Finish Line Copy Standards

Finish Line Voice | Finish Line Tone | Finish Line Commonly Used Words | Commerce Copy Standards | Finish Line Copy Examples | Who are we talking to? Brand Voice | Finish Line Branded Programs | Things to Avoid | General Structure CTAs  | Jordan Launch Structure | UMB Structure | Trend Tile Structure | Navigation Promo Structure | Apostrophes |  Quotations for Colorways | General Rules to Follow | Promos / Email / Direct Mail / In-Store | Sale | Email Subject Lines App Messaging | Macy’s 

Finish Line delivers the latest and greatest products on both launch day and every day.  

Maintain positioning within the athletic specialty category (alongside Foot and Champs) Use product availability to drive consumer connection, retailer definition, and traffic. Speak to variety and selection across all key categories. Validate style and trend with how products fit in, not to stand out. Use versatility and utility to deliver essential products and build complete looks.

Finish Line is where performance meets style with a dash of creativity.

Clean
Bold
Effortless
Balanced
Inspired
Versatile

Rotation
Style
Street
Fresh
Fit
Clean
Bold
Effortless
Balanced
Inspired

Subject Line/Push Titles:  
Position the brand, category or product with specific tone of voice to JD or FNL

Preheaders / Push Text:
Create need through urgency and availability

Headlines:
Be direct with brand, category or product to establish clarity to "shop now" CTA

Email:

Subject Line: Check out the latest in Basketball styles
Pre Header: Shop on-court footwear now
Hero Copy: Basketball Footwear

Subject Line: Check out the latest in Basketball styles
Pre Header: Shop on-court footwear now
Hero Copy: Basketball Footwear

Subject Line: Classics for a reason
Pre Header: Shop the latest classics available now
Hero Copy: Classic

Subject Line: The latest collection of ON apparel and footwear is here
Pre Header: Shop the latest from ON Running
Hero Copy: ON Running

App:

Push Title: The Echo Clog from Crocs has arrived
Push Text: Shop the latest Croc clog available now

Male Target Consumer: Jake

Female Target Consumer: Jillian

What we’re after:
Be memorable, relatable, and engaging. Always be aware and worthy of our brand partners. The brands we carry speak for themselves, but we also have the unique opportunity to speak for ourselves through our own promotions and programs.

Think of it like this—any copy we write should give them a reward. When’s the last time you remembered something you read because it was boring? Write something others will relate to and remember. If something sounds weird, but in a good way chances are it will stick.

Real
Super simple—just be real. Don’t overcomplicate it, and don’t overkill the cool. Our audience is waiting for any chance to call us out

Examples:
”Cop these drops.”
”Keep it clean.”
”It’s March. Dress like it.”

Stay Relevant
Reference pop culture in timely initiatives that are not evergreen in order to resonate with Jake and stay top of mind. Be mindful of the audience. Women and kids are a huge part of our business. When writing for these segments always speak in a way that is relatable for Jake, but also aligned with intended customer.

Examples:
”More kicks than the karate kid.”
”Girls don’t sweat. They glisten”
”Pretty fly for a little guy.”
”Baby Baller.”

Provocative
Allow the reader to put things together in their head. Use humor that is dry, cool, clever, with an edge. Be intelligent rather than slapstick.

Examples:
”Put some pants on.”
”Women’s Prints. Hot off the press.”
”The more looks you have, the more looks you’ll get.”

Too Hip
Have confidence in who we are and what we’re talking about. Don’t overdo the street / sneakerhead / hoops slang. Think of the messaging as a conversation. It’s easy to overthink things, often times the best messaging is how we would normally say it (just with a Jake twist).

False Enthusiasm
Do not sound overly fun and chipper in a way that isn’t genuine to Jake. Avoid exclamation points.

Negativity
Be positive but not over enthusiastic. Don’t confuse dryness with negativity.

Do
Speak conversationally. Tell it like it is. Keep the human element. Be real. Be tongue-in-cheek. Play on words that are relevant to the product or purchase
process. Be passionate, because we sell really cool stuff. Let that shine. Focus on the importance of style and individuality. Let the products speak for themselves. Find what makes that shoe special and put that in the spotlight.

Don’t
Take ourselves too seriously. Subtle wit that is well executed will win over theatrics, but
avoid being zany. Be cliche. Avoid arbitrary claims such as, “Coolest, best ever, next level…” Speak to performance. Our audience is not that hardcore. Feel the need to have excess copy on everything. Sometimes simple is best.

Puns
Puns, if used correctly, can be super effective.

Good pun, “In knit to win it.”
Bad pun, “Slow and steady wins the lace.”

Idioms
Idioms are great because they are something our customer will recognize, but there’s a fine line between idiom and a cliché. The best way to deal with this, is turn it into a double meaning or change the phrase in a way that still makes sense.

Good idiom, (copy for Demar DeRozan): All De. Every De.
Bad idiom, These deals are a shoe in.

Gender
Brand + Name of Product / Grid Name
Subhead (sometimes subhead is not needed)
Shop Now >

If there is a free shipping banner or app icon above, no subhead is needed.

If there is no gender, the brand name will live at the top instead of gender. Everything else will remain the same.

The only exceptions to the “Shop Now” CTA are for collections OR if email strategy requires multiple gender CTAs.

Never use the word “pack”. Always use “collection”.

The CTA for collections will be “Shop Collection”.

Collections are a grouping of similar products by the same brand, usually created by the brand.
Ex: Nike JDI, Nike Need It Now, etc.
Non-Examples: Top Trending, New Arrivals, etc.

Single Launch
Free Shipping
Gender
Jordan + Name of Product
‘Colorway’
Drops [day], XX/XX at XX[am or pm] ET
XX:XX:XX
Shop Now >

Dual Launch
Free Shipping
Drops [day], XX/XX at XX[am or pm] ET
Jordan + Primary Launch Product Name
+ Secondary Launch Product Name
XX:XX:XX

If the asset is for site placement, we usually leave off drop date and timer.

If we aren’t offering free shipping and there’s no specific colorway name, leave it out.

For naming, use whatever name is on nike.com/launch first. If the colorway isn’t listed, use what the blogs are using. When in doubt, reach out to the Brand Team to confirm.

If Men’s & Kids’ is the gender at the top, there is no need to have individual CTAs for each below the timer. The CTA should remain Shop Now >

Urgency Message with Countdown Timer
Main message. Use Code: XXXXXX Details

Maximum Message
Last Chance – XX:XX:XX
FREE SHIPPING on all orders over $30. Use Code: XXXXXX Details

Shipping Message
If there is a shipping message, lead with it, bold everything up to “shipping”, put it in all caps.

Examples:
FREE SHIPPING on all full-priced shoes over $30.
$7 FLAT-RATE SHIPPING on all sale orders.

Gender + Brand name (if any) + name of grid or product
Shop Now > or Shop Collection >

We never need to mention more than one brand name.

We should never need to feature product names in trend tile copy.

Examples

Do’s:
Nike Basketball
Shop Now >

Nike JDI
Shop Collection >

Don’ts:
Nike & Adidas Running
Shop Now >

Nike Basketball ft. LeBron XVI & Kyrie 5
Shop Now >

Top Trending Apparel
Shop Collection >

Same as Trend Tile, but without “Shop Now” CTA. See above.

Put the apostrophe before the numbers when referencing ‘90s, but not around numbers after shoes like Air Max 96.

The correct way we use an apostrophe in a gender title is always:
Men’s, Women’s, and Kids’

No apostrophe is needed for making the name of shoe plural.
Ex: “Cop these Retros.”

However, we never make a brand plural
Ex: “Nikes, Under Armours, etc.”

When we mention a colorway, we put single quotations around them.

This applies to Jordan Retros and Yeezys always. Any other notable colorway will be identified by Brand Team in Basecamp.

We will NOT use quotations for Collections.

Gender callouts are not needed on their respective landing pages.

For things that are full family, don’t include gender.

Use “ft.” and not “featuring”

When we are ft. a product, no need to use brand name, just product name
Ex: Nike Air Max
ft. Air Max 270 & 95

Subheads never include a period at the end unless there are multiple sentences or statements.

Approved messaging for VCs are found in the VC. When in doubt, refer to the VC, or reach out to the copywriter

Promos should be short, punchy, and clear about what we’re selling. Speak to the product or campaign in an informative way, yet be catchy and quick-witted. Engage the customer by letting them draw their own conclusions.

Keep the 18-29 male target in mind, while tailoring the copy to the individual campaign. For kids’ and women’s campaigns, we don’t want to speak directly to Jake, but we don’t want to deter him either. Voice should be consistent.

Headlines for key stories should be consistent throughout site assets, email, direct mail, and in-store, and will be based off of the direction provided in the brief. Where necessary, copy should be altered to better suit the channel based on guidelines below while keeping the same overall tone and direction of the campaign.

In-store
Provide as much value to the customer as possible while keeping copy short.

Use our voice to grab attention or provide information. Keep in mind where the in-store signage will be living. Some copy can be inspired by context of the signage.

If there is opportunity to drive the consumer online for matching apparel or more styles, it is necessary to call that out with a simple URL.

Ex: Can’t stop, won’t stop. There’s always more on finishline.com.

Informational
Be straightforward. The goal is to effectively communicate the details. No need to fluff. Information is more important than edge in these situations.

Ex: Free Shipping on thousands of styles. Every day.

Sale messaging is clear in the headline / sale copy. Here CTA’s can be more clever, and there can be more edge or leverage of pop culture in headlines.

Example:
40% Off
Because it didn’t break the internet
Big Deals >

Don’t
Say, “Save up to xx% off”.
Copy should be, “Save up to XX%” or “Up to XX% off”.

Particularly in End of Season Sale assets. Although a common phrase, it is incorrect as you cannot “save up to off”.

Best Practices

Our customers respond best to exclusivity and curiosity. So intrigue them. Make them find out what you’re talking about.

Lead with the product or % off so it doesn’t get cut off on mobile.

Use proper punctuation and capitalization, although if using an exclamation point (which should be super rare), only use one!

To access emojis on mac: ctrl + cmd + spacebar

Subject Lines ending in a CTA tend to not work with our audience. Don’t say things like “Shop Now”, if anything, use something like “You gotta cop this” or “we got you”.

10 Tips for Writing a Badass Subject Line

1. Keep it short & simple – Like “under 50 characters” simple.

2. DO NOT USE CAPS – This is more likely to go to the spam folder, along with salesy words like “buy now” or “free”.

3. Use lists and numbers – This automatically creates a sense of curiosity, and people are often drawn to numbers because it means it will be quick, clean, and simple to understand.

4. When possible, use “your” – This keeps the email personal and people are more likely to open it.

5. Tell them the benefits – Benefits or results work better than features. They’re not buying a Jordan because it has a synthetic and leather upper, they’re buying it because it will make them look and feel better when they go out for the night. Try leading with “how to”.

6. Ask questions – “Do you think…?” is a popular one. This could work especially well for the poll/survey emails.

7. Stand out – People see thousands of emails per day, so do something that will stand out. Use emojis, try one word subject lines even. Just don’t use caps.

8. Stay relevant – Always use up-to-date language while it’s hot. There’s no better way to keep those subject lines on fleek.

9. Be funny – Make a joke. Get those lols. Just keep it short.

10. Use urgency – Phrases like “today only” and “last chance” don’t work that well unless you mix the message with something that makes it sound better. And FOMO can be tricky because our customer doesn’t respond to anxiety.

Push notifications should be thought of as a subject line to catch the user’s attention with any value prop or wit. Message Center should then serve as a call to action speaking to what we want the customer to do, or provide more information than given in the push. Often times campaign copy used in a subject line or other site placements can be repurposed.

Voice should be a slightly tamer version of Finish Line. We want to stand for ourselves, but the target Macy’s customer is slightly older, likely a woman with a family / mom, and is a coupon / sale shopper. Copy should reinforce sneakers specifically and highlight Finish Line as the expert in Macy’s. When talking about kids, remember, this is mom shopping, not the kid. Speak to mom and reference her kids in the copy. i.e. kids, them, little ones

Examples:
For Women
”Our best can’t miss”
”Sunny new styles for summer”

For Kids/Toddlers
”Study up. Get them the best in class.”
”Top Picks for your little ones”