Differences (if any) between US and UK businesses aimed copywriting

[mjbmedia]

UK businesses are more risk averse than US (generally) so do you US copywriters take that into consideration when writing copy (non IM type) for UK based businesses?

I dont mean this in a condescending way at all, just very interested and curious as speaking with a number of US people now doing business over here inthe UK, many others arent aware of just how different we in the UK can be to responding to certain types of copywriting.

[max5ty]

Originally Posted by mjbmedia

UK businesses are more risk averse than US (generally) so do you US copywriters take that into consideration when writing copy (non IM type) for UK based businesses?

I dont mean this in a condescending way at all, just very interested and curious as speaking with a number of US people now doing business over here inthe UK, many others arent aware of just how different we in the UK can be to responding to certain types of copywriting.

I haven't done anything "targeted" to UK readers, but I'd be interested in learning about how you're different in responding.

It seems a lot of the ads for products focus on different attitudes than in the U.S., beer and fashion ads come to mind.

We all know there's some famous copywriters from the UK that sell a lot of their materials here in the U.S. Just wondering if they change their style to target U.S. customers from what they'd do otherwise.

Thanks for the interesting question.

[The Copy Nazi]

Yes it is very different. Just as its very different in Australia and New Zealand too. Main difference being the three markets don't go for the "hype" like the U.S. market does. It fact it can be detrimental to a campaign. You Americans love the "rah rah rah", the big claims, the dollars falling from the sky - all that.

Another big difference is the humor. And using humor in your copy can blow up in your face if its not targeted properly. There's a difference between English and Aussie humor too but its not as marked. (Downunder anything with "bum" or "fart" in it will get a laugh.)

[Rigmonkey]

Originally Posted by The Copy Nazi

Another big difference is the humor. And using humor in your copy can blow up in your face if its not targeted properly. There's a difference between English and Aussie humor too but its not as marked. (Downunder anything with "bum" or "fart" in it will get a laugh.)

Couldn't agree more.

I love writing for Aussies. There's a certain level of relaxation in the way they're prepared to accept the written word and it gives you a genuine opportunity to be creative with your work. I've never used farting as an option yet, but I'll definitely keep it in mind.

[mjbmedia]

yep we're pretty much hype resistant in the offline (for want of a better expression) world in the UK.

Quite often business people in UK will think 'whats the negative of doing this' or 'Im already doing "OK" with this 15 year old out of date method, do I really want to try this new approach ?' whereas it seems in the US its much more positive focused ' wow I wanna try this it sounds amazing' and 'tell me more I gotta get myself some of this' type feedback.

Of course I am generalising and there are exceptions to all the rules, just when one of us in UK are looking to get copy done thats not IM focused well I personally do get concerned about it being written for the UK business person and not the US

[Mark Andrews]

Words are words. Doesn't matter where you're from. They either reach into the emotional pain of the target audience or they don't, irrespective of where the sales copy originates from.

A UK copywriter can just as easily write for an American audience and likewise an American copywriter can just as easily reach into the psyche of the British audience.

Same goes for other countries.

If you research your market you know how to communicate with your target audience.

[Bruce NewMedia]

Originally Posted by The Copy Nazi

Yes it is very different. Just as its very different in Australia and New Zealand too. Main difference being the three markets don't go for the "hype" like the U.S. market does. .....)

I'm tending to agree with this, but yet I see prominent UK copywriters whose work would be indistinguishable from many "hype-filled" US ones.

One that immediately comes to mind is,
Copywriter | Copywriter UK | Web copywriter | Online copywriter | UK Copywriter | UK online web copywriter
_____
Bruce

[Mark Andrews]

Do you mind Bruce? That guy dominates the UK search engines. Another link to him isn't going to help us lot trying to compete against him.

[Rezbi]

It can depend on then media you use.

Sometimes the hypey stuff can work if your ad is the only one that's "in your face".

Kind of like calm waters where you suddenly see a shark fin... you just know it's not supposed to be there, so it gets your attention.

[mjbmedia]

example videos online being good for promos and SEO etc, in UK the general feeling would be 'yes sounds great , but when everyone has them wont it all be evened out then' whereas USA will be more' great how can we get ourselves ahead of the competition and stay there',
i mean this just at first casual mention of this idea , of course if its presented well then the feedback can change , but UK first angle is 'how many objections can we come up with to get out of doing this' USA is 'how can we take advantage of this to give us a competitive advantage'