How do you bring a seemingly mundane product to life? Enter Method: a company that’s taken cleaning products from dull necessity to playful whimsy with their bold proposition, colourful packaging and unmistakable brand language. The trick? The products and the copy match: clean, non-toxic, and happy.
The Method tone of voice treads a line between playful and no-nonsense. Their product descriptions are balanced and informative, and they all come down to two simple facts: these products work well, and smell nice. Here’s their surface cleaner:
Maybe the first thing you notice is the capital letters have been stripped out, and they use ‘+’ rather than ‘and’ or ‘&’. You might be scandalised by these stylistic choices, but they certainly make you pay attention. They give the copy a clean, uniform look – the typography is as smooth as a freshly wiped worktop.
They make the main points clear: the product uses green technology, it’s non-toxic, and it works. Secondary details like biodegradability follow, and the paragraph ends in playful fashion.
With the no-nonsense stuff out of the way, they’ve spritzed the copy with a little playful whimsy. The combination of scents isn’t just a mix, it’s ‘an enchanting medley’. And there’s more – it’s a medley of lavender, bergamot and chamomile that’ll transport you, in true Proustian fashion, into the countryside, sunshine, and your wildest cleaning fantasies. Steady on.
Going by the consistent tone of voice across their website and pack copy, Method don’t take things too seriously, but their products mean business. In this one example, the company is perfectly aware that it’s a big leap from cleaning your kitchen to frolicking in the French hills, but it works because it captures the idea of easy transformation – and who doesn’t feel better for having a sparkly kitchen?
What’s in a product description? It is the essence of your brand. Method have nailed it here, garlanding their central message – that it works, and it smells good – with neat and knowing humour. For truly successful copy, then, you need to take your brand language right into the depths of your product – even, in Method’s case, to the impenetrable abyss of non-ionic surfactants (take a look at how they demystify ingredients in the ‘ingredients’ section of the product page).
When the tone of voice becomes the foundation of everything you write, your brand starts to speak for itself.
Yes, we’ve called them ‘Method’, even though they prefer ‘method’ when they render the brand name in body copy. Our reasoning? This is our site, which follows our style guide – not theirs.
Does your tone of voice need revisited? It takes just four weeks to get your organisation speaking clearly, distinctively and memorably.
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