After reading these brand copywriting, let’s talk about what “copywriting tone” is

The first time I heard the word "tonality", my brain was completely confused. On the third day after I joined the company, my boss resigned. I had met him three times in total: one interview, one department meeting, and one work assignment. Even when she resigned, she left quietly. I thought they were just passers-by in each other's lives, but they left a deep bond in the future... I seem to have gone off topic, let's get back to the topic.

My first job was in new media operations . Based on an internship experience in new media , I was responsible for the company's WeChat public account . In the traditional industry in that second-tier city, new media had always been something that very few companies had contact with. My boss was a senior planner who had returned from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, so she gave me a lot of guidance in platform positioning and content operations . Although she had already resigned, my boss still asked her to come back and give me some experience guidance. So in the rest area downstairs in the company, I listened to her talk about "tone" for two hours. But at that time, I had no idea what "tone" was.

Later, I moved from traditional industries in second-tier cities to the Internet industry in first-tier cities, from advertising copywriting to social copywriting, from product announcements to press releases, and "tone" became something that followed me throughout my work. All text content is inseparable from the word "tone", so gradually I began to look for what is "copywriting tone"? As I continued to come into contact with more brand copywriting and advertising copywriting, and listened to the teachings of many industry seniors, I gradually figured out the context of the "tone of copywriting". So what exactly is the “tone of copywriting”? Let’s take a look at this set of product copy first to feel it…

I think many people will know where the first paragraph of the copy comes from as soon as they see it. It is a Taobao online store with an annual revenue of 30 million - Bu Lu Bu Ding, which relies on outstanding copywriting to sell women's clothing. Every paragraph of the copy can capture the hearts of literary girls. The positioning and brand tone of this small women's clothing Taobao store is to focus on literary style and pursue a simple and comfortable dressing experience.

The very literary sentence in the first paragraph has been widely circulated. Everyone is eager to see the cod jumping out of the water in Alaska, or the golden monkeys climbing to the top of the trees in Baima Snow Mountain. Everyone has an artistic heart, but an artistic life is not common. Bububudong is a way for every girl to easily have an artistic life.

From brand to product to copywriting, "literature and art" runs through the entire brand and even the main theme of the product copywriting. The image of a quiet and literary girl in a literary cotton skirt, wandering around with a backpack, longing for poetry and the distance stands clearly in front of people.

The audience can compare themselves to the imaginary girl through such scenario-based copy, and can also imagine themselves wearing the clothes based on the descriptions and pictures in the advertisements. At this time, we can also feel that the tone of Bubusing’s copywriting is literary and artistic. It continues the brand tone and shows the characteristics of the product.

If we compare a brand to a person, then the brand tone is the person's personality, and the copywriting tone is the person's language style. If he is a humorous person, then what he says will always make girls laugh; if he is a mature and stable person, then what he says will mostly be trusted and adopted. Therefore , we should never just focus on finding the tone of the copy. The tone of the copy is one of the main manifestations of the brand tone. Knowing the person by the copy is the important value of the tone of the copy.

A good copy is one that allows people to understand the brand tone, product attributes and audience type from the text. For example, when it comes to Coca-Cola , its brand tone is youthful, healthy and energetic. The commercials and advertising copy that Coca-Cola releases every year are all centered around these three tones, and its audience is also a young and energetic group in their youth. Therefore, the tone of the copywriting is based on the tone of the brand, but the tone of the copywriting also has its own characteristics. If we refine and extract the keywords of the tone of the copywriting, then these are the three words:

For example, Vanke’s brand copywriting series “Cherish the Quality of Life” was launched in 2003 with the communication theme of “Infinite Life, Careful Construction”. It portrayed Vanke’s values ​​to users in a humble and friendly manner, and the overall tone of the copywriting was also maintained in a friendly and humble manner. Here are just two examples:

Words are one of the most expressive ways of expressing emotions. From mood quotes to heartfelt lyrics, every sentence can always evoke certain emotions or memories in people. In music, tonality is the musician's song style. In writing, tonality is the author's writing style. In today's era of complex information, tone is the brand's market image.

I still remember my first boss telling me that “tone” is based on the positioning of the WeChat platform, but she said: “Brand tone is not achieved overnight. It is something that is subtly imprinted on the audience’s mind through the accumulation of copywriting and tone expression over a long period of time. This subtly imprint must be recognizable and memorable.”

Think about what kind of people around us are most likely to attract attention? If we simply classify them, they can be divided into: humorous and distinctive personalities . This type of people are always easier to remember than those who are gentle and kind, because they are the most unique among the crowd. Whether they are impulsive and sharp-tongued or steady and meticulous, they have a vivid image that is deeply imprinted in the minds of others. The same goes for the tone of the copy. A humorous and witty language style is always remembered and mentioned repeatedly. For example, the singer Xue Ziqian, who is also a joke teller, his copywriting style has become a tone. When you see such an article, you know it was written by him.

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As mentioned earlier, brand tone is not achieved overnight, and copywriting tone also requires long-term polishing and accumulation. The copywriter is not the decision maker of brand tone, but the stabilizer of brand tone. When learning and imitating brand copywriting, we should not only learn the writing expression, but more importantly, we should work with the brand to re-examine the expression of the copywriting and become a thoughtful person.

As a copywriter, you are always inseparable from the two words "tone" and "insight". If you just write an article with fancy words, it only shows that your writing is good, but if you want to be a truly valuable copywriter, you have to think about how to stay in line with the brand tone, accurately grasp the tone of the copy, and deeply understand the audience's psychology. Perhaps, what I understand as “copywriting tonality” today is only one aspect of it, but I will continue to study this issue. One day, we will re-examine what “copywriting tonality” is…