Mind Your Oxford Commas

Part 2 of a 3-part series on the usage rules for commas

A misused comma can make a sharp marketer look dull.

Here's Rule Two:

When you write a sentence that includes a list of three or more items, you may or may not put a comma before the last item in the list.

The decision depends on style, not grammar.

If you follow the Oxford Guide to Style, you'd write:

Join now and receive an official association decal, member's hat, and free admission to FACE.

But if you follow the Associated Press Stylebook, you'd write:

Join now and receive an official association decal, member's hat and free admission to FACE.

Fans of the "Oxford comma" argue it eliminates ambiguity. Consider this example:

Our keynoters include FACE's outgoing and incoming chairmen, Ted Danson and Al Gore.

It's unclear whether two or four keynote speakers will appear. An Oxford Comma would eliminate that ambiguity:

Our keynoters include FACE's outgoing and incoming chairmen, Ted Danson, and Al Gore.

Of course, you could remove the ambiguity by reordering the items in the list:

Our keynoters include Ted Danson, Al Gore and FACE's outgoing and incoming chairmen.

But an Oxford Comma would improve the sentence's readability. That's why even the Associated Press Stylebook would urge you to include one:

Our keynoters include Ted Danson, Al Gore, and FACE's outgoing and incoming chairmen.

Don't Look Comma-tose

Part 1 of a 3-part series on the usage rules for commas

It's easy to misuse commas. 

The rules of use are terribly complex.

But they're worth mastering, because a misused comma makes an otherwise sharp marketer look dull.

Here's Rule One.

Use a comma when you name something that's the only thing on earth described by the words you use to identify it; otherwise, don't use a comma. For example:

If you attended our annual meeting, FACE, you know it featured as keynote speaker the CEO of Techno, Sue Smart. 

There's only one FACE and only one CEO of Techno.

Our monthly Webinar WOW featured technology expert Dot Friendly.

There are many WOWs and many technology experts.

When your description stands on its own—because there's only one—the name isn't needed in the sentence. So use a comma before it; otherwise, don't.

Want Followers? Go Native.

Inc. wants advertisers to go native.

So-called "native advertising" is marketing content that's camouflaged.

Inc. believes we'll hear a lot more about native advertising in the months to come.

A native ad looks and feels like 'the format, style, and voice of whatever platform it appears in," Inc. says. It blends into the landscape so well visitors see it as part of the platform.

As a result, a native ad is better read—and responded to—than a display ad.

But native advertising isn't easy, Inc. warns.

You need a steady stream of platform-tailored content.

Fortunately, "The content in question does not have to be slick to be effective," Inc. notes.

Marketers should let go their obsession with eye-pleasing imagery and focus instead on boldness, the magazine says.

Three Tips for Better Storytelling

Struggling to tell your company's story in a way that connects with customers?

Freelance writer Nadia Goodman offers three tips in Entrepreneur:

Describe your company's value in human terms. The compulsion to close deals blocks storytelling. Marketers fall back on contract-talk to define the company's value, when the customers really want to hear how you differ from competitors. "Your real value is about what you believe in," Goodman says. "You're looking for the thing that your organization truly cares about."

Get everyone on the same page. You're in trouble if your CEO describes the company differently than a front-line worker. To get everyone on the same page, Goodman suggests, ask a sample of people at various ranks to provide five adjectives they'd use to describe the company and two statements of the company's value. "Look for themes or especially strong responses, and synthesize them into a clearly defined description," Goodman says.

Give your brand personality. "Once you know why you matter and how to describe your value, choose the type of person that could best deliver that message," Goodman says. Your company should have a "personality" that's clear and consistent. You need to decide, for example, whether it's masculine or feminine; conservative or quirky; opinionated or open-minded.

Office Spaced

Office supplier Herman Miller introduced the Action Office 1 in 1964.

It featured wall-less work spaces of varying heights that allowed freedom of movement. 

The designers believed Action Office 1 was ideally suited to small professional offices, where managers and employees often interacted using the same furniture.

But the product was expensive and flopped big time.

Herman Miller quickly redesigned Action Office 1 and re-released it as Action Office 2.

The redesign was a hit. 

Today we call the product a "cubicle." 

In 1970, the designer of the Action Office 1 wrote that Action Office 2 was perfect for "planners looking for ways of cramming in a maximum number of bodies, for 'employees' (as against individuals), for 'personnel,' corporate zombies, the walking dead, the silent majority."