{"_meta":{"name":"CHUUG Brand Principles","version":"1.0","updated":"2026-06-27T22:04:53.970Z","endpoint":"https://chuug-brand.bigthing.com/api/public/brand","description":"Live brand guidelines for CHUUG - use this data to ensure all copy and creative aligns with brand voice and positioning."},"identity":{"brand_name":"CHUUG","tagline_primary":"Built to be yours.","tagline_secondary":"Not everyone's tankard.","tagline_edge":"For men who actually use what they own.","transformation_statement":"CHUUG is the daily-use object that becomes his - personalised with his initial, made three times over to get right, used for a decade.","brand_vibe":"Workshop + pub, NOT luxury showroom","positioning":"Premium male gifting with identity","secondary_tagline_built_for_ritual":"Built for Ritual."},"product":{"product_type":"660ml wood-insulated beer/drink mug with rope handle","colourways":"Dawn, Dusk (bestseller), Midnight","rope_handles":"Natural or Charcoal","personalisation":"Cast metal letters","price_singles":"£54-60","aov":"£115","manufacturing":"Handcrafted"},"stats":{"total_sold":"60,335+ orders shipped","market_uk":"41%","market_usa":"36%","market_canada":"14%","market_australia":"8%","hq_location":"Caerphilly, Wales","launch_date":"July 2023","units_in_world":"100,000+ CHUUGs in the world"},"voice":["Confident, not arrogant","Dry British humour","Playful with slight edge","Never apologetic about price","Speak like a mate, not a brand","If it sounds like marketing, rewrite it","Assume intelligence - don't over-explain","Let the product speak through use, not hype","Reflect the customer's identity tribe back at them — name it (sailor / BBQ / RenFest / craft beer / coffee guy / wedding lads / viking-type).","When in doubt, lead with the customer's verbatim phrase, not yours ('work of art', 'go-to vessel', 'hard to buy for').","Discount language NEVER appears in the same paragraph as masterpiece language.","Founder shows up by name. Use 'Mike, CHUUG' as a sign-off where authentic.","Premium positioning is achieved through tone, confidence and clarity — never through luxury descriptors. Direct / Witty / Masculine / Confident / Product-led / Slightly playful.","Three voice registers (Mate-banter / Thoughtful-Buyer reassurance / Ritual-Man dry-craftsman) are recommended pairings, not a hard prohibition. Vocabulary discipline by surface: mug = cold acquisition / paid social / gift-guides; tankard = PDP / About / Ritual-Man / heritage; (your) Chuug = post-purchase / community; vessel = Ritual-Man only; drinkware = never. The test is whether the line sounds like a real personality, not standard ecommerce."],"headlines":{"hero_primary":"Finally. A Gift He'll Actually Use.","hero_subhead":"Personalised with his initial. Made three times. Built to become his thing.","hero_self_buyer":"Built To Be Yours.","hero_edge":"Not Everyone's Tankard.","how_it_works":"Choose. Personalise. Own.","social_proof":"60,335+ Men Already Sorted","gift_guide":"Hard to Buy For? Not Anymore.","personalisation":"Your Initial. Marked Into the Coin.","headline_built_for_ritual":"Built for Ritual. Made for him.","iteration_story":"Made three times. Made better.","mate_pair":"Buy two. Drink one. Pass one to him.","mug_dad_2036":"The mug your dad will still be using in 2036.","mug_decade_shelf":"Most mugs last a year. This one's still on the shelf in a decade.","personalisation_takerate":"3 in 4 men add their initial. Because it's the bit that makes it his.","ritual_man":"Men own work boots, watches, knives. Most never own their mug.","trust":"4.6★ on Trustpilot. 60,335+ orders shipped. Hand-built. Skeptical? So were they."},"one_liners":{"gift_giver":"He has everything. He doesn't have his CHUUG. A tankard personalised with his initial - for the husband who's a viking type, the dad who's hard to buy for, the partner who buys what he wants himself.","self_buyer":"Men own work boots, watches, knives. Most never own their mug. Made three times. Marked with your initial. Used for a decade.","universal":"You know what your mates would actually use. A real tankard, personalised with his initial. Buy two - keep one, hand one over."},"phrases_to_use":["Built to be yours","Your way of drinking","His thing / Their thing","Daily ritual","Real object","Handcrafted","Hard to buy for","Something that's actually his","Proper weight to it","Cast metal letters","100,000+ CHUUGs sold","Not everyone's tankard","Own your ritual","Finally, a gift he'll actually use","Work of art","Made three times to get it right","We answer our own emails","Tankard","No two are identical - the wood decides.","Personalised with his initial","Buy two, drink one, pass one to him","3 in 4 add their initial"],"phrases_to_avoid":["Viking","Valhalla","Berserker","Raid","Medieval","Warrior","Novelty","Gimmick","Fun gift","Quirky","Unique","Hand-made","Perfect gift","He'll love it!","Premium quality","Thousands of happy customers","Luxury","Exclusive","Limited edition","Stag do","Drinkware","Premium beer mug","UP TO X% OFF in hero / above-the-fold","Viking Gebo rune / Norse-rune-inspired coin","Cast in metal (in front-of-funnel headlines/heroes/CTAs only — fine in About/methodology)","Initials (plural — single letter only)","Their thing / his thing as a closing line","Built in Caerphilly"],"pain_points":["He has everything / he just buys what he wants himself.","Last year's gift ended up in a drawer.","I've been burned by social-media ads before.","I don't have anything that's really mine","Everything I drink from is interchangeable","Will it actually arrive in time for his birthday / Christmas?","He opens it and politely smiles.","The personalisation lands cheap up close.","Bought one — should've bought two."],"customer_avatars":{"the_mate":{"demographics":"Male, Age 25-45","revenue_share":"54%","purchase_type":"Self + Gifts","description":"Guy buying multiple CHUUGs - one for himself, extras for his mates. Birthdays, retirements, best man gifts, or just because. Knows what blokes actually want because he is one.","buying_motivation":"A proper gift for a mate - something he'd actually want himself. Not generic, not embarrassing, not destined for a drawer. \"If I'd want one, he'll want one.\"","name":"The Mate"},"ritual_man":{"demographics":"Male, Age 28-55","revenue_share":"18%","purchase_type":"Self","description":"Men who like things that feel theirs - BBQ dad, tradesman, gym-goer who appreciates things done properly. Buys one CHUUG for himself as a treat or identity purchase.","buying_motivation":"Permission to have \"his thing.\" A marker of identity. Something that says \"this is mine.\" Not solving \"I need something to drink from\" - solving \"I want something that feels mine.\"","name":"The Ritual-Driven Man"},"thoughtful_buyer":{"demographics":"Female, Age 30-60","revenue_share":"27%","purchase_type":"Gift","description":"Wife, girlfriend, mother, daughter - faced with buying for a man who \"has everything\" or \"wants nothing.\" Tired of giving forgettable gifts that end up in a drawer.","buying_motivation":"Validation that she understands him. A gift that shows she put thought into it. The relief of solving an impossible problem. Wants him to actually use it.","name":"The Thoughtful Buyer"}},"ctas":{"direct_1":"Shop CHUUGs","direct_2":"Get Yours","direct_3":"Build Your CHUUG","transitional_1":"See Why 60,335+ Customers Chose CHUUG","transitional_2":"Watch the Story","transitional_3":"How Personalisation Works","direct_4":"Get Two","transitional_4":"Find the One That Fits Him"},"guidelines":{"ultimate_test":"If it feels like it could sell a stag-do prop, kill it.","photo_rule":"Use REAL product photos where possible, NOT all AI-generated. Avoid over-saturation — customers have flagged that web colours don't match what arrives.","caption_rule":"Captions must match the specific image content","viking_rule":"Kill anything that feels like a stag-do prop. Banned in our own narrative: Viking, Valhalla, berserker, Thor, Odin, mead-hall, warrior, conquest. EXCEPTION: if a real customer says one of these in a genuine, attributed, verbatim quote (e.g. a Trustpilot review), it stays. Customer voice is evidence; brand voice is narrative. The test: would I be embarrassed to show this attribution next to the quote in court? If yes, fictional. If no, real — keep it.","customer_voice_exception":"Customer voice is evidence, brand voice is narrative. Verbatim, attributed customer quotes get the same banned-word exemption Helen Gregory and Emma Ockwell already get — including Viking/Thor/Valhalla territory. The test: is the attribution real, the quote unchanged, and the attribution traceable? If yes, the quote stays. We do not silently rewrite real customer language to suit our narrative.","heritage_voice_substitute":"What to say instead of manufacturing-location claims: 'Welsh-founded', 'Caerphilly HQ', 'Designed in Wales', 'Hand-finished in-house', 'Founder-led', 'Independent', '58,000+ men own one'. These are all true and on-brand. Use freely on website, ads, packaging, About page, founder-led content.","manufacturing_location_ban":"NEVER claim manufacturing location. CHUUG is no longer manufactured in the UK / Wales / Britain — it is manufactured overseas and finished/personalised in Caerphilly. Banned phrases (case-insensitive, all surfaces): 'Made in Wales', 'Made in Britain', 'Made in the UK', 'Welsh-made', 'British-made', 'Handmade in Wales', 'Built in Britain', 'Built in Wales', 'Built in the UK', 'Built in Caerphilly', '#madeinwales', '#madeinbritain', '#welshmade', '#britishmade'. Use 'Finished in Caerphilly' or 'Personalised in Caerphilly' when location matters. Banned in: ads, captions, hashtags, PDP copy, About page, packaging copy, product photography overlays, gift-card inserts. This is a legal-exposure rule, not a brand-voice rule.","process_voice_rule":"Hand-built / handcrafted = OK as process language (no location claim). Hand-made = avoid (Etsy connotation). Hand-finished = OK and accurate (final assembly + personalisation happens at Caerphilly HQ)."},"colours":{"cream_background":"rgb(223, 223, 216)","dark_teal":"rgb(13, 32, 38)","warm_amber":"rgb(238, 133, 23)","deep_red":"rgb(164, 50, 35)","button_teal":"rgb(96, 147, 163)","white":"rgb(255, 255, 255)","black":"rgb(0, 0, 0)"},"logos":{"primary_logo":"https://axqytwventrsvgtrxcwd.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/brand-assets/logos/chuug_logo_-large.png","standard_logo":"https://axqytwventrsvgtrxcwd.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/brand-assets/logos/chuug-logo.png","logo_with_tagline":"https://axqytwventrsvgtrxcwd.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/brand-assets/logos/chuug-logo-rope-handle-beer-tankard-words2.png","vector_logo":"https://axqytwventrsvgtrxcwd.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/brand-assets/logos/CHUUG%20Logo%20Vector%20Colour.eps"}}