Thornhill Shann

Tone of Voice and web copy

Thank goodness for kind clients with good memories.

Towards the end of 2024, I got an email, and it went like this:

Hi Jonathan,
I was referred to you by a former colleague… I’m a brand designer currently working… on a rebranding project… We’ve updated the brand’s look, feel, and values, and now we’re moving forward with a website refresh. Would you be interested…?

Oh go on then. If I have to.

Turns out, this was for an ultra-posh construction company. Ultra-posh, just like me (sniggers).

So I put together a proposal to write a short boilerplate piece of copy (to test the tone of voice waters), an 8-page website and 6 team bios.

24 hours later, I had a new client (all thanks to an intro from an old client – thank you).

I sent my test pieces over just before Christmas, and in the new year they were torn limb-from-limb, re-worked and teased into a shape everyone was happy with. The first versions were, ‘…too conversational, too poetic…’ And I was leaning ‘…too heavily on metaphor or flourish.’

Fair enough.

We slugged it out (no clients were hurt in the process) over minor details, and we cracked on with the website.

I questioned the brief, got the answers, then 8 days later, sent a solid draft for review. Once the copy was in place, in the development site, the client asked for a wee bit of nipping and tucking in a couple of places, and we were there.

Happy client. Happy me. And a jolly nice looking website to boot. Bingo!

Here’s a few copywriting bits to paw over, but if you want the real deal, you’ll find the Thornhill Shann website here.

‘We honour every promise, guaranteeing results that exceed even the most demanding of expectations.’ To be honest, I’m quite tempted to use that one for myself.

For more brand voice/web copy work with a whole different splattitude, have a look at the dollop case study