Brand Voice: Copy Can and Should Be Fun
By Corey Grant, Copywriter at Frontside Consulting
Copy. Lately, the importance of compelling copy has been thrust into the spotlight, and for good reason! How your brand reads will speak to your intended audience on a deeper level when done thoughtfully. This can lead to other radical benefits, like stronger brand loyalty and a drive towards community engagement.
Take for instance a well-written mountain bike ad:
“The Evil Following GX Complete Mountain Bike is always leading. As an XC rocketship with the soul of a DH sled and the chops of a dialed dirt jumper, the Following is actually not too extreme, geo-wise. It’s not super long, super slack, or super squishy. What it is is a surprisingly agile, capable, and fast trail bike that positively rips everywhere. This bike excels at the riding you already do, and is ready for the riding you dream about.” - evo.com
It clearly conveys the purpose of the product, in the language of the intended audience and in a genuine way. The copy is entertaining enough and real enough to, at a minimum, provide a pleasant experience if not a conversion.
Every consumer will read your copy at one point or another so we owe it to them, and ourselves, to spice things up when possible by breaking the mold of boring writing. C’mon, who doesn’t love a funny product description? Or remember that over-the-top for-sale ad for a Toyota Corolla? Finding this blend of humor, honesty, and positivity is the key. So, here are six points of consideration to help your copy be more fun:
1. Core Values
You’ve got your core values defined, you recite them at team gatherings and use them as your north star. Well, they should also guide your approach to writing copy. This is what gives your voice its personality and special blend of spice. Lean into it and play around with outside-of-the-box sounds as you iterate.
2. Community
Who are you talking to? Think of your community as the consumer and those that comprise your industry. If you look close enough there is passion behind both of those doors—people and organizations that are pushing things forward. The community can help guide everything from vocabulary to content ideas, but most importantly, it inspires how you should show up in your copy. Aim to resonate as much with your community in your words as they do in your inspiration. Be proud of the things that make your community great and let that shine through in everything you write.
Take this heliskiing ad for example:
“Join us where heli-skiing was perfected, British Columbia! This skier’s paradise offers a vast expanse of ripping lines, deep pow, and radical memories—all accessible by helicopter. Whether it's solo or grouped, one day or seven, seats are booking up fast and it's about time to check this off your bucket list.” - heli.life
3. The Writer
It is important that the person writing the copy be invested in the community. They are the link to taking all that life your community provides and translating it into the brand's voice with the personality of the core values. If the copy comes from an invested source the consumer will take note of that and it will strengthen the bond with your community members. They will know if they're talking to “one of their own.”
4. Identify Your Limitations
Free yourself by identifying the walls that might confine you in your writing. Most organizations will have rules around copy. Identifying these confines can be the catalyst to opening your best work. Knowing them well will help open up your greatest creative potential, more so than if you had free reign to write whatever you please.
5. Inform with Passion
We all remember the fun teachers we had in class. Mine was Mr.Mortimer, my 10th-grade history teacher. The main function of copy is to inform the reader, be it on the product or community happenings. So, be an entertaining teacher. Articulate your talking points as you would in person, find the points that are the most interesting, and run with those first.
Like this water bottle product description:
“Introducing our most exciting advancement in thirst slaughtering yet: The Slaughter Bottle. Originally it was just a Liquid Death can with a dream of dismembering thirsts repeatedly until the earth gets sucked into the sun. It trained. It bulked up. It underwent dangerous experimental procedures at the hands of our least ethical scientists. Now, this towering, hulking drinking vessel is armed with a lid allowing for eternal reusability and brutally murdering thirsts from now until the end of time. It’s the last water bottle you’ll ever need.” - liquiddeath.com
6. Loosen Up
Taking a step back to appreciate what makes your company and community great is an exercise that can help inspire a brand voice. Let those thoughts of gratitude ring out in the words you get to share with your consumers. Even the quarks! Celebrate the things that make your consumers unique and funny whenever possible. Let them know you see them and you’re here for all of it.
We need to remember copy is our opportunity to communicate outside the confines of our desks and workspaces. Let's change our views and approach to copywriting and hopefully, these ideas can help get you there. Embrace copywriting with open arms and have fun with it!
At Frontside Consulting we know the importance of thoughtful copy across all aspects of brand marketing and offer copywriting services among so much more. If your brand’s copy could use some help, feel free to reach out.
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