Training in-house writers in a new TOV

The client

P&O Cruises

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The challenge

P&O Cruises rely on their in-house writing team to draft sales letters to past customers that secure bookings for new cruises. We had created a new tone of voice scheme for the brand and were invited to propose how to best train the team in the new way of writing.

The solution

We designed a programme of six day-long group courses each focusing on a different aspect of brand writing. All our trainers are also writers, which ensures the courses are practical and relevant. We also have a PGCE (Post Graduate Certificate of Education) qualified writer on staff who advises on the design of our training programmes. This ensures the right balance between lecturing, student practice and tutor feedback, and a good balance of individual and group tasks. Allowing a six to eight weeks’ gap between each session meant the writers had a chance to implement the things they’d learned into their day to day writing. Writers then brought these example projects back for sharing in the sessions. We gave them one to one feedback and directed their further development.

 

The training

Insightful openings

 

Many great writers often open a piece of writing with an insight. It is a common technique in travel writing and novel writing e.g. ‘The past is another country. They do things differently there.’ (The Go Between)

 

Each Nordic country is cold in its own way; in Oslo, it is a rural cold, the cold of surrounding landscape. An urban cold rises from Stockholm, from the streets and public buildings. In Helsinki it is an elemental cold, a cold which invades the body and leaves it stunned. At midday you gaze at the sun without blinking; all things turn to ice. It is like the coldness of God. To travel here from Sweden is to move from light sleep to a harsh and sudden consciousness. (Peter Ackroyd)

 

Open your description with an insight that captures the reader’s attention.

 

The results

Improved sales conversion rates from letters, and in-house writers reported lift in motivation as a result of the training.

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The credits

Copywriting agency: Barnaby Benson Copywriting London

Copywriter: Barnaby Benson

Client: P&O Cruises

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