C’est le ton qui fait la musique – the undeniable importance of the Brand Voice

“Tone” used to be relegated to a small paragraph near the end of company style guides. But over the last few years it has risen to more prominence, with more and more self-respecting enterprises sporting a separate booklet entitled “Brand tone of voice”. It’s become a must-have.

Many of them seem to be based on a template – which would explain why they are all rather similar. This strikes me as a little surprising. After all, tone of voice is one of the main elements for a  brand’s unique identity, and hence a main factor of differentiation. So how come all these Tone of voice manuals provide their writers with instructions that are almost identical? Mostly they are, can I say, somewhat pompous and rather generic and abstract.

There is no doubt: tone of voice is important, regardless of what it is you are trying to sell. First and foremost you are wanting to make an immediate (and a lasting) impression. And it can enhance customer experience – or turn people off. So how you word your error messages or your mailings, or the text on your packaging is critical. If you want recipients to be enchanted by every message you send them, you better think carefully whether you want to use language that’s “quirky”, “friendly”, “sober” or “edgy”. Only you know how your brand wishes to position itself. And what your customers like.

The brand voice must express the brand’s beliefs and values, and it should be easily understandable – and consistent. Above all, it must appeal to the audience it wishes to engage with. It’s all about creating that dialogue and addressing customers at the right level.

Just consider this message regarding cookies by Freitag, famous Swiss makers of the iconic Messenger bag (and many others).

“FREITAG cookies are small and easy to digest – so we’re making this notice big and bold. We use them for statistics, and to make our relationship with you as positive as possible. … By clicking OKAY, COOL, you’ll allow cookies for preferences, statistics and marketing.”

Rather nicer and more original than most, I would say, no? And I hasten to add that all the stories and content of their website are written in this quirky, let’s-not-take-ourselves-too-serious conversational tone. It radiates the brand’s original, sustainable approach. And they do it with all their messaging. Every time they say something it is carefully crafted – and recognizably conforms to their Voice.

That makes them really stand out and attract a huge community.

Another successful example of Brand voice in my opinion is Boden. A few weeks ago they sent me a mail: “Oh, hey, we’re so glad you’re here. Have a look around, and if anything takes your fancy, you can get 15% off your first order.” To be followed by an intro: “A bit more about us? We’re not about fast fashion and fads. We’re about making clothes that put a smile on your face, for a long, long time …” Kind of cheerful and consistent with their catalog (though perhaps their reminders come a bit too frequently for my taste.

Brand voice is not a one-way street. In order to truly reach its customers, the brand must listen to its community, to the way they talk about the  brand and their products or services, and share their experiences. Most notably perhaps, this can be seen with Games localization. This is one place where regular soundings are taken and where players comment on the language (and the translations!). Gamer’s comments will stretch to the quality of translation, perhaps not in detail, but even generic statements like “the gameplay and the graphics are incredible; sadly the translation appears to come straight out of Google …”, or similar, are very useful. In my experience, Games is the one sector where the fans deeply care, and are very sensitive about language tone and register – not just within the games. It seems to carry over into the way players want to be addressed in general communications, say announcements of events, competitions, etc., and how they identify with their favourite “brand”.

I do not believe that buyers of cat flaps, tea kettles or a piece of furniture care in the same way about how they are being addressed, though of course you will get complaints if the instructions for self-assembly do not make sense. Anyone wishing to open a bank account or wanting to use a payment provider will likely be sensitive to the way they are being talked to, and how the services are explained.

So back to the Brand Voice guidelines. The ones we occasionally get to see among the reference materials clients send us, typically characterize the desired writing tone by statements of this type:

Consistent, friendly and respectful language to provide confidence and trust

Copy is smart, distinctive and considerate

We write with clarity, empathy and approachability

We are plainspoken, we do not over-promise, but instead value simplicity

We are genuine: we relate to our customers and their problems and speak to them in a familiar, warm and accessible way

We write in a warm and friendly style

We are informal. We use the active voice whenever possible.

We avoid jargon and instead write in plain English

Easy to understand: facilitate understanding, keep sentences short and punchy, clear explanations

Fresh, original: Avoid tired clichés and hype, use fresh language, to arouse curiosity.

Do not use jargon or overly technical language, be inspiring, give guidance

Creative and clever: Boring copy is a recipe for disaster. Conversely, cheap laughs and everyday slang don’t reflect our premium positioning.

Our language is confident and conversational.

… …

It’s all done with the best intentions, of course, but the question is: How useful are these instructions in reality, how easy to put into practice? Can the writers (and even more so, the translators) really use these rules like a recipe to shape their writing? And is it measurable in some way, can you determine whether someone’s copy is really smart and distinctive, and empathic, and warm? And is it free of jargon? Is it inspiring? Is it creative rather than dull? Is it informative or waffle? Is it engaging? Do you keep a tab on these things?

If we distil out some of the adjectives we get: accessible, respectful, distinctive, empathic, friendly, assertive, confident, engaging, motivating, conversational, clear, straightforward, genuine, truthful, active rather than passive …

How many times have you, as a translator, wanted to tear out your hair, because what you were given as the source was exactly the things that had been declared as No-no’s: the copy was full of clichés, jargon, acronyms, overly long sentences, repetitive, too wordy, and talking down to the reader, and bland?

And if you are a company and have a Brand voice guide, when is the last time you checked your voice guide, or made sure all your writers are aware of it – and respect it? Have you discussed it with your in-country marketing people? Are they happy to subscribe to it? Perhaps they have some comments, ideas and suggestions how some of the rules should be implemented or modified, done away with, or replaced so as to fit country-specific requirements, and linguistic and cultural specificities?

If so, wow, great! Would you kindly make these available to us, your translators? If not, would you agree that it might be a good idea to get some input from your local stakeholders, that you can then share with us?

Should you not have a Brand voice manual, perhaps it is time to create one? In that case I would strongly recommend not just taking a template off the Internet shelf, but getting someone to do it who has not just excellent writing skills but who truly identifies with your brand’s unique personality – and can bring this out in words, and by providing examples (examples, good and bad, are key!). You want to be serious, or humorous, respectful or funky, enthusiastic or sober, trustworthy or quirky? Decide on phrases that define your brand philosophy and make sure this reverberates throughout your communications. Explicitly discard any phrases or concepts that jar with your brand personality.

Rather than instructing writers to be smart and considerate, tell them explicitly to use adjectives sparingly, not to overdo the use of superlatives and exclamation marks – and perhaps to reduce their text by 50 % before publishing it. Before every start of a season, or start of a campaign, or launch of a product, decide what the main messages are going to be, what points to focus on, and what emotions you wish to evoke, and how these translate into concrete words and phrases.

One last word of advice: A Brand voice manual is not a once-and-for-all document that is placed somewhere out of sight of everyone and forgotten about. It is a vital centrepiece that is dynamic and gets refreshed and updated ever so often. And one that needs to be shared with anyone who writes content for you – or translates it.