Charlie Brooker is insightful about this kind of thing: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2006/nov/06/currentaccounts.comment

Could be better. If they’d cut off the price as well, by the same amount the tax is cut. They’d be saying Hey! we care the same gov’t does.

Yeah, so. Honesty. People like it. Radical stuff.

(goes and checks)

Yep, it sold its 33% stake in April to private equity.

“I’d be interested to know, if you think there’s much longevity to this style of branding? Do you expect to see this working 10 years from now?”

You bet. But only if the company *genuinely* cares about it’s customers. If it’s just PR bull shit, then it won’t fool anyone. I believe there’s a real change rippling across the world through companies that ‘get it’. It’s time to treat customers with friendliness and respect. Once anyone gets a taste of this, they’ll hate working with companies that don’t behave like this.

I personally feel what makes this copywriting style engaging (at present), is the juxtaposition of its tone associated with our preconception of its medium- in fast food restaurants we rarely expect much more than the obligatory message of “Caution: Hot”, which is obviously devoid of the sort of personality we are increasingly seeing on Pret/Innocent/Howies/Moo/etc. products.

However (and I may be completely wrong on this), I imagine it’s only a matter of time before the other, slower PR machines of rival brands churn out similarly cuddly messages, to the point we are regularly exposed to, and quickly saturated by, inane, trivial mush- which we’ll no doubt filter out the same way we have been filtering out noisy cereal packaging for decades.

I’m sure I have already seen one or two fruit drinks makers trying and, I personally thought, failing to communicate similar identities as Innocent. And, in doing so, they somehow (sadly) managed to muddy the preformed relationship I had with Innocent in my mind, after presenting me with the realisation that it’s all just clever PR.
Indeed, the whole experience made me so cynical as to question whether Innocent have EVER had a Banana Phone in that Fruit Towers of theirs! (I still like to think they do, although you’d think there’d be a readily available picture of it somewhere on the net??)

At the end of the day, I’m not disagreeing with your observations of great, timely copy nor why it appeals to us but, I’d be interested to know, if you think there’s much longevity to this style of branding? Do you expect to see this working 10 years from now?

“it’s just good copy?”

That’s exactly the point. Good copy always serves a purpose and in this case, it’s engendering loyalty and good will.

Companies, apps, ads… they all benefit.

I don’t actually have an issue with this. The purpose of the vat rate is to stimulate the economy AND help businesses. A business on the edge of going under, might be able to stay afloat with an extra 2.5% and save them selves shedding jobs.

Of course saying “We’ve decided not to pocket the difference and pass the savings onto you instead” doesn’t quite sell as well.

They often post on their blog that new stock has arrived, that deliveries have been delayed due to… and their posts are often full of optimism which almost always puts a smile on my face.

Companies can be professional whilst having fun, more of them need to realise this.

It’s in these tough economic times that people seem to realize how far a personal connection to a business can go. It helps businesses stand out more, and adds value to the brand.

Not to mention it’s free!

Love straight-talking and light-hearted messages like that. Tom Peters is always talking about this and how it’s important to engage the customer and make them feel special, by dealing with them in a way they understand.