The corporate world runs on business jargon—bullshitty buzzwords that mask the meaning of the things we want to say. Why do so many businesspeople muddle their messages with mush-mouthed words
Continue reading
Category: General
The Cranky Creative blog turns one
The Cranky Creative blog first lit the pixels of computer screens a year ago on July 4, 2018. Frustrated with the red tape, politics, and backstabbing stupidity that pervades the
Continue reading
Meet Flint McGlaughlin, mad marketing genius
In a world where every Tom, Dick, and Jane on the Internet is a self-proclaimed marketing expert, it’s refreshing to see someone share no-BS marketing insights derived from rigorous testing
Continue reading
How video games made me a marketing copywriter
Unofficially, my career as a marketing copywriter started in 1980 when I was 10. Then, as now, I loved video games. I loved the technology—cool-looking plastic boxes that pumped colorful
Continue reading
The company holiday card that never was
Back when I was a young copywriter in 1992 or ’93, I was asked to write the company holiday card. This was no small honor—the place employed six or seven
Continue reading
Exploring the effects of positive and negative motivation on worker happiness and productivity
AKA, how to crush the life (and love) out of your employees. I saw a TED Talk recently that got straight to the heart of one of the greatest frustrations
Continue reading