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Interbrand Voices Carry

Louisa Evans
Louisa Evans

The document discusses brand voice and provides six rules for developing an effective brand voice: 1. A brand voice fundamentally defines a brand by expressing its values and delivering consistent messaging. 2. An effective brand voice has range and adapts to different scenarios while maintaining consistency. 3. Brand voice encompasses more than just word choice by influencing syntax, structure, semantics and style of communication. 4. Brand voice creates a dialogue and allows a brand to authentically listen and respond to build connections. 5. Developing a clear brand voice helps ensure internal and external consistency in representing the brand. 6. To remain relevant, a brand voice must evolve over time through review, feedback

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Voices Carry: Brand voice basics Creating and managing brand value TM
Interbrand | Pg. 1 Voices Carry: Brand voice basics by Melinda Flores What is brand voice and why does it matter? Six rules of brand voice Marketers and branding professionals have long spoken of a brands tone of voice. Its a phrase we all think we understand, but it lacks clarity: We cant say for sure what a brands tone of 1. Your brand voice fundamentally voice consists of, but we know it when we see (or hear) it. defines your brand Where the definition trails off is where we pick up the trail, by keeping in mind that great Its an expression of the values that brands are like people. They have personalities that remain steadfast in certain crucial ways shape your organizationit best without being inflexible or rigidand brand voice is a more specific and useful way to convey a brands personality and tell its story. Brand voice is similar to tone of voice, only modulated. delivers the messages youre trying Think of it as a customized verbal strategy that guides and defines the way an organization to send and shapes the perception communicates its particular point of view. of your brand not only through what Consider a musical analogy. Tone of voice is like the key youre playing inG major, you say but how you say it. for instance. But thats where the guidance ends. You could be playing slow reggae, speed-addled punk, an exalted symphony or a childrens ditty. Your lyrics might be about 2. Brand voice, like a singing or anything or nothing. And you can still be in G major. Tone of voice, similarly, offers little concrete guidance beyond a very general consistency. speaking voice, has a range Your brand voice should span several Brand voice, on the other hand, is more like a complete score from which you and your team can play, a full-on arrangement of the song that is your brand. Done right, it has room registers, from whisper to shout. built in for improvisation. And in addition to making sure were all singing from the same Consistency is not the same as songbook, brand voice is meant to make sure the song were singing is the right one for sameness, and in order to remain our brand one that appeals to all our audiences and one theyre not going to get sick of consistently compelling, brand voice hearing anytime soon. must adapt to different scenarios Think of it this way: brand voice is a strategic tool to help everyone in your organization tell mood, medium, and audienceto the story of your brand in a consistently compelling way. say the right words the right way at But why does brand voice matter? Why do brands require a specific and useful way to tell the right time. a brands story? First, people currently interact with your brand in more venues and touchpoints than 3. Brand voice is more than ever before. Second, more people are finding ways to speak back to your brand, and about your brand, through social media channels and other forums driven by the imperative of word choice transparency. Finally, more brands are clamoring more loudly for the eyeballs, ears and Its about syntax, structure, consumer dollars of your potential audience. In short, its loud out there. semantics, style. Its about sending your messages in the most clear and Crafting a strategic and ownable brand voice efficient way by evoking a style that In todays noisy marketplace, a strategic and ownable brand voice ensures that your brand matches what youre trying to say. is clearly heard, quickly recognized and easily remembered, through the din and above the Thats why your brand voice works clamor. Often that means employing voice tactics that go against the common wisdom of best with messaging as a complete your competitive space. communications toolkit. For example, what other salad dressing lays claim to zest and zing the way Miracle Whip does? We are Miracle Whip, the brand asserts. And we will not tone it down. Miracle Whips brand voice has the same tangy zip as the product, and works extra hard to send its message of differentiation: We will not be quiet, try to blend in, disappear in the background, play second fiddle. When were in a sandwich, a salad, a panini or crostini, youll know it.
Voices Carry: Brand voice basics Interbrand | Pg. 2 Sometimes, though, differentiation can only be achieved by owning the clamoras in the 4. Brand voice creates a dialogue case of new efforts by the U.S. Army to shift traditional marketing broad reach dollars into Communication requires a response, social media. When asked about its strategy to have soldiers blog truthfully and sometimes and your brand voice brings value to negatively about their experience, Army CMO Bruce Jasurda, said: For us, its been key that there is authenticity, that we are being totally honest We are the ultimate considered that dialogue. It means youre able purchase: you buy this product, you could lose your life. Every organization could use a to listen and respond in a way that dose of the profound self-knowledge Jasurda advocates for the Armys verbal approach. brings your brand strategy to life. The onus is on us, he added, to talk about it in a no-BS way. Like a distinct visual design that cuts through the chaos, a differentiated brand voice 5. Brand voice is key to internal establishes the unique personality of your brand and builds deep emotional connections with brand engagement your employees, shareholders and customers alike. Internal brand engagement means everyones on the same page, which Brand voice = strategic storytelling is easy to do when youre all speaking What your customers are saying, if you can listen through the din, comes down to this: in one voice with one shared point Tell me a story. Your story. of view. Your brand voice helps you And a story well told is really a strategy. Its a strategy for deploying words to create an effect. deliver on your brand promise from Good brands make an impact when they speak. A really good story can change peoples the inside out. lives, and if enough people hear it, that story can change the world. Meaning your brand can change the world, in part, by telling a great story. 6. A strong brand voice will Take Ally Bank. Formed immediately after the depths of the banking crisis, Allys voice was evolve over time built on three principles: Talk straight. Do right. Be obviously better. That story has served to differentiate Ally from its competitors in a largely tainted industry. Ally explains on the landing Maintaining the consistency of your page of its website that Being upfront means having nothing to hide. In its space, as with brand voice across the organization the U.S. Army, people these days are demanding transparency and honestyand those verbal requires review, feedback and assets are precisely what make Ally Bank an institution of choice. discussion: whats working and what How to sustain that kind of impact? Brand voice should be flexible enough to cross mediums, isnt? By taking a descriptivist view, moods and audiences while remaining relevant at every touchpoint. For example, the and stopping to re-evaluate your earnestness you find on the Zappos website extends to all its touchpoints, including Facebook and Twitter. It is even evident in the more functional emails Zappos sends customers about verbal strategy from time to time, shipping: Weve enclosed some tracking information, so you can follow your order from youll strengthen your linguistic Zappos Fulfillment Centers to its final destination! Its almost like being a superspy! By approach across the board. making sure that committed voice is present everywhere you encounter the brand, Zappos keeps customers excited about shopping with them. Your brand voice also needs to be accessible: clear to all who hear it and easy for anyone in your organization to use. As Gareth Hornberger, the Levis guy, tweeted, @samplusr Im a fan of the 511s and the Matchsticks... what about you? PS - I think Ive been wearing the same pair of Levis for 8 months. Its exactly the kind of conversational and down-to-earth voice youd expect from a brand that has recently rediscovered its roots and its devotion to working people. Finally, when people say, Tell me a story, the subtext is, simply, Inspire me. Thats why your brand voice must be inspirational and exciting. Your language should drive behavior in the marketplace among customers. AT&Ts Rethink Possible campaign, centered around imaginative graphics and playful imagery, comes to life on its website through words like Explore. Play. Discover. Even touchpoints one might consider mundane are infused with the brand voice. When you go to make a payment with AT&T, youre greeted with the idea of endless possibility: You choose. Pay your bill using a checking or savings account, a credit or debit card, or in some cases, an AT&T gift card. At every step, AT&T is working to bring its brand to life for consumers, because that keeps consumers coming back.
Voices Carry: Brand voice basics Interbrand | Pg.3 Just as your language should inspire customers, it should also inspire your employees to embody the values and attributes of your brand. Brand voice can play a vital role in attracting and retaining your people. They in turn will be your greatest brand ambassadors. As Google explains on its Careers page, Google is not a conventional company, and we dont intend to become one. True, we share attributes with the worlds most successful organizations a focus on innovation and smart business practices comes to mind but even as we continue to grow, were committed to retaining a small-company feel. This is the simple, straightforward language weve come to expect from Google, and it serves perfectly to rally both internal and external audiences behind the brand. How does it work? Interbrand believes there are three phases to building a brand voice: 1. Establishing your brands personality Understanding the larger strategy of your brandwho you are, what you stand for and where youre going. 2. Developing your brand voice Identifying communication tactics around viewpoint, structure, syntax and semantics, and mapping them to the brand personality. 3. Socializing your brand voice Training internal teams on the brand voice and how to use it; providing additional as-needed verbal consultation on writing projects. In addition, there are six rules of brand voice that shape our approach (see sidebar). In the end, you will be judged on what you put out there. The way you speakhow you tell your storyis a key to making sure people are listening to what you have to say.
Melinda Flores Melinda Flores is Senior Creative Writer in the Verbal Identity Department at Interbrand New York. She is responsible for developing brand voice and messaging for a number of clients, as well as developing workshops to train writers and other brand ambassadors on how to use these verbal identity systems. Melindas ten years of writing experienceas a journalist, copywriter and even poet empower her to recommend new and creative ways for clients to differentiate themselves in the marketplace through what they say and how they say it. Paola Norambuena Senior Director, Head of Verbal Identity T: 212-798-7590 Paola.norambuena@interbrand.com Creating and managing interbrand.com brand value TM

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Interbrand Voices Carry

  • 1. Voices Carry: Brand voice basics Creating and managing brand value TM
  • 2. Interbrand | Pg. 1 Voices Carry: Brand voice basics by Melinda Flores What is brand voice and why does it matter? Six rules of brand voice Marketers and branding professionals have long spoken of a brands tone of voice. Its a phrase we all think we understand, but it lacks clarity: We cant say for sure what a brands tone of 1. Your brand voice fundamentally voice consists of, but we know it when we see (or hear) it. defines your brand Where the definition trails off is where we pick up the trail, by keeping in mind that great Its an expression of the values that brands are like people. They have personalities that remain steadfast in certain crucial ways shape your organizationit best without being inflexible or rigidand brand voice is a more specific and useful way to convey a brands personality and tell its story. Brand voice is similar to tone of voice, only modulated. delivers the messages youre trying Think of it as a customized verbal strategy that guides and defines the way an organization to send and shapes the perception communicates its particular point of view. of your brand not only through what Consider a musical analogy. Tone of voice is like the key youre playing inG major, you say but how you say it. for instance. But thats where the guidance ends. You could be playing slow reggae, speed-addled punk, an exalted symphony or a childrens ditty. Your lyrics might be about 2. Brand voice, like a singing or anything or nothing. And you can still be in G major. Tone of voice, similarly, offers little concrete guidance beyond a very general consistency. speaking voice, has a range Your brand voice should span several Brand voice, on the other hand, is more like a complete score from which you and your team can play, a full-on arrangement of the song that is your brand. Done right, it has room registers, from whisper to shout. built in for improvisation. And in addition to making sure were all singing from the same Consistency is not the same as songbook, brand voice is meant to make sure the song were singing is the right one for sameness, and in order to remain our brand one that appeals to all our audiences and one theyre not going to get sick of consistently compelling, brand voice hearing anytime soon. must adapt to different scenarios Think of it this way: brand voice is a strategic tool to help everyone in your organization tell mood, medium, and audienceto the story of your brand in a consistently compelling way. say the right words the right way at But why does brand voice matter? Why do brands require a specific and useful way to tell the right time. a brands story? First, people currently interact with your brand in more venues and touchpoints than 3. Brand voice is more than ever before. Second, more people are finding ways to speak back to your brand, and about your brand, through social media channels and other forums driven by the imperative of word choice transparency. Finally, more brands are clamoring more loudly for the eyeballs, ears and Its about syntax, structure, consumer dollars of your potential audience. In short, its loud out there. semantics, style. Its about sending your messages in the most clear and Crafting a strategic and ownable brand voice efficient way by evoking a style that In todays noisy marketplace, a strategic and ownable brand voice ensures that your brand matches what youre trying to say. is clearly heard, quickly recognized and easily remembered, through the din and above the Thats why your brand voice works clamor. Often that means employing voice tactics that go against the common wisdom of best with messaging as a complete your competitive space. communications toolkit. For example, what other salad dressing lays claim to zest and zing the way Miracle Whip does? We are Miracle Whip, the brand asserts. And we will not tone it down. Miracle Whips brand voice has the same tangy zip as the product, and works extra hard to send its message of differentiation: We will not be quiet, try to blend in, disappear in the background, play second fiddle. When were in a sandwich, a salad, a panini or crostini, youll know it.
  • 3. Voices Carry: Brand voice basics Interbrand | Pg. 2 Sometimes, though, differentiation can only be achieved by owning the clamoras in the 4. Brand voice creates a dialogue case of new efforts by the U.S. Army to shift traditional marketing broad reach dollars into Communication requires a response, social media. When asked about its strategy to have soldiers blog truthfully and sometimes and your brand voice brings value to negatively about their experience, Army CMO Bruce Jasurda, said: For us, its been key that there is authenticity, that we are being totally honest We are the ultimate considered that dialogue. It means youre able purchase: you buy this product, you could lose your life. Every organization could use a to listen and respond in a way that dose of the profound self-knowledge Jasurda advocates for the Armys verbal approach. brings your brand strategy to life. The onus is on us, he added, to talk about it in a no-BS way. Like a distinct visual design that cuts through the chaos, a differentiated brand voice 5. Brand voice is key to internal establishes the unique personality of your brand and builds deep emotional connections with brand engagement your employees, shareholders and customers alike. Internal brand engagement means everyones on the same page, which Brand voice = strategic storytelling is easy to do when youre all speaking What your customers are saying, if you can listen through the din, comes down to this: in one voice with one shared point Tell me a story. Your story. of view. Your brand voice helps you And a story well told is really a strategy. Its a strategy for deploying words to create an effect. deliver on your brand promise from Good brands make an impact when they speak. A really good story can change peoples the inside out. lives, and if enough people hear it, that story can change the world. Meaning your brand can change the world, in part, by telling a great story. 6. A strong brand voice will Take Ally Bank. Formed immediately after the depths of the banking crisis, Allys voice was evolve over time built on three principles: Talk straight. Do right. Be obviously better. That story has served to differentiate Ally from its competitors in a largely tainted industry. Ally explains on the landing Maintaining the consistency of your page of its website that Being upfront means having nothing to hide. In its space, as with brand voice across the organization the U.S. Army, people these days are demanding transparency and honestyand those verbal requires review, feedback and assets are precisely what make Ally Bank an institution of choice. discussion: whats working and what How to sustain that kind of impact? Brand voice should be flexible enough to cross mediums, isnt? By taking a descriptivist view, moods and audiences while remaining relevant at every touchpoint. For example, the and stopping to re-evaluate your earnestness you find on the Zappos website extends to all its touchpoints, including Facebook and Twitter. It is even evident in the more functional emails Zappos sends customers about verbal strategy from time to time, shipping: Weve enclosed some tracking information, so you can follow your order from youll strengthen your linguistic Zappos Fulfillment Centers to its final destination! Its almost like being a superspy! By approach across the board. making sure that committed voice is present everywhere you encounter the brand, Zappos keeps customers excited about shopping with them. Your brand voice also needs to be accessible: clear to all who hear it and easy for anyone in your organization to use. As Gareth Hornberger, the Levis guy, tweeted, @samplusr Im a fan of the 511s and the Matchsticks... what about you? PS - I think Ive been wearing the same pair of Levis for 8 months. Its exactly the kind of conversational and down-to-earth voice youd expect from a brand that has recently rediscovered its roots and its devotion to working people. Finally, when people say, Tell me a story, the subtext is, simply, Inspire me. Thats why your brand voice must be inspirational and exciting. Your language should drive behavior in the marketplace among customers. AT&Ts Rethink Possible campaign, centered around imaginative graphics and playful imagery, comes to life on its website through words like Explore. Play. Discover. Even touchpoints one might consider mundane are infused with the brand voice. When you go to make a payment with AT&T, youre greeted with the idea of endless possibility: You choose. Pay your bill using a checking or savings account, a credit or debit card, or in some cases, an AT&T gift card. At every step, AT&T is working to bring its brand to life for consumers, because that keeps consumers coming back.
  • 4. Voices Carry: Brand voice basics Interbrand | Pg.3 Just as your language should inspire customers, it should also inspire your employees to embody the values and attributes of your brand. Brand voice can play a vital role in attracting and retaining your people. They in turn will be your greatest brand ambassadors. As Google explains on its Careers page, Google is not a conventional company, and we dont intend to become one. True, we share attributes with the worlds most successful organizations a focus on innovation and smart business practices comes to mind but even as we continue to grow, were committed to retaining a small-company feel. This is the simple, straightforward language weve come to expect from Google, and it serves perfectly to rally both internal and external audiences behind the brand. How does it work? Interbrand believes there are three phases to building a brand voice: 1. Establishing your brands personality Understanding the larger strategy of your brandwho you are, what you stand for and where youre going. 2. Developing your brand voice Identifying communication tactics around viewpoint, structure, syntax and semantics, and mapping them to the brand personality. 3. Socializing your brand voice Training internal teams on the brand voice and how to use it; providing additional as-needed verbal consultation on writing projects. In addition, there are six rules of brand voice that shape our approach (see sidebar). In the end, you will be judged on what you put out there. The way you speakhow you tell your storyis a key to making sure people are listening to what you have to say.
  • 5. Melinda Flores Melinda Flores is Senior Creative Writer in the Verbal Identity Department at Interbrand New York. She is responsible for developing brand voice and messaging for a number of clients, as well as developing workshops to train writers and other brand ambassadors on how to use these verbal identity systems. Melindas ten years of writing experienceas a journalist, copywriter and even poet empower her to recommend new and creative ways for clients to differentiate themselves in the marketplace through what they say and how they say it. Paola Norambuena Senior Director, Head of Verbal Identity T: 212-798-7590 Paola.norambuena@interbrand.com Creating and managing interbrand.com brand value TM