Brand voices I’m digging: AYR
There’s nothing I love more than a brand voice that just hits right. I’m going to round up a bunch of my favorites and tell you exactly why I’m so obsessed—starting with my all-time fave…
AYR
I’ve been downright stalking this brand for years, mostly just to read emails, social posts, and product descriptions.
In case you don’t know, they’re a clothing brand based out of California, and from what I’ve uncovered, they have a pretty lean team. Their copywriter is the founder’s friend, and, according to the founder, “our brand voice.” Ugh, what a dream.
What I love: Going through this website is like hunting through a box of chocolates and always, always pulling out your favorite kind. The copy entertains and delights, but most importantly, it paints a damn good aspirational picture, especially for a Millennial woman like myself.
So, how does it pull it off? Let me break it down.
#1: Particularize
What is that special something you can do to make copy come to life? You PARTICULARIZE. In other words…details matter.
One of my creative writing professors told me this all the time but I never really understood until I got out into the real world, and eventually I started saying the same thing to all my little fledgling copywriters.
Particularization, Exhibit A:
This isn’t a statement about a sweater—sure, you learn the key details—but this is alllll about the person who’s wearing it. The girl who wears this has a Platinum Amex card in her wallet, the kind that doesn’t come with a preset spending limit. She probably has some other travel card tucked in there, too. Not only that, she’s got standards: the Bloody Mary mix says it all.
Those are particularizing details, ones that speak very clearly to the aspirations of their target audience. What a lifestyle that paints! Hell yeah I want to be jetsetting in this sweater, she says as she clicks ‘add to cart.’
#2: Relate
Something that always stood out to me about the AYR emails is that they have a way of making you feel like someone’s peeking over your shoulder, observing your life. I open an absolutely disproportionate amount of this brand’s emails because of it—how am I going to be surprised today?
AYR 2024 Memorial Day Weekend email
It’s that second paragraph that really gets me: why YES, I’m totally exhausted from getting bombarded with holiday sale emails, thankyouverymuch. This email is SO self-aware—and not only that, it’s coming at me like a letter from a friend. There’s nothing corporate about it.
And hey: pay attention to design on this one. AYR sends out a LOT of emails that forego all the fancy design glitz and glamour: it’s just black text on a white background. That’s it. It looks like something your mom would send you, if she knew how to hyperlink text in an email.
#3: Tell a story
This product description is, by far, one of my most favorite on the site. I have been dreaming about this belt ever since I read these words, and I don’t even know if I like the belt—but I love the story.
This simple description says so much in so little time. Packed with those particularizing details and relatable situations, all woven into a story told by your fairy grandfather. Not grandmother. That alone speaks to the menswear-inspired design behind this piece, and infuses a kind of practicality that you wouldn’t get from the sparkly, squashy old-lady type that got Cinderella to a ball. In a pumpkin, no less—that is not a ride fit for an AYR girl.
The last thing I love about all of this? The brand voice exactly matches what you get in the mail when you order from this company: high-quality clothes, shipped quickly right to you, packaged in a beautiful box with folded tissue paper and a funky postcard tucked in the folds.
When I wear my AYR clothes, I feel like a badass. I feel instantly put-together, but in an “oh, this old thing?” type of way. And I’d be lying if I didn’t hear some of those product descriptions in my brain as I walk down the street, Platinum Amex burning a hole in my pocket as I dream about my next trip overseas.