JoJo Maman Bébé
When my son was about six months’ old, an unexpected email arrived in my inbox. Pam.
Hey Soph, she said. I’m working on a branding project with O12. It’s for JoJo Maman Bebe. You interested?
I rubbed my sleep-deprived eyes, glanced at Arthur – dressed, as he often was, in a JoJo rugby top – and replied. And by ‘replied’, I mean ‘bit Pam’s hand off’. So began my favourite, most perfectly timed project of all time: the brand voice, story, and tone of voice guidelines for the international children’s brand, JoJo Maman Bebe.
‘Snoozy days. Messy days. Cuddly days. Summer days. However you spend your days, dress them in JoJo. Our children’s clothes are forever favourites, made to be washed, worn, and loved for years and years. And from cups, cutlery, and carriers to baths, bibs and books, we’ve all the bits and bobs your family needs to play, go, sleep, eat and grow. From wake-up ‘til bedtime, 12-week-scans to birthday parties, JoJo’s here for each brilliant bit. Because every bit, and every day, is so so special.’
Brand summary
When I got involved, O12 had already commissioned in-depth customer research and held a brand workshop, so I had clear challenges to address with the new voice and messaging. JoJo needed to reposition as a broader children’s lifestyle and accessory brand; tackle perceptions of being ‘posh’, ‘expensive’ or ‘just for best’; and appeal to a wider audience, including millennial and Gen Z parents. Grounded in this research, plus market trends and our own competitor review, Pam’s strategy and positioning established how we could make the brand sing, culminating in three recommended brand attributes – playful, fresh, and helpful.
Using all this as a starting point, Pam and I put our heads together to come up with a core idea that’d sit at the heart of the project. In a flash of inspiration at the O12 HQ, we had it: ‘Days well spent.’ It represents the breathless joy of childhood, the seemingly endless days filled with play and imagination. Crucially, though, it’s not about ‘good’ or ‘bad’ or ‘fun’ days, a distinction that lends it both kindness and authenticity. As parents, days can be special and memorable and sunkissed, but they can also be messy and tiring and tedious – and those days are still so valuable. They’re well spent, even if you feel completely spent by bedtime. This idea became the basis of the brand story. And JoJo liked the line so much, it became their new brand strapline.
‘Our joyful baby clothes are seriously comfy and perfectly practical, with clever features that make dressing a wriggly newborn ten times easier. From dresses and dungarees to socks, sleepsuits, and slippers, we’ve all you need for every sleepy, squeaky, milk-drunk day.’
Brand messaging – clothing
From then on, I was on my own. And wow, did I have fun with the tone of voice. Inspired by the bouncy syllables of the brand name, I turned to children’s books, borrowing techniques from writers like Peter Bently, Michael Rosen and Julia Donaldson to create a singsong tone filled with rhyme and effusive positivity. It’s also charmingly simple, with direct sentences and uncomplicated language that make it reassuringly easy to read. There’s lots of emotion and a touch of nostalgia too, capturing the love, mess and silliness of young family life in everything from product descriptions to social posts. Altogether it’s warm, empathetic and creative in unexpected places – spreading touches of joy wherever it goes.
But there’s one tiny detail I particularly love about the new voice. In the first brand voice workshop, the head of marketing, Georgie, asked if I could ban the word ‘cute’. It was all over the brand’s marketing, and had become a bit of a crutch. In fact, I recommended banning talking about how children look altogether. It goes without saying that families think their children are the most gorgeous things on the planet (because they are). Instead, this voice focuses on feelings, actions, memories and experiences. Because those are the kinds of things that make a day well spent.
Rainbow pastel shades? Check. Ears? Check. Deliciously cosy, cuddly wadding? Check, check, check! Our Mouse Puffer Jacket really has it all. Squeak squeak, take a peep.’
Social post example from the JoJo Maman Bébé Writing Guide
A brand voice isn’t any good, though, if no one knows how to use it. So, I worked with the client to plan a set of guidelines that perfectly fit their day-to-day needs. The result is a super duper detailed writing guide rooted in two key traits – ‘wholehearted’ and ‘joyful’ – each underpinned with specific directions. To help with the ‘joyful’ side, which included rhyming, alliteration and imagery, I also divided creative techniques into three ‘motifs’ with clear parameters explaining what to use when and where.
To ensure the team never runs out of ideas, I included generous language banks covering everything from the terms we use to talk about families and children, to a stack of creative phrases to describe occasions and product features. There’s a comprehensive style guide at the end too. But the best bit is the examples. Spanning product and category descriptions, social media, job adverts, emails, internal comms, visual merchandising and more, I wrote reams of annotated examples that help teams throughout the organisation – not just in marketing – use the brand voice.
Detailed? Yes. A lot to take in? Also yes. I delivered the guidelines with a virtual runthrough and Q&A, so everyone had a chance to ask questions and suggest any final additions. Then, having given them a few weeks to digest, I ran a full-day workshop in JoJo’s lovely London office. After a warm-up exercise where everyone brought their favourite children’s books and discussed the language, we practised all the different writing techniques in tasks I’d tailored to the parts they found most difficult. Lastly, I squeezed in some time to work with breakout groups on their most pressing projects. Did it work? When the new brand launched, I showed my husband the website. He pointed out a line on the homepage banner. That one of yours? He asked. I beamed. Nope. All theirs. They’ve got it.