Build Your Brand With Copywriting

Copywriter George Theo has worked in major international advertising agencies on hundreds of famous consumer brands and now runs his own creative agency. He’s worked with the likes of Saatchi & Saatchi & Ogilvy and Mather, to name a few.

Are there any secrets to branding?

No 1 is common sense, a commodity in short supply these days. There’s too much jargon and confusion. You need to put yourself in other people’s shoes and ask if the communication you’re creating would convince you if you read it. Stop using terms like ‘consumer’ and think of everyone as people you're talking to.

No 2 is that no one thinks ‘brand.’ People want good quality products and services at reasonable prices with some comeback if things aren’t as they should be. Even luxury goods. ‘Brand’ is the invisible packaging. No one buys a “brand”, they buy a pair of Nike trainers, a Rolex watch, Bacardi, Coca Cola, Guinness, Salt & Lineker crisps.

No 3 comprises Simplicity, Clarity and Humanity. People get thousands of messages a day. To stick, messages need to be clear, simple, relevant, memorable and motivating.

How important is defining your audience?

It’s critical to know to whom you want to talk, but more as people, not in demographic or psychographic term. By all means do all that, but then pick an imaginary person in that group and talk to them as a person. How will they react? How would you react to your own message?

Best tip for a new start up?

Speak to your audience. If I’m writing something to appeal to a certain group, I’ll identify a style that I think will be appreciated by the people in that group. When I write anything, I read it out aloud as if I’m talking to them. This often exposes overblown or unconvincing copy. 

Where would you start?

I’d start with something called values, brand values if you like. If you’re an organisation selling investments, for example, Honesty, Trustworthiness, Professionalism, Well-established and Friendly would be good brand values. 

If you’re a bright blue fizzy bottled cocktail then values like Fun, Exciting, Weird, Young and Slightly dangerous could be good brand values. The investment brand values would be inappropriate for the drink and vice versa.

How do you use brand values?

They’re a benchmark so you can check that what you write is true to the character and culture of the brand. One you distil the brand values of a product or service, you can create a Tone of Voice guide.

What’s a Tone of Voice guide, how does that work?

There are many ways to talk to people that help to enhance what you say. The right Tone of Voice shows that you understand the people you’re talking to so they are open to what you want them to believe or do. Bear in mind no one’s out there waiting for your message, they’re interested in their concerns and it’s your job to interest them in yours. We are all exposed to thousands of messages a day, from signs to logos, from instructions to pictures. Talking in the right tone of voice makes your message more likely to be believed and more memorable.

Can you give us any examples?

Going back to the investment product and the fizzy drink. Anything about investments would be better in a more formal tone of voice, which conveys professionalism and clarity. Phrases like “We will explain…. you will get….” are better than “Look – see! ... feel the buzz…” – which are more appropriate for a fun product.

Another distinction when writing is to talk about benefits – what people get out of it, how it helps them – rather than facilities – how the product works or what’s in it. An example of that would be for a car, say. It’s much better to say that a car’s driving seat is specially designed to give the driver a more comfortable and relaxing drive than that it’s made with an elastic support back. Sometimes both are good, but the facilities on their own – an elastic support back – don’t say why that helps or benefits you.

What if what you’re writing about is the same as all the other products like it?

Well, it’s the writer’s job to find out what’s different. Everything has some differences. It’s my job to identify it and create a story around it.There’s very little real difference between beers, for example, but every beer has a different character, is drunk by different kinds people have some differences in taste and strength. My job is to find what marks the beer that I’m writing about as different and special from the rest and write about that.

How would you do that?

One way is to compare products in the sector. I don’t mean go out and drink all the beers, though a few would be good. No. It’s more to think about each one and identify what it says about itself so you can find a difference for the one you’re talking about. So for example:

Beer A may be authentically craft brewed.

Beer B may also be authentically craft brewed and use a special kind of hops.

Beer C may be like beer B, but brewed by brewers who sing while they brew.

Beer D may also be like beer B, but brewed with water from a mountain stream.

And so on. Once you list products or services in the sector you’re writing about it becomes much easier to define create a difference for your one.

Any other thoughts as a guide?

Loads! First one would be always to think in human and emotional terms. We’re all people. Think about what you want to read and see and how you react to what people say. If you write the way you talk it’s a good start.

Second would be to edit and rewrite, often several times. Even if you’re not 100% sure of what you want to say before you start, start writing anyway and get thoughts down, as older thoughts will trigger new ones. You’ll rarely end up with the same copy, script, or whatever – that you started with. And it’ll be loads better.

Third would be to collaborate. Show stuff to people and ask what they think. Ideas and contributions can come from anywhere. 

Fourth would be to be careful about length. We’re all time poor and if you can get your thoughts into fewer words, the people you’re talking to can get into your thoughts and what you want them to appreciate more quickly.

Fifth would be to think visually. I know it sounds odd, but words, whether written or spoken, portray things and if you can picture what you’re writing in a visual form it does lead to better ideas and more creative expressions.

How about getting words and design to work together? What should come first?

An idea should come first. And that can come from the design side or the copy side. But the worst approach is to design something and fill in grey blocks where copy goes. Yes, it’ll work, but it won’t work as well as a design where the words and pictures were designed to work together form the start.

Is there anything you as a copywriter tend to do that you think is different from other writers?

I tend to think visually as well as verbally. I progressed up the greasy pole from writer to creative director in big agencies and, while writing is my craft, I learned design and the importance of the balance between form and function so I apply that to writing. The function is what it has to do and what it has to communicate, the form how the words are designed in terms of tone of voice, style, colour and so on.

Style and colour – how do they work in words?

What I mean is making what you write more enjoyable to read. Varying sentence length, asking questions and answering them. Using examples and relating explanations to ideas that people already know to make what people read - stickier.

Any other thoughts?

Always be curious and try to find out more about what you’re writing about. A writer has six best friends. What? Who? Why? Where? When? How? Ask those about what you’re doing and ideas, style and narrative will flow. Specifically about any task I always ask three questions.

1. What it is?

2. Who wants it?

3. Why should they bother?

All three need to be answered both in terms of facilities and benefits. So for a designer pottery business they could be:

1: Facilities: Handmade unique ceramics and pottery designs.

Benefits: Art that no one else has.

2: Facilities: People who understand design and ceramics.

Benefits: Gives the pleasure and insight of art that’s affordable.

3: Facilities: Few things give both physical and visual pleasure and can also be useful.

Benefits: Adds a different dimension to your life.

With those answers, agreed with whoever’s commissioned the writing of course, you’re better equipped to write what you’ve been commissioned to write – text, web, newsletter, blog, script, slogan, whatever – because you have an agreed benchmark that you can return to all the time to check that your copy is saying what it should.

Is that all anyone needs to know, then?

Er no. There’s masses more. This is a start. I’ve been doing this for decades and I’m still learning. Writing good copy is a skill like any other. The more you do it the better you get at it. Words, like design, are tools to help us communicate meaning - ideas, values, benefits. Another question every writer asks himself or herself is – ‘what do I want these words to mean to whoever is reading them? – what do I want them to do after reading them?’

What do things like this cost?

The inevitable piece of string question. The only answer I can give is to ask it. Every job is different. If you’ve an idea or copy project, or even want to find out what things like this entail and the potential benefits, let’s talk about what’s on your mind. The talk element is free. All writers will be honest and give you a time and a price. Some will be cheaper than others as in everything. It’s often more a case of working chemistry. Do you like each other, do you trust the writer’s judgement, will working together be fun or a pain?

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