“Can you make our typical product unique?” said The Client

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“I can do that,” said The Copywriter. “But first let me ask you a question.”

“Sure.”

“How do you manufacture your tequila?”

“Same way our competitors do,” said The Client. “We plant the agave, then, after seven years, we harvest it by hand…”  

“Seven years?”

“Yeh,” said The Client. “That’s how long the plant takes to mature.”

The Copywriter nodded.

“Then we steam-bake it in a wood oven for 79 hours,” said The Client.

“Why do you do that?”

“To convert the agave’s starch into sugar.”

“Ah, right. Then what do you do?”

“After it’s been baked, we shred it into long, thin fibers,” said The Client. “Then we mash those fibers under a heavy stone wheel that squeezes out the nectar… you know, the juice. Then we put that juice into a wooden container… add some yeast… let it ferment — the sugars turn to alcohol, yada-yada.”

”Yep,” said The Copywriter, scribbling notes. “Then what?”

“Then we transfer the fermented juice into a big, copper tank and distill it a couple times. Then we add some water to regulate the alcohol content — and that’s it, really.”

“That’s it?”

“Basically,” said The Client. “Then we bottle it, and ship it.”

“Perfect,” said The Copywriter. “Thanks for teaching me the process.”

“Of course,” said The Client, cheery.

“That was really very interesting.”

“Glad you appreciated it!”

“I really did — and I’m sure others would, too,” said The Copywriter. “I’ll deliver a draft on Thursday.”

The Copywriter stood up, shook hands, and went home to write the copy blurb he was hired to create — the copy that would be printed on every tequila bottle The Client sells — the copy that was bought to make the product unique.

Here’s what he came up with:

7 Years.

That is how long it takes our agave plant to mature before we hand-harvest and steam-bake it for days on end in a wood oven. Then we press the baked agave with a stone, squeezing out its nectar into aged wooden basins.

Then we distill it — twice — and put it in a bottle, just like the one you’re holding.

Here’s to the product, 7 years in the making.

Here’s to the process.

On Thursday, The Copywriter emailed The Client his work.

About an hour later, he got a call.

“I asked you to make our product unique,” said The Client.

“All of my competitors make their tequila this way,” said The Client. “The entire industry uses this 'process!'”

“Yes,” said The Copywriter, “that’s true. But only YOU are talking about it.”

The Client said nothing.

“Plus, the process is interesting,” said The Copywriter. “This copy teaches the reader something. Your competitors don’t do that.”

“No,” said The Client. “I guess they don’t.”

“Your competitors create characters to sell their tequila,” said The Copywriter. “They make up stories and angles they hope people will connect with and remember.”

The Client said nothing.

“This copy does the opposite of that,” said The Copywriter. “It adds value by way of a simple yet illuminating story, which is engaging on its face... 

“Sometimes, stating the universal facts clearly and plainly is all a typical brand needs to be unique.”

“Yeh,” said The Client, “I never thought of it that way."

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LEARN TO PERSUADE

WRITE BETTER.
MARKET BETTER.
SELL MORE.

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