Days Brewing’s clever messaging twist

Most alcohol-free brands define themselves by the lack of alcohol. "Drink without the hangover" and all that.

Which is fine. But you're selling a compromise. (Which makes your life really hard.)

Days don't do that. And it's great.

Most alcohol-free brands define themselves by what they lack. 0.0%. No hang0ver. No 3am texts to your ex...

But as studies have shown, when a product talks about what it isn't, the customer's first mental image is of the thing that's missing.

It's the negative framing trap that's popped up across the swipe file. Even when a brand is trying to sell a benefit, leading with an absence makes the customer think about what it doesn't have.

Days don't do that. (At least not in this email.)

The 0.0% doesn't appear until the third sentence. Because this email isn't about alcohol free beer, it's about having a beer at lunch in the summer. And that's only possible with a 0.0% beer.

It's a bit like how HaloTop didn't lead with "low calorie ice cream" in their copy, but said we could "eat the whole pint."

(Side note: love the "no risk of you falling asleep at your desk in the afternoon and getting spotted by your manager. Ideal." line. That's a proper we get you bit of copy. No notes.)

Here's how to nick this for your brand: are you framing your product as something that restricts the customer or gives them permission to do something?

And this isn't just an alcohol-free thing. Any time your copy leads with what your product doesn't have, isn't, or won't do to the customer, you're making them picture the absence first. Instead, ask what can they now do, have, feel, or enjoy that they couldn't before? Lead with that.