1. Brand and competition analysis
2. Determine target audience
3. Define guidelines: voice, tone, fonts etc.
4. Write and test the copy
5. Rewrite and launch

1. Uomo was challenging traditional barbering concepts with a modern Italian perspective.
2. Uomo was very much a “safe-space” for men
3. Interior design included Italian minimalism combined with traditional services.
4. The tone and voice had to reflect an Italian style and sassiness, while respecting tradition.
5. Appointment taking was a strong USP, as other shops still did not focus on this.
6. Men-exclusive grooming products were also uncommon in the industry, so a just-for-men line was designed from scratch.
7. Uomo had several exclusive services: hot towels with each haircut, neck massage, straight razor shave the neck, and espresso coffee.
8. For web traffic, they ranked above-the-fold for common search terms
9. Uomo had a solid 4.9 star rating on Google

Strengths:

1. The hipster movement was in full swing, a contrast to the simple elegance of Italian styling offered at Uomo 
2. Millennials were a growing segment of the market, causing an industry shift away from Gen-X and Boomers 
3. Beards and moustaches were becoming more popular adding another change in thinking for Uomo
4. Online booking was on the horizon, with customers demanding alternatives to phone appointments
5. A cyberattack affected their systems, forcing the dev team to upgrade security features, which could have had an affect on user experience if over cumbersome
6. Websites were solid, with many leaning into strong voices and tones to attract a certain target audience, mostly millennials
7. They were leveraging social media really well: facebook, reddit

Weaknesses:

1. Competing barbershops focused mostly on young millennials, ignoring Gen-Xers and Boomers
2. Most did not have the skills to satisfy their brand promises as discovered from online reviews
3. Design was mostly “lumber-sexual,” with a lot of focus on interior wood panels, hunting paraphernalia
4. Attire was less-than-professional
5. Overly-casual B2C etiquette
6. Few, if any, focused on straight razor shaving

Primary Target:

1. Boomers and Gen-X
2. Men earning higher than average incomes
3. Confident, aware of their own sensibilities
4. Craving Italian style
5. Enjoy humor and travel
6. Cultured/refined opinions, socially and politically
7. Dressed traditionally

Secondary Target:

1. Millennials
2. Women purchasing for men

When considering voice, the design team pictured an Italian single gentleman, enjoying an espresso on a Saturday morning at a Roman Bar, while trying to catch the attention of a single lady:

1. Formal, without being stiff,
2. Funny without being hysterical,
3. Respectful without being stuffy
4. Enthusiastic without being pushy

Tone adjusted according to the message being delivered. An important factor was no never take the customer for granted, which was often the case with the competing barbershops. This was done by placing the customer as the center point of each interaction, and to illustrate how the customer improves the lives of Uomo, creating a symbiosis between both client and business.

Microcopy example:

“One thing we pride ourselves on is that we listen.

We may not understand you all the time…but we listen.”

Slogans were also geared around this philosophy. One of the earlier Uomo slogans incorporated tradition with the future of barbering becoming a powerful phrase:

“Where tradition meets trend”

At the center of every UX writer’s decision is font choice. Though this is often chosen by the design team, in some cases, the writer is asked to decide fonts based on the criteria of the project.

For the Uomo project, serif based fonts were coupled with sans-serif to merge tradition with modern. This was meant to resonate with more traditional clients and attract a contemporary crowd. 

For this reason, the headers were mixed with the following fonts:

1. Playfair Display (italic) + Open Sans

Playfair Display is typified with high-strokes and contrasting serifs, perfect for fashion brands wanting to exude elegance and grace. It was perfect for Uomo’s desire to respect tradition.

Open Sans is described as friendly and humanist, and since Uomo deals with friendly humans, it was the perfect choice for headers and paragraph text.

The landing page was meant to use a matter-of-fact approach to clearly explain what the site is about. The company slogan was paramount to exude the target style of the brand,

Everything about Uomo was designed to reflect Italian modernity. One of the biggest hurdles was the word “Uomo.”

Too often the question was asked by users: “What does Uomo mean?”

With the answer being “uomo means man in italian,” the brand slogan quickly became:

“Uomo. Italian for man.”

Here is example of content exuding a confident voice with a worldly tone:

The brand voice was written to exhibit Italian confidence without cockiness. Italian culture outwardly expresses confidence and style, without a need to belittle on behalf of this self-exuberance.

“Paparazzi” denotes surprise and flair. It’s a moment when any man needs to be ready for. With this in mind, Italian men style themselves with this in mind.

They style themselves to be “Paparazzi Ready.”

Conversions is the most important aspect of any website. Without them, a business cannot thrive. Content is a way to drive user interest as well as conversions. SEO keywords are an important component of attracting high-quality users looking to convert. Here is an example of how a strong keyword was used to exude the confident voice of Uomo.

With a strong SEO title boasting the brand’s achievements, we found it necessary to lean into this confidence by unapologetically pronouncing Uomo’s accolade.

The trick was not to linger too long on the subject. This was accomplished by quickly redirect this achievement to the client, placing them as the reason for Uomo’s success.

Finally, a playful button added an on-brand tone to the content.

Humor is an important tone necessary for the Uomo image. Here is a fun way Uomo made their content relatable with humor:

Italians love to laugh, and Italian barbershops are no exception. With a little humor, we added a quip about Uomo’s communication skills.

Flamboyant and puzzled often came to mind in our brand research as both Italian barber and un-Italian client often shared words where both parties stared in confusion, then laughed with giggling embarrassment. 

Of course, hands were flailing with every  spoken syllable .

Part of the Uomo brand’s voice was enthusiasm without gushing. This meant a matter-of-fact tone could be incorporated, as long as it remained light. 

Describing service varieties can often be repetitive and dry. To lighten the copy, we added a few quips to keep the mood light and airy.

Conversions often run parallel to click through rates (CTR). Uomo has earned the trust of its market, and earned a higher than average CTR on its newsletters.

Since the primary target market for the Uomo brand was educated men, blog posts were also written for an inquisitive clientele. Using popular movies as a trigger, Uomo capitalized on current trends to earn a click through rate (CTR) of 50% or more on its newsletters.

In this example, both the Napolean and Barbie movies were used to capitalize on popular trends already existing in the market.

1. Brand and competition analysis
2. Determine target audience
3. Define guidelines: voice, tone, fonts etc.
4. Write and test the copy
5. Rewrite and launch