Creative & Copywriting: Personality-Plus

Think Geek. These people always give me a laugh with their e-mails and the copy on their Web site and catalogs. For the iPod X-Mini Capsule speaker, they write: “Shockingly Huge Sound” — “That MP3 player you got for Christmas is awesome, but when you hit the play button, nothing comes out. Why? It doesn’t have a speaker, that’s why! Manufacturers cram so much into those tiny gadgets, any speaker that would fit in there would, frankly, sound like crap.”

A typical e-mail I might get from them may include what comes across as extemporaneous rambling, such as (referring to a free T-shirt offer), “It’s free with any $20 purchase. While supplies last. And hey, remember, we don’t offer free stuff in jest, we’re good for it! We ain’t joking around here kids, get this shirt free NOW. Don’t be a fool, take advantage of us now! Or the hamster goes back into the PC Habicase.” This is really market-appropriate.

Wine of the Month Club. Owner Paul Kalemkiarian’s e-mails are written with such enthusiasm it sounds like he’s in the room with you. One reads: “BAM! Am I allowed to use that? After all, it was coined by Emeril … I wonder if you can trademark something like that? At the risk of violating Federal law I say BAM! For Sylvester Merlot … BAM! In your face Merlot character that jumps from the glass.”

Sell Through Your Voice
You don’t have to be that wacky to have a clear voice that’s all your own. But you sure won’t get there by picking up copy from manufacturers’ spec sheets. It takes time with your customers to get to know them well, and it takes playing with some of your products.

You can’t do a great job writing copy for a catalog when you’ve only looked at images of the products and never spoken to a customer. Get over those hurdles and you’ll find new life in your old Web site or catalog. And if you’ve done your homework, you’ll find that leads to a longer life with your existing customers and lots of new customers, too.

Carol Worthington-Levy is partner, creative services, for LENSER, a catalog consultancy. You can reach her at (408) 269-6871 or carol.worthington-levy@lenser.com.