Will the recession drive up standards?

I have been keeping an eye on the Tweets that are coming out of Davos this week. David Brain, head honcho at Edelman Europe, mentioned that not only the mood of the delegates had changed from last year but also the dress. Apparently business casual is out and suits and ties are back.

I guess that this is a human reaction to an economic crisis. Although, the question I’d want to ask is how come none of the great and the good chatting away at Davos last year saw this collapse coming?

But if standards of dress are returning to a more formal age will the recession have the same impact on writing? Freelance journalist, Sally Whittle wrote a very amusing and rather depressing blog on how PRs approach her on email, using superfluous language – including awesome – to describe new IT software and products. In the worst cases she is pitched stories using text language. I’m guessing that making the journalist feel old is not the best way to endear yourself!

Let’s hope that as the size and number of available client budgets reduce and competition increases amongst agencies that standards of writing will improve, along with the rise in more formal dress. Although I don’t think you’re going to see me I suited and booted any time soon.