Urban Sophistication

An experiential lifestyle brand, reimagined.

“US reinterprets everyday objects and turns them into experiences. From phone cases to apparel, each piece encourages new perspectives and ways to feel.” I wrote that for the About page, and built an evocative vocabulary that could carry across web, email, and their first-ever SMS channel.

Role: Brand strategy & copy: web, product, email, SMS, paid
Where: Diamond Hook
Scope: Verbal & visual identity · Shopify site · Product descriptions · Content structure · Lifecycle email · SMS
Team: Ellen O’Brien, creative direction · Irina Spork & Natasha Navasardian, design · Dani Jacobson, strategy

The brief

Urban Sophistication came to us to make an already tactile brand even more sensory, and to tell both the story and thinking behind the business more clearly.

Their iconic puffer and soap phone cases are touchable and strange in the best ways. A-listers from Bad Bunny to Hailey Bieber carry them. What began as an email audit grew into a nearly year-long engagement across web and growth.

My approach

“Artful and descriptive copy ignites the imagination and depicts the positive feelings experienced from the brand’s product offerings. This perspective creates a customer journey that conjures up uniquely personal connections to the products.”

From the Urban Sophistication case study I wrote for Diamond Hook

What I did

Ran discovery with the founders to put their vision into words
Wrote the verbal identity (evocative, aspirational, conversational, succinct) and a working vocabulary with words like plush, nostalgic, tactile, glide, slide and experience
Built the “Feels like…” framework so any product could be sold by sensation
Wrote sections of the new Shopify site, product descriptions and the “try it on” experience
Rewrote the welcome, win-back and abandoned cart flows, then took on campaigns, including Mood Swings Park, a month-long Black Friday Cyber Monday story
Launched the brand’s first SMS program

My lines

Feels like a marshmallow.
Defined by feel. A pairing for every mood.
You carry US on your ride through life: from the ups and downs, to the highs and lows. This month, all you need to do is enjoy the ride.
Glitter, but make it glazed.
Hold on tight! It’s going to be a bumpy ride.

What happened

57xSMS return on investment

28%↑Email revenue

5%↑SMS conversion rate

5 figuresSMS subscribers in six months