Clare Austen-Smith 3/17/25 Clare Austen-Smith 3/17/25

Downgrade Now

“Downgrade Now” is the new hero campaign runing 2024-present for Back Market. The ethos of the campaign is simple — for 99% of the stuff you do on your tech, you don’t need to buy new. Texting, scrolling, calling, voice-noting, IG stalking, like-ing, hate-watching. Back Market’s Verified Refurbished tech does all the same stuff, for way less money and impact. I lead our global team of in-house copywriters to execute on the concept, as well as executed copy acrosss both the US and UK market.

Clare Austen-Smith 12/11/23 Clare Austen-Smith 12/11/23

Back Market - Let Them Buy New

We know that we can cut the planet a break and still get the tech we need. So why shouldn’t we be proud of it? The Let Them Buy New campaign focused on a joyful approach to promoting refurbished tech, while gently pointing out the flaws of new to skeptics. This campaign was a fun, gentle way to poke new holes in the idea of “new” without dunking on new tech that Back Market would inevitably end up selling.

Copywriting was done in collaboration with myself, fellow Back Market brand copywriter Adam Pasulka, our ECD Dan Brill, and the creative agency GUS.

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Clare Austen-Smith 12/11/23 Clare Austen-Smith 12/11/23

Back Market - Project R

To take advantage of the hype surrounding the annual Apple Keynote, Back Market launched Verified Refurbished. Internally, the project was named “Project R.”

Focused on highlighting that Back Market sells refurbished you can trust — both in its impact and quality — the landing page was the endpoint in the user flow from all out-of-home, CRM, and social marketing.

The copy was written by myself, and the design was brought to life with Rocani Studios and Back Market’s in-house team. The animation looks way better than these screenshots, so I encourage you to watch the video below or visit the live website, here.

Clare Austen-Smith 7/11/23 Clare Austen-Smith 7/11/23

UX Copywriting

Case Study: Revamping the Refer-a-Flow

The refer-a-friend program is a powerful tool for building an emotional relationship with the customer. In response to UX research that showed that most users purchased on the app but used the refer-a-friend program on the web. To improve user experience, the refer a friend user flow was reworked to be more personalized, easy to use, and in keeping with CM

The objective was to keep users in the app, where most are accessing the refer-a-friend program (as a web view). The goal was to improve the user experience, allowing the CRM team to run more campaigns, and pave the way for personalization.

Case study: Onboarding Flow
In order to update the Back Market app for the US user experience, we decided to create a personalized onboarding flow. Before the new onboarding flow was created, users would open the app and land directly on the home screen, with the only element of personalization being their name and a slew of devices that were recommended for them based on past purchases.

In the new user flow, users are able to share identifying information, select the products they’d like to see and learn why Back Market isn’t just about buying tech — it’s about sustainability, too.

Implementing this onboarding flow resulted in the opt-in rate 6.4% higher than compared to control tests without the onboarding flow, resulting in a live implementation, globally.

Case Study: Sustainability Data
In order to strengthen the mental link between buying refurbished tech and lowering our impact on the planet, these educational modals were developed for product landing pages. Working with our sustainability, product, and legal team, I created copy for the following blocks to provide an informative and entertaining entry point into understanding the link between refurbished and the planet.

Clare Austen-Smith 7/11/23 Clare Austen-Smith 7/11/23

CRM Copywriting

As the Lifecycle and Ad Hoc email marketing copywriter, I wrote 5-10 emails a month for our global markets, integrating pop culture moments while staying true to the Back Market TOV. As a result, the GMV contribution of CRM reached it’s highest level in a year, and ad hoc contribution to web sessions and GMV more than doubled in a year. Below, find some of my favorite emails, app notifications, and content blocs.