I’m a freelance copywriter and here’s why I don’t shrink big ideas to fit quiet labels

The right words are weapons of mass consumption. Here's why...

I was searching for a new pair of running shoes the other day and found these super nice ones on the Saucony website.

I was interested in the 'regular' version but was intrigued by the 'hi octane' ones too.

Now I'll be honest, I've been a copywriter for 19 years and I've run 32 marathons. I know a lot of words, and I know a lot about running. But even I had to Google what 'hi octane' running shoes were.

It turns out it's just a vivid colorway of the original version, just brighter, louder and more of a start-line peacock. I was listening to a podcast about this the other day, from the founder of Soar Running and was nodding along about the psychological advantage of wearing energetic colours to look fast and feel faster.

I definitely buy into the transformative power of colour theory and couldn't agree with him more. But this long shoe name got me thinking, and brought me back to the power of words alone and the power of words together.

The jazzy version of this shoe is called 'Saucony Endorphin Azura Hi Octane'. Quite a mouthful!

Go through any modern-day strategy deck and every copywriter in 2026 will tell you that's simply too many words. Adding more words often strips impact, confuses the consumer and lacks confidence in the original idea.

But in this case I wasn't confused, I was intrigued.

Not only had I Googled 'hi octane', I'd fallen for this kaleidoscopic iguana of a shoe and had already visualised them on my feet for my next road race. (And placed them in my online cart)

Sometimes a product or a service deserves that 5 word title. Sometimes a sub-brand is so electric that it demands a little homework. It takes up space, owns the category and says hey you know what? I'm NOT like the rest and here's why.

The takeaway here? Don't shrink a big idea to fit a quiet label.