Writing incredible brand copy that connects with customers isn’t easy to achieve—most brands spend years honing and shaping their copy to help communicate their brand, and even then, it usually needs to be rewritten a year later.
No wonder so many small business owners are pulling their hair out over their branding.
Here at CVC, we know that good branding and copy is an art form. From the right choice of adjectives to tone of voice, every successful brand has a few tricks up its sleeves that we can't help but be in awe of.
To help you better understand the nuances of copywriting (and why it’s so darn difficult to do your own brand copy sometimes), let’s look at some of the best copywriting and branding on the market.
Branding and copywriting examples that are awe-inspiring
Glasshouse Fragrances is one of the leading names in the highly competitive scented candle and diffuser market. Along with its iconic scents and incredibly packaging, Glasshouse has carved out its own niche in the market with its distinct copy.
While the brand itself sells candles, diffusers, and other scented products, the real message that they’re selling to their customers is a luxury experience. Buying a product from Glasshouse is a sensory experience and, thanks to clever packaging, allows customers to feel a sense of pride in displaying them in their homes.
Glasshouse uses flowery, emotive copy that borders on poetic to achieve this. Adjectives, elaborate words, and luxury are used in their copy to help reflect their branding.
On their About Us page, Glasshouse uses incredibly emotive and poetic language along with a clear tone of voice:
Scent. You can’t get enough.
And like us, you demand more, seeking bold and lasting fragrances that give you emotionally charged experiences that take you beyond the bottle.
At Glasshouse Fragrances, we believe that your sense of smell is the most powerful one of all. It’s why we create incredible products and ground-breaking scents that make you feel amazing.
Each one transformational, Glasshouse Fragrances deliver unrivalled experiences that take you further than fragrance.
From just the copy above, you get a feel for the brand's sophistication and luxury products.
Their product descriptions on social media also carry the same narrative copy:
Forever Florence—a match made in heaven. Fall in love with our Forever Florence Essentials, perfect to try out or use as a travel companion. Featuring notes of wild Peonies, Lily, Musk and Peach, our Shower Gel, Body Lotion and Eau de Parfum will leave your skin soft and beautifully fragranced.
Their branding, flowery copy, and brilliant product all create an unforgettable brand experience.
Aside from their famous “Basecamp Staff Handbook”, Basecamp has quickly become a hero in the marketing world thanks to its brilliant website and sales copy. The project management and team communications tool uses simple, conversational language to perfectly encapsulate what they do and what they offer to their customers.
According to ActiveCampaign, Basecamp follows a particular copywriting formula: problem, agitation, solution (PAS).
The problem lays out the customer’s pain points. Agitation adds more stress to the problem. The only antidote to the customer’s pain point? Your brand.
You can see PAS in action here on their homepage:
Before Basecamp: Projects feel scattered, things slip, it’s tough to see where things stand, and people are stressed. After Basecamp: Everything’s organized in one place, you’re on top of things, progress is clear, and a sense of calm sets in.
Through this simple paragraph, they’ve empathised with their customers, shown that they understand the full scope of the problem, and presented themselves as the only solution to the problem.
In terms of choice of language, you’ll notice that there are no colourful adjectives or creative metaphors. Instead, they are using simple, easy-to-understand language to reflect how simple and easy to understand their service is.
It’s difficult not to fall in love with Who Gives A Crap as a brand.
This Australian-based social enterprise sells ethically-made toilet paper to change consumption patterns and raise funds for sanitation projects in developing countries.
Aside from a clever name and incredible mission, the brand is well-known for its ability to establish a strong connection with its customers through its creative email marketing campaigns and its consistent tone of voice throughout all its copy.
Engaging, to-the-point, and a little bit cheeky, their tone of voice perfectly matches the brand itself and its product. Toilet paper is not the most glamorous of products, so Who Gives A Crap doesn’t use flowery language or over-the-top imagery.
Their products have catchy by-lines such as:
Nice bum! It deserves some seriously soft toilet paper!
Where’s the loo? One of our most popular limited editions is back! Each 100% bamboo roll is wrapped in an illustrated puzzle to ponder while you poo.
The About Us page is a textbook lesson in communicating what they do, their mission, and statistics to support their cause, all while using their engaging, cheek, and down-to-earth tone of voice:
Sure, we love puppies and sunny days and walks on the beach, but our real love is toilet paper. Why you might ask? First of all, it's funny. Lots of room for toilet jokes, which we love.
But really, we love toilet paper because, for us, it's our way of making a difference. We started Who Gives A Crap when we learnt that 2.4 billion people don't have access to a toilet (now 2 billion – yay for progress!). That's roughly 40% of the global population which means that around 289,000 children under five die every year from diarrhoeal diseases caused by poor water and sanitation. That's almost 800 children per day, or one child every two minutes.
Who Gives a Crap sends emails around twice a month. Their CTAs are always simple, effective, and easy to follow. They also send out jokes, funny reminders, and new product announcements with the same hilarious copy along with promotions and sales.
Feeling a little lost in the woods with your own copy? We’d love to help you out. Get a sneaky 40% off code to our new range of downloadable and customisable Tone of Voice and Language Style Guides that you can easily adapt to your brand. Or, if you'd like us to work with you on your brand message more 1:1, check out our Brand Message Clarity package here.