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UGG Men’s Brand Voice
Cultivating a more gender-inclusive brand connection
BACKGROUND
Gone are the days of UGG being exclusively for sorority sisters and pumpkin spice latte drinkers.
Yes, the shoe has found a cult following among young women and fall foliage enthusiasts. But over the years, UGG has also expanded its use cases across occasions and demographics. Today, the brand makes products for a wide range of scenarios (trekking, surfing, couture, the list goes on) and even boasts a robust footwear and apparel selection for men.
But the existing voice guidelines didn’t seem to speak to that. While the voice persona—lovingly dubbed the Encouraging Explorer—felt vibrant and fun, its tone skewed feminine. Guidelines encouraged copywriters to embody a “BFF vibe” that male audiences didn’t necessarily find themselves in coversation with.
Gone are the days of UGG being exclusively for sorority sisters and pumpkin spice latte drinkers.
Yes, the shoe has found a cult following among young women and fall foliage enthusiasts. But over the years, UGG has also expanded its use cases across occasions and demographics. Today, the brand makes products for a wide range of scenarios (trekking, surfing, couture, the list goes on) and even boasts a robust footwear and apparel selection for men.
But the existing voice guidelines didn’t seem to speak to that. While the voice persona—lovingly dubbed the Encouraging Explorer—felt vibrant and fun, its tone skewed feminine. Guidelines encouraged copywriters to embody a “BFF vibe” that male audiences didn’t necessarily find themselves in coversation with.
Immersion
THE ASK
UGG asked us to adapt the brand voice to speak to its male consumer base, shifting the tone from beloved bestie to cool older cousin.
UGG asked us to adapt the brand voice to speak to its male consumer base, shifting the tone from beloved bestie to cool older cousin.
To ensure that we dove in fully prepared, we spoke with tastemakers in the industry and audited the verbal expression of aspirational menswear brands to gain a sense of how men currently percieve UGG and the qualities that mean the most to them.
Their perception of the UGG brand voice? “Cute.” But cute wasn’t cutting it for them—our tastemakers were looking for something that felt authentic, confident, and effortlessly cool.
THE STORY
We decided to keep the warmth and optimism of the existing brand voice while layering in a sense of quiet confidence that resonated with more men.
Rather than create a separate voice for men, we focused on aligning messaging across genders by refining the existing voice, softening elements that felt overly feminine and introducing subtle adjustments guided by new tactics for copywriters to apply when appropriate.
The result? Copy that felt cleaner, more confident, and less generic, while speaking to a broader, more gender-agnostic crowd.
We decided to keep the warmth and optimism of the existing brand voice while layering in a sense of quiet confidence that resonated with more men.
Rather than create a separate voice for men, we focused on aligning messaging across genders by refining the existing voice, softening elements that felt overly feminine and introducing subtle adjustments guided by new tactics for copywriters to apply when appropriate.
The result? Copy that felt cleaner, more confident, and less generic, while speaking to a broader, more gender-agnostic crowd.