to their physicality.

From my outsider perspective, their brand needs to get off the steroids. If this company were to use me as a brand voice consultant, I would start by auditing all of their corporate communications. The result would be a more balanced connection between the corporate body and soul, and clear editorial guidelines that standardize the basic yet still allow their staff writers to be more expressive.