POKER Q'z's new tagline: "Get Stronger, Know Why."
So how exactly was this phrase born?
This time, we spoke with Yoshiaki Nagatake, the person who came up with the tagline.
Alongside his work as an active copywriter at an advertising agency, Nagatake also plays poker under the name “Senjyu”.
We asked him what the job of a copywriter actually involves, and about the thinking behind the creation of the POKER Q'z tagline.
A copywriter isn't a “clever wordsmith.”
— First of all, what exactly is the role of a copywriter?
Yoshiaki Nagatake (hereafter, Senjyu):
When people hear "copywriter," many assume it means someone who comes up with witty turns of phrase—a "clever wordsmith." But the essence of our work is solving problems with words.
Companies, products, and services are always facing all kinds of challenges: "no one knows we exist," "we used to be popular but have faded recently," "we've been stuck with a negative image," and so on. A copywriter's job is to guide people toward solutions through language that sticks in the ear and resonates in the heart.
Saying what no one thinks of, in words everyone knows.
— When choosing words in copywriting, is there anything you're conscious of?
Senjyu:
Copy is language that reaches a very wide audience, so it's important to "create new meaning with words that are as plain as possible." I don't use jargon or difficult terms that only some people would understand. In English-language copywriting there's a phrase called "T-shirt English"—the ideal is to choose simple words, the kind you'd see printed on a T-shirt, that make sense to anyone regardless of background.
— Is there a trick to moving people while using simple language?
Senjyu:
Avoid hackneyed phrasing as much as possible. And stay conscious of the way you see things that only you can offer.
That said, if your angle is too idiosyncratic, it won't reach anyone. The key is to find that delicate line of resonance—the kind that makes people think "Now that you mention it, that's exactly right!" and slap their knees.
For example, suppose the prompt is, "What do you associate with 'red'?" "Strawberries," "tomatoes," and "mailboxes" are obvious to everyone, but too predictable to surprise. On the other hand, "sofa" or "blog" is too open-ended to land.
But if someone says "thread," you think, "Ah, the red thread of fate!" And if someone says "Hidekazu," you think, "Oh, that other Aka(i)!"—because "akai" means "red" in Japanese and also sounds like the surname Akai.
You understand it the moment it's said, but you'd rarely think of it yourself. I believe this way of searching for that razor-thin edge is the first step to creating great copy.
— Listening to you, copywriting sounds close to the world of poetry and tanka.
Senjyu:
Exactly. In the sense of fresh, vivid language, there's a lot to learn from poetry and tanka. I especially love tanka—I often discover new perspectives, like "so that's how this phenomenon can be seen," and I feel that carries over into copywriting as well.
A tagline is “the strongest reason to want it.”
— First, what exactly is a "tagline"?
Senjyu:
Generally, it's described as "words that define value." On top of that, I think of it as "the strongest reason a user would want it."
When creating a tagline, it's easy to fall into the communicator's perspective: "Our product is amazing!" But what users really want to know is what it means to them. That's why you need to shift the subject from the company to the user and pull the trigger of desire—showing "how this will solve my problem once I have it."
— Then, let's hear about the process behind the POKER Q'z tagline, "Get Stronger, Know Why."
Senjyu:
An interview with Masaki, the CEO of CLOViZ, the company that developed the app, was a major clue.
The challenge that surfaced in our conversation was that "existing tools like GTO solvers are so difficult that they've raised the barrier to learning poker." So I set the solver as a "virtual opponent" and made "What can only POKER Q'z do?" the starting point of my thinking.
The biggest difference is that a solver only tells you the "answer as a result," whereas POKER Q'z teaches you the theory and reasoning behind "why that is the answer." In other words, we defined the app's greatest value as "knowing the reason."
— I see. So "know why" came from there.
Senjyu:
Yes. Next, I asked, "Know why—why what?" The straightforward answer would be "the reason for the action," but that alone is too weak a trigger to make someone want to download the app.
We needed to show where users end up by using POKER Q'z—their goal. The goal is, of course, to get better at poker, but I thought "get stronger" would stir a player's heart more than "get better."
— Truly a phrase derived from both logic and emotion.
Senjyu:
Thank you. As I continued talking with Masaki, I also felt that we wanted to avoid the app taking on a stiff, "study app" character. So from the start, I had decided that words like "learn" and "study" would be off-limits.
Comma or period?
— Finally, could you tell us about the finer details of the wording? Did you also care about punctuation and the use of hiragana?
Senjyu:
Yes, we kept refining it right up to the end.
Should it be cut with a period—"Get Stronger. Know Why."—or joined with a comma—"Get Stronger, Know Why."?
Cutting it with a period puts two declarative phrases side by side, giving a concise, forceful impression. But when I thought more deeply about the meaning, "getting stronger" and "knowing why" aren't things to be separated. "It's because you know why that you get stronger." Since these aren't separate phenomena, we concluded that linking them with a comma was the best choice.
— Is it also intentional that "わかる" is written in hiragana rather than kanji?
Senjyu:
Yes. In the copywriting world, converting kanji into hiragana is called "hiraku" (opening up). I first tried writing it as "強くなる、理由が分かる。" with kanji, but I felt that opening it up made it visually less heavy and let it slip more smoothly into the user's heart. It's an important finishing touch that shapes the final impression.
— I think it's a truly lovely tagline, with meaning woven into every detail.
Senjyu:
I'm glad you think so. I hope this phrase encourages many players to download POKER Q'z!
— Thank you for sharing such a valuable conversation today!