One of our big initiatives at TobacCo is revamping the brand voice. As a cutting-edge digital solutions agency, we wanted to ditch the stodgy, boring tech-speak and liven things up. The goal: to be playful and funny, but still professional. Less jargon, more joking.
I was all in. Humor is my jam. I couldn’t wait to unleash the creative beast!
My first assignment: updating the “Our Story” section on our About Us page. I spent hours working on new content, adding creative little flourishes here, dashes of humor there. I was quite pleased with the end result.
My superiors? Not so much. Their exact feedback:
Hey Mark, We reviewed this and were looking for some updates. In terms of tone, we felt it was a bit John Wayne and we are looking for something closer to Ryan Reynolds (Mint Mobile not Deadpool). Can you update and get this back to me before Friday at 10? That way we can review again.
First rule of being a writer: thick skin is a must.
In retrospect, I shouldn’t be too surprised. The marketing team had met several times to discuss our brand; we’d even filled out a questionnaire that asked, among other things:
- If you could hire any celebrity to be your company spokesperson, whom would you hire?
- If your company were a vehicle, what would it be?
- If your company were an animal, what would it be?
- You just received an award for excellence in your industry. What entrance song plays as you walk out on stage to accept?
Fun project! I envisioned us as a DeLorean, ready to take our clients’ old, outdated websites “back to the future.” Most others equated us to a rugged, trusty pickup. Fair enough. I chose Mark Ruffalo as our celebrity spokesperson because, He’s a Wisconsin native who is wholesome, down to earth, and sincere, but not afraid to have a little fun. The consensus pick? Ryan Reynolds.
Guess I should have paid closer attention, huh?
Regardless, my takeaway was, we wanted to play up our humble Midwest roots. That was the angle I took for the About Us page.
Apparently, it came across as John Wayne? I dunno. I’ve never seen a single John Wayne film; he was a bit before my time. I thought he was more howdy, pardner than you bet’cha, but who knows?
The bigger issue for me was trying to figure out how to sound like Ryan Reynolds. I’m not overly familiar with his work either, though I did see Deadpool (naturally, the one example they wanted me to avoid). The first thing I did? Took the copy I had written and asked Bard to write it in the tone of Ryan Reynolds. And this, my friends, is a great example of getting AI to work for you. Bard gave me this little nugget:
We’re not afraid to get our hands dirty, and we’re always up for a challenge. We’re also a lot of fun to work with. Seriously, we’re hilarious.
Which certainly sounded Ryan Reynolds-ish to me. I ran it by my friend Ashley just to be sure, admitting I didn’t know much about him. I asked her how Ryan Reynolds talked, and she replied, He would say something like, ‘We’re also a lot of fun to work with. Seriously, we’re hilarious.’
This was enough to convince me that Bard was on the right track. I now had a general idea of how I might rephrase my wording.
Next, I spent an hour watching a whole bunch of Ryan Reynolds Mint Mobile and Aviation Gin commercials on YouTube. You know what? He’s a very funny dude. Playful, doesn’t take himself seriously, but does a great job of making you want to buy his products. In other words, he’s the perfect TobacCo celebrity spokesperson.
Fine. I can admit when I’m wrong. Sorry, Mr. Ruffalo.
Those are freakin’ hilarious. And they’re just the tip of the iceberg.
Armed with a better understanding of how to write content that sounds like Ryan Reynolds, I set about redoing the brand story. It was out with the old, like this section:
The year was 2001, and though the transition from an analog to a digital world was still in its infancy, Wisconsin natives JB and AW were looking to the future. The budding entrepreneurs established a digital agency that November, dodging cobwebs and working out of JB’s basement while growing the business.
And in with the new:
It all started in a basement in 2001. No, not a secret lair, just a regular basement, with cobwebs and everything. Two ambitious Wisconsinites, JB and AW, had their eyes set on the future. They envisioned a digital agency that would help businesses flourish in the rapidly changing digital world.
My original CTA…
Are you ready to get started on your digital journey? Schedule a free consultation today and you’ll receive a custom quote!
…evolved into this Ryan Reynolds-inspired take:
Ready to kickstart your digital journey? Schedule a free consultation today and we’ll hook you up with a custom quote. But wait, there’s more! If you sign up for our services now, we’ll throw in a free hug. Just kidding. (Or are we?)
Gotta admit, I like it. And if I wasn’t already an Aviation Gin fan (shout-out to Portland!), I’d be adding a bottle to my shopping cart on my next liquor run. I can’t wait to see what the Big Brass says about v2, but I’m pretty confident I nailed the tone they were looking for, so I don’t anticipate any more rewrites.
Our backyard oak has been a big surprise. I was under the impression that oak leaves just faded to a crisp brown in autumn. My oak tree in Vancouver, WA did exactly that. As did Tara’s oaks in Nevada. Not quercus velutina, a/k/a black oak, which turn brilliant shades of yellow, orange, or red in the fall. Or, in our case, all three.
Huh. How ’bout that. And thank you again, Dick, for planting such a beautiful variety of trees for us to enjoy!
We’re fast closing in on peak fall colors in this part of Wisconsin, so Tara and I are planning on taking a nice, long outing on Saturday to check ’em out.
I rarely cross-promote other blogs here (unless you wanna pay me, in which case, I’ll shower so much love and attention on your blog, your head will spin, baby!).
Or, you know. When I’m a guest blogger.
Seriously though, I’ve had fun making the occasional contribution to The Heart of the Matter, and usually following those up with podcasts. This month’s theme was courage, and I had to think long and hard to come up with a topic. And then it dawned on me: there was that one time I tagged along on a real-life paranormal investigation and ended up having one of the most surreal experiences of my life. Twelve years later, I still don’t know what happened that night…but it was spooky, and wild, and I’ll never forget it as long as I live. And it’s perfect, with Halloween right around the corner.
You can read Confronting Her Demons here.
Moral of the story: if you hear a bump in the night, don’t just assume it’s the house settling.
Mark My Words 
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