What’s in a name?

Sue Malleson

Well an awful lot, I think. Today someone emailed me an attached file called: Project1_Layout 1[1].pdf. There was little to explain what the file was about in the email. Normally I wouldn’t bother to open something like that, but I’d made a cup of coffee so I sat back and opened it out of curiosity.

That’s how I can tell you that it was actually an invitation to participate in an exhibition. It was a call to action. Well, I don’t know about you, but the characters: Project1_Layout1[1] do little to attract my interest; curiosity isn’t something that I often have time to exercise.

That file could so easily have been titled with something more informative, and certainly something more inviting. I wonder what sort of response it brought.

This topic of subject titles is something I often consider. Every time I send a contribution to a publication I think to myself: what subject heading would that editor or journalist find most useful?

The answer is often not the name of the company that is promoting itself, but instead the name of a specific feature. I don’t want my recipient to be burdened with having to rename the email. Email titles for all I know, might be one way the recipient selects which email to consign to bin and which to keep. Let’s face it, editors receive thousands of contributions and they have to start selecting somewhere. So I do think very carefully before deciding upon the subject title. After all, it’s only common sense.

Sue Malleson

Taurus Public Relations
E: sue@tauruspr.co.uk
T: 01908 265774
www.tauruspr.co.uk