ØØ4: Rancho West Beer

Another drink brand, Adrian?

Listen, bud, I don’t make the rules around here.

But yes, we’re talking about another refreshment.

This one’s going to be pretty fun. We’re going to walk through how to write emotive copy that sells while staying on brand, all without coming off as gimmicky.

Because some people want cool and fun, yet they don’t want the dials cranked to 11.

Capiché?

Before we get into the weeds of how to write emotive copy, you must first understand two core principles.

They’re simple, yet not easy; I promise you, if you stick with them and practice consistently, they’ll make you irreplaceable as a writer.

Quick preface: the use cases for this type of copy will differ from place to place. In product descriptions, you can use this style and go haywire. On landing pages, sprinkle it in like salt—too much, and the meal can’t be saved.

Principle #1: Mini-Stories

Get in the mindset that you’re writing a mini-story.

With every story comes four components: 1.) a character, 2.) a setting, 3.) a problem, 4.) a beginning, middle, and end.

For the character, make it about your customer; use second-person narrative, i.e., 'you,' 'your,' and 'you're.' Your customer will read these and feel your business is speaking directly to them, like a teacher.

For the setting, take the essence of your offer and imagine a place or thing with a similar theme. The one thing that’s loved most about the product becomes the copy's whole life and angle. Like in the previous ad write-up for Not Beer™, the essence was the feeling of America, not a physical location. From there, brainstorm all the things that remind you of your essence.

On to problems. All products solve problems. Some are more obvious, like flat tires. Others, like luxury bags, are more subtle. When there’s no urgent problem, the longing for something—an unfulfilled desire—is the problem. Since we’re about to talk about beer let’s look at some popular examples:

Stella Artois turns you into James Bond. Modelo is for fighters. Corona is for beach-goers who want to lay in a hammock. Dos Equis (XX) makes you feel like the most interesting man in the world.

And Rancho West Beer is for Californians who enjoy being outside living life, or at least that’s what I got from their website.

There’s a time and place and a problem for each of these beers—do you get it?

Alrighty, number four. Beginning, middle, and end. While this one is simple, it’s easier to understand its nuances by reading books, and the example I’m about to share with you. Store in the back of your brain that in the beginning, you set the scene; in the middle, your character interacts with it, takes actions, and gets closer to solving the problem; and in the end, the problem is solved, and they’re enjoying life, courtesy of your product.

Principle #2: Senses Add Clarity

Your teachers lied to you; the human body has more than five senses. Here's a list of most of them, which you can address in your copy:

Sight, hearing, taste, smell, touch, balance, proprioception, temperature, pain, time perception, and internal senses.

Spend some time with these. Again, these are most of them. Your sense of sight isn’t just sight; there are other facets, like color, depth perception, and spatial awareness.

Sneaky helpful tip: the lack of any of these is also a sense.

I’m not going to dive any deeper into this principle as it’s more nuanced than the previous ones, is entirely subject to what you’re writing about, and is best shown by example rather than explained.

Alrighty, lecture is done—let’s get into today’s ad write-up in emotive copywriting.

ØØ4: Rancho West Beer

Let’s begin with what they’re currently running with:

Is this bad?

Yes and no.

No, in that it’s an accurate representation of the beer, and it makes grammatical sense. 99% of people reading this will have zero issue with it.

Yes, in that, after removing the word ‘organic,’ any other beer brand could say this exact paragraph word for word. Also, while the imagery and videos on their website—tremendous, by the way; I wouldn’t change a single thing—are great, I feel there’s a bit of a disconnect to the choice of words.

Here’s what I wrote:

Do you see a difference?

You can literally feel these words. I captured the essence of relaxing on the beach. Your senses of smell, temperature, and sight were all engaged.

Your customers have heard “crisp and refreshing” their whole lives—tell them more, tell them more, tell them more.

The last thing I’ll leave you with is a quote from Hemingway:

“The first draft of anything is shit.”

What you read above, I nailed on the seventh go at it. Give what you wrote some time. Go for a walk. Call someone you love. It’ll get written. I promise.

‘Til next time,

Adrian