5 (and a half) examples of good brand copywriting in 2022
“If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that copywriting actually is, all around"
- Ben Hayes (via Hugh Grant).
When I tell someone I’m a brand copywriter they either say a) “oooh it must be fun taking people to court” b) “what do you write?” or c) “can you pass the water?”
Disregarding a) and c), it’s easy to give a basic answer: websites, sales brochures, taglines etc. However, copywriting is so much more than just the basic stuff. It’s in everything, everywhere, all at once.
Below are some examples of this, along with a quick summary of some good copywriting from brands this year.
1 - Palace’s product descriptions
You may have seen these already but they’re worth looking at again, not least because there are so many to look at.
Palace is a skateboard brand with the difficult job of trying to stay cool yet gain mass £appeal. Their product descriptions are different, funny, and show that they really get their audience.
Lesson: every place you write copy is a place you can amuse, educate and sound different to everyone else. Oh, and bullet points can be your best friend when it comes to copy.
1 (and a half) - Dreams’ delivery van
Lesson: I’ll say it again… EVERY place you write copy is a place you can amuse, educate and sound different to everyone else.
2 - Gorillas’ Whatever London Wants campaign
Gorillas, the groceries-delivery app, uses its data (which is always vaguely interesting, see Spotify around Christmas) to tell everyone what they do.
In a 30-second ad, a voiceover says “London loves acid, pints, poppers…”. The acid = lemons, the pints = of ice cream, and the poppers = champagne. Playing on words, and being a bit shocking, is a good technique for grabbing attention, and Gorillas do it well.
Lesson: find new ways of saying something (e.g. poppers not champagne), or give an old idiom or stereotype a new meaning or twist.
3 - Fever-Tree’s T&G
Simple. Clear. And showcasing the product benefit.
Fever-Tree has used the “If ¾ of your drink is the mixer, mix with the best” concept for many many years. That’s good. It keeps things consistent and reinforces to consumers what the benefit of the product is.
Lesson: define your one key message. Then find hundreds of different ways to keep repeating it. Again. And again. And again.
4 - Bumble adverts
Bumble (the dating app) is always a great source of inspo for good copywriting.
Why? Because the writing is relatable. This makes copy interesting, not least because it’s funny.
Lesson: use words, phrases, and anecdotes that your customer uses. Example (and this is a basic one): don’t say that your product “can drive company efficiency”. Would your customer say that? No. They’d say: “we want everyone to work a bit quicker so we can get more clients.”
5 - La Vie launches its vegetable bacon
La Vie does plant-based bacon. Their campaign instantly caught my eye, not least because you don’t normally see the words Jew or Muslim in an ad.
Whenever you write copy, you always want your reader to ‘see themselves’ within it. Whether that’s by specifically name-checking them or not.
Lesson: use people’s job titles, interests, or social groups in your copy to implicitly tell them: “this is for you.” This could be as broad as starting your email with: “Hello interesting person.”
You’ve reached the end
Hopefully that was interesting / useful / funny (delete where appropriate).
Looking for more examples of brands doing good marketing in 2022?