Celvoke | Copywriting
the gist
Finding the few choice English words to transform the perception of ‘organic’ in the Japanese market from “innocent and cute” into “sexy and intellegent”.
the task
Give each season’s campaign a very short English language catch copy that would be aspirational, sound cool and spark curiosity amongst Japanese-speaking female consumers.
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Celvoke is a Japan-based organic cosmetics and beauty line.
the client
Celvoke is a Japan-based organic cosmetics and beauty line.
New to market, it sought to challenge the old guard of domestic luxury brands by transforming the perception of ‘organic’ in the Japanese market from “innocent and cute” into “sexy and intellegent”.
“Change Your Life to Feminity” . Cute, sweet and vaguely non-sensical.the issue
It’s commonplace for Japanese companies to use English in their copy, but the focus is more on words that sound or look cool to Japanese rather than their actual meaning.
Similar near English in girlie packaging.
the approach
As the brand wanted to start with a level of sophistication, it was important for the words to not only sound cool, but to have a meaning deeply connected to the brand ethos.
My approach was to listen and observe.
First, I listened to the creative director tell the story (in Japanese) of where this woman goes, what she does, how the image came about.
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Celvoke creative director, Yoko Tagami
the solutions
My approach was to listen and observe.
First, I listened to the creative director tell the story (in Japanese) of where this woman goes, what she does, how the image came about.
As I listened, I noticed that the character was, for the most part, the creative director herself. I started observing the details of her evolving style over the seasons and using those as markers for the voice I thought she would have in English.
Celvoke creative director, Yoko Tagamithe solutions
