I'm a big fan of disruptive copywriting. I think more companies should be brave and shake up their industries.
Copywriting was once just coming up with that witty strapline to sit along side an image or a script to a TV ad. Then Innocent Drinks came along and realised that there were words on their packaging and perhaps those words should represent the brand's personality.
Then came digital. Copywriters realised they had an entire website to convey that message. And then with social media, you didn't even have to wait for marketing or for people to think about buying the product or actually buying the product.
All of a sudden, there was a panoply of ways for copywriters and brand to express themselves and become a brand people liked. Which is what tone of voice is really. Tom Albrighton, the author of Copywriting Made Simple, put it beautifully with this:
Since then, there have been many brands that have ripped themselves out their sector to take on the persona of someone people would rather be friends with.
First Direct (one of my faves) set itself apart from the all the boring, esoteric and formal banking industry with beauties like:
Then, South African budget airline, https://www.kulula.com/Kulula, decided to shake up what acts and sounds like a service industry and not an experience industry to penetrate the market with its in-your-face branding.
It even made the brave move to defy Fifa marketing rules when the World Cup was in South Africa to produce these eye-catching campaigns.
There are loads of examples of distruptive copywriting; from Paddy Power to Pret a Manger and TfL to Thug Kitchen.
It doesn't have to be the annoying little brother of copywriting, it can change the perception of an industry. It can produce really good and clever creative and it can set itself apart from the competition.
After all, as Groove Armada once said, if everybody looked the same, we'd tired of looking at each other. And it's the same with copy, if everybody sounds the same, you won't get heard.
