Clare, perhaps you couold point me in the direction of some of your published reviews so that I might be the totally impartial judge of whether I believe in them or not ? As you so rightly say – never over-estimate your reader … and this reader is just a humble Hotelier, without a Phd.

M

As someone who’s dabbled in restaurant reviewing, I know exactly how it works! But I usually thank my hosts by writing a review that isn’t so unbelievable that readers will immediately twig that something’s up.

I also used to write sales copy for a book club and I seem to remember that whenever we mentioned both the good and bad points of a book, it sold more copies because people trusted our opinion more.

I would love to come and sample some of your food in return for some well chosen words. I shall start planning my trip to Abergavenny right away!

During a brainstorm for a new direct marketing ad, the designer suggested ‘Think outside the book’ as a headline. Despite my protestations that the line was insane – and implied we actually wanted people NOT to buy our books, the marketing team loved it and went for it.

But the most shocking thing of all? Response to the ad uplifted significantly – our audience clearly loved the line.

The lesson there is: never overestimate your reader.

Thinking about it . . . I may have just described the entire creative industry!