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2023 Brand Voice Refresh

2023

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Why are we doing this update?

Wish has shifted its focus to Millenials and Gen X. Past content was created with Gen Z in mind.

We need specific guidelines to guide us in writing copy that will resonate with our audience, especially as we look to build user trust.

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Who are Millennials and Gen X?

We did a global deep dive into how they grew up, cultural influencers, traits, vocabulary, and more.

Millennials

Born between 1981 and 1996 (age 27 – 42)

Gen X

Born between 1965 and 1980 (age 43 – 58)

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How do Millennials and Gen X want to be spoken to?

Note, we have adjusted the brand voice to accommodate both, instead of having 2 separate voices for each generation

Be relatable but don’t overuse slang/jargon; they can sometimes see this as cringe and inauthentic, so avoid theatrics.
Be brief and direct.
Use personalization - speak directly to their interests and buying behavior.
Be energetic and upbeat; humor and clever speech should be lighthearted and charming.
Be authentic and transparent - don’t hide the agenda.

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The Brand Voice

Our brand voice is our personality—a way

of speaking and presenting ourselves that’s

immediately recognizable as Wish.

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Brand Voice / Attributes

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Friendly�—

Conversational and welcoming tone. Lead with our warmth and willingness to help - for our customers and merchants alike.

Human/

Empathetic�—

Our voice should align with our mission and target audience. Our content is reassuring, authentic, and compassionate. Never use robotic or “marketing speak.”

Clear�—

Above all else, our messaging needs to be clear to instill confidence and trust.

Playful�—

Intentionally dial up the fun and energy in the words we use. Add a little spark or humor to brighten up our copy.

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Brand Voice Dos and Don’ts

Personality Trait	Description	Do	Don’t	Examples
Playful	Intentionally dial up the fun and energy in the words we use. Add a little spark or humor to brighten up our copy. Adapt the level of playfulness depending on what you are writing about.	- Lighthearted, delightful, and charming humor - Be witty but not inappropriate - Upbeat & energetic - Use creative language to inject energy and excitement - Use metaphors, alliterations, and puns	- Irreverent/curse words - Forced or dry humor - Be condescending/pretentious	Curiosity thrilled the cat. Find everything for your fur babies on Wish! Deals are our love language. ❤️ Save 5% on anything your heart desires on Wish. What’s little, blue, and new? Premier Merchant badges! We noticed that we sent you the wrong discount code. While we don’t have any apology flowers, here’s 5% off on us! Save on essentials for an A+ semester
Human/ Empathetic	Because Wish serves underserved households, our voice should align with our mission and target audience. Our content is reassuring, authentic, and compassionate. Never use robotic or “marketing speak.”	- Helpful/direct - Be respectful and considerate: use inclusive/non-offensive language (ex. Use they/their instead of she/hers and he/his) - Actively address users’ pain points and needs and help them see how Wish can help (ex. value props) - Tell emotionally-driven stories to engage users - Be personal (ex. Use “you” and “your”)	- Over-polished messaging - Overpromise -Be pushy or “sales-y” - Technical/industry jargon - Use language that’s dismissive of users’ needs/concerns - Be insensitive or unapproachable - Overly formal/stiff/corporate	With a huge selection to choose from and flexible payment options, Wish is a one-stop shop for convenient and budget-friendly shopping, without having to leave your home. We’re truly sorry to all of the loyal Wish customers affected by these changes. For more information, please see our FAQ. Thank you for shopping on Wish! We want your experience at Wish to be fun and easy and that includes customer support!

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Brand Voice Dos and Don’ts

Personality Trait	Description	Do	Don’t	Examples
Friendly	Have a conversational and welcoming tone. Lead with warmth and a willingness to help— for both our customers and merchants alike.	- Relatable and accessible friend - Warm and inviting - Be helpful & supportive - Down-to-earth - Cheerful	-Be too casual/informal -Be impersonal -Be preachy or judgmental	We (really) want to see you! So, we got you a special gift. Time for your daily dose of Wish! Come back to find something you’ll love. ✨ Discover 150M+ goodies on Wish. We’ll handle the shopping stress while you fill out your wishlist! Style, meet savings Treat yourself season starts now
Clear	Above all else, our messaging needs to be clear o instill confidence and trust.	- Be concise and straightforward. Get to the point and give them what they need to make the decision. Don’t try to be so clever with copy that the reader has to work hard to understand it. Keep things simple. - Communicate value and relevancy - Be descriptive - Frontload key information - Use language that is at a 6th grade reading level	- Prioritize brevity to the point where copy is unclear/robotic - Giant blocks of text - Use overly complex grammar/vocabulary - Jargon/slang that all generations may not understand - Trick the reader with misleading clickbait - Forced wordplay that may confuse readers	Quality products. Consistent experiences. Happy customers. Shop from the very best Wish has to offer. All merchants are backed by our Money Back Guarantee. Sharp and clean—just the apparel you need. Shop thousands of everyday essentials on Wish. Thanks for shopping on Wish! To get tracking updates, earn rewards, and make any changes to your order, finish setting up your account. 7 visits = up to 50% off 🎉 Get 1 stamp each day you visit the Wish app. Get up to 50% off by earning 7 stamps within 30 days!

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Brand Voice

Copy Principles

As we actively engage our audiences in the

market and beyond, it’s important to keep

these copy principles in mind in our messaging.

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Communicating value to underserved households in copywriting

EXAMPLES*

Affordable
Bargain
Smart savings
Wallet-friendly
Budget-friendly
Shop and save
Money-saving
Great value
Save more

*non-exhaustive

Emphasize value and savings.
Limit messaging around deals to substantial amounts, as users are skeptical when they can’t find “deal” prices (Source: user research findings, pg 8). 5% off, for example, is not a deal. Another word, such as“discount,” should be used when the savings are very low.
Use best judgement when labeling something “low price” or “less” to avoid misleading customers.

🙅🏽‍♀️DON’T

21 ways to update your home decor

✅ DO

21 easy and affordable decor ideas

🙅🏽‍♀️DON’T - use the word “Cheap” which is associated with poorly made, sub-par materials, and unethical labor practices

✅ DO - use other words (examples on the left) to communicate “value”

🙅🏽‍♀️DON’T

Modern wedding ideas for an elegant affair

✅ DO

Elegant wedding ideas on a budget that you’ll absolutely love

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How we’re starting to incorporate value language more

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Messaging: The New Wish - a better shopping experience

Exciting and improved features to aid in discovery, fun, and bargains

Include trust-builders in messaging:

Wish received the lowest ratings on brand trust compared to key competitors

Messaging Money Back Guarantee and the 30-day return policy should be top priority, followed by 24/7 customer support.

Ex: “Shop worry free with our 30-day money back guarantee.”

Authentic Brand Products

Product quality is the biggest barrier to consideration (Source, slide 14). Highlighting compelling Wish brand stories from actual brands vs from resellers could help ease this friction.
Highlighting Premier Merchants program is lower priority. Consumers understand it means better but are not really searching for it.

Talk about improvements:

Faster TTD - “We’ve improved our delivery time to about 15 days!”
New category experiences - “We’ve made it easier to find your next must-haves.”
Wish Clips - “See products in action before you buy.”

Emphasize affordability/deals:

Flat rate shipping (FRS)

Shipping cost was noted as the # 2 reason for not shopping the app (slide 14), so adding messaging where FRS is available is critical.

Other programs to promote: Deals hub, Daily Login Bonus, Blitz Buy, Wish Rewards (not well known), Sunday Wish (needs to be explained with marketing/storytelling since it is a new program)

Specific guidelines for individual countries forthcoming

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Messaging: The New Wish - a better shopping experience con’td

Exciting and improved features to aid in discovery, fun, and bargains

Include trust-builders in messaging:

Messaging Money Back Guarantee and the 30-day return policy should be top priority, followed by 24/7 customer support.
Authentic Brand Products

Product quality is the biggest barrier to consideration (Source). Highlighting compelling Wish brand stories from actual brands vs from resellers could help ease this friction.
Highlighting Premier Merchants program is lower priority. Consumers understand it means better but are not really searching for it.

Talk about improvements:

Faster TTD - “We’ve improved our delivery time to about 15 days!”
New category experiences - “We’ve made it easier to find your next must-haves.”
Wish Clips - “See products in action before you buy.”

Emphasize affordability/deals:

Flat rate shipping (FRS)

Shipping cost was noted as the # 2 reason for not shopping the app (Source), so adding messaging where FRS is available is critical.

Other programs to promote: Deals hub, Daily Login Bonus, Blitz Buy, Wish Rewards (not well known)

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Messaging: The New Wish - a better shopping experience Cont’d

CHURNED USERS

DEFINITION: Not Active for 28+ days and have not purchased at Wish.

Majority users have not transacted with Wish in 365+ days.
Most of these users do not have the app downloaded.

MESSAGING

Avoid “come back” and “we miss you” language with churned users as they have never shopped the app before.
Lean into friendly messaging that acknowledges that we know they haven’t shopped at Wish since downloading the app.

We’d love to catch up with you
Let’s reconnect
Haven’t see you around
Let’s be friends/Let’s get to know each other
See what’s new

Highlight value props that address potential concerns (easy returns, improved delivery times, flat rate)
Talk about improvements/updates we’ve made

CHURNED BUYERS

DEFINITION: Former active users who have stopped shopping the app.

MESSAGING:

Acknowledge their departure:

We miss you
Try us again
Come back
Come see us
We want you back
Give us another chance

Highlight major changes and value prop that addresses their concerns/potential reasons for not returning

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How we’re starting to increase usage of trust-builders/value props more

Before

After

Value props added to the top:

Money back guarantee
No hassle returns
24/7 support

Large messaging area
Product feed with 3 products in a row for easy at-a-glance discovery
Trust-builders with CTA

Redesigned homepage
Premier Merchants
Video shopping

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Wish - Home & Life narrative: creative solutions for everyday problems

How does Wish identify home & life?

Delights in life on a budget (80%)

Fun bargains
Inspirational discovery and finds (ex. party planning, wellness, on-the-go)

Essentials for less (20%)

Messaging:

Your one-stop-shop for home and life essentials: Emphasize how Wish makes it easy to find practical home and life items in one place. Highlight the wide range of everyday essentials Wish offers, including home goods, electronics, beauty, and fashion.

We have it all - From kitchen gadgets to cozy bedding and everything in between, find everything you need in one place with Wish.
You’re a busy bee, and we get it. That’s why we offer the ultimate hotspot for discovering home and life essentials for every budget.

Considerations:

Is “home & life” the go-to market consumer-facing term? TBD by marketing team
Helpful reference: Wish loyal buyer research findings

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Influencer messaging guidelines

Helpful content guidelines
Talk about why they love shopping at Wish and how Wish helps save money/cut costs (overall + weekly deals such as Sunday Wish) Use personal stories to create home & life content around Wish products Highlight exciting aspects of shopping the app (video shopping, endless feed, Blitz Buy, stamps) Emphasize Wish’s commitment to a great shopping experience and why their followers should trust Wish (see slide 12)

Influencers can help amplify our brand message and value props. They shouldn’t just be talking about the amazing finds on Wish, but should also make sure to highlight our value props to help build trust and excitement with their audiences.

Content creation structure

Money-saving items and deals to build excitement

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Wish value props to build trust

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Personal stories to build connection

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Conclusion

Emphasize the low-cost/savings benefits of shopping with Wish

Include Wish’s value props and Wish’s improvements in messaging

Follow the updated brand voice

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Copywriting at Wish�

What we do

Use catchy and creative writing to…

Attract
Engage
Raise awareness
Promote products & campaigns
Assist in moving Wish customers down the sales funnel

What we are responsible for

Brand marketing, Performance Marketing, Merchandising, and Email

Ads
Emails
Blogs
Push notifications
Video copy
And more!

Questions? Ideas? Need our help on your next project?

Contact us!