BIG Writing: The Importance of a Strong Brand

In today’s business world, it is difficult to find mission statements that are both effective and clear in communicating the company’s core values. “Our mission is to provide book-lovers and those they care about with the most inspiring retail and online environments in the world for books and life-enriching products and services.” This mission statement is strong and focuses on its target audience, while effectively representing the fundamentals of “big” writing. “BIG Writing: The Fundamental Discipline of Business Writing”, by Michael Sheldon and Janice Willett, explains the importance of BIG messages in business writing and the ways in which BIG writing can be implemented. BIG is an acronym for “Business Is Good”, and describes the core messages that should form the basis of a company’s communication.

The aforementioned mission statement belongs to Indigo Books & Music and is an effective example of a strong core message. In 2010, Indigo reported over one billion dollars in revenues. It is fair to state that “business is good” for the company. The success of the business can be partially attributed to the use of the BIG principles of business writing and BIG core messages. The objective and audience are clearly established in one succinct sentence, embodying the three rules of BIG writing. Moreover, the tone of the statement remains formal and grammatically correct, yet still focuses on Indigo’s overall goal.

Sheldon and Willett argue that the mission statement is the most important BIG message a company can create because it is “a succinct, highly charged statement of the company’s direction and purpose that sets the tone for every employee’s activities” (Sheldon 101) Furthermore, BIG writing should be the official la...

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...writing is not an original idea. Companies know that core messages must be effective and smoothly connect with each other. Sheldon and Willett present their ideas creatively through an easy-to-read medium. However, the article falls short in introducing anything new, much like Indigo’s core messages fail to introduce creative values.

In conclusion, Sheldon & Willett present an effective argument through BIG writing. BIG messages should be positive, succinct and memorable, and smoothly correlate to other core messages. The ideas introduced in the article are not original, but neither are Indigo’s core values. However, Indigo reaps the rewards of having a unified strategy throughout its core messaging, as its revenues suggest. The foundations of BIG writing ensure a level of professionalism and reduce crossed lines of communication, but are not “big” on creativity.