Dodging the brand voice bullshit
One of the best things about platforms like LinkedIn is that absolutely anyone can share their ideas.
And one of the worst things about platforms like LinkedIn is that absolutely anyone can share their ideas. Because some people really do talk a lot of shit.
So when it comes to unearthing your brand’s personality and developing the language that reflects it, here are five of the biggest steaming piles you absolutely need to ignore:
1. “People should be able to recognise your brand voice even when there’s no logo”
It's easy to get distracted by wanky marketing ninjas sharing endless screenshots from well-known brands with kooky ads and hilarious Twitter banter. To get caught up thinking your organisational voice has to be this epic, remarkable, shareable thing.
But here’s the truth: you don’t actually want people to notice your voice. You just want them to be getting on with liking you.
Because the goal of a strong voice isn’t to build fame, it’s to build a connection. And it does that by showing your audience who you are and what you do – acting like a window into your brand. Windows aren’t for looking at, they’re for looking through.
Your company’s tone might well be recognisable even when your logo’s not there. Great. Well done you. But that kind of distinctiveness should be a satisfying bonus, not your main aim.
2. “Your voice isn’t about you – it’s about your audience.”
In my former life as a copywriter, the mantra “It’s not about what your business wants to say, it’s about what your audience needs to hear” was one I spent a lot of time repeating to clients. And in terms of what you talk about (i.e. your messaging) that’s absolutely right. But when it comes to how your company speaks and the personality your words evoke (i.e. your voice) that’s pretty much all you, baby.
It’s not that you should completely ignore your audience when it comes to your tone. Understanding what kind of language they might use in relation to your product or service, or being aware of the level of their knowledge when it comes to sector-specific jargon, etc, is hugely valuable.
But don’t give your company’s audience too much sway. Don’t be so focused on understanding and reflecting their personalities that you lose your own.
The aim of the game isn’t to talk like your customers – it's to be someone they want to talk to.
3. “A set of guidelines is the foundation of a strong brand voice.”
There’s no denying that a brand voice without the buy-in of those expected to use it is like an erection in a convent—a complete waste of time.
But I can tell you from experience that a set of guidelines is not what will get your organisation on side. They’re just a tool (one among many) that can help to equip people who are already bought into the voice.
The real work of embedding a voice is, unfortunately, much more nuanced, more slow-going, and less easy to package up into a neat little PDF. It’s in a whole host of conversations, consultations, and training sessions that start way earlier and continue much longer than most people expect.
Of course guidelines will have their part to play. They document and explain agreed decisions about language, and can offer a kind of north star as you work to integrate the voice into organisational culture.
But don’t expect them to do the heavy lifting. They’re a tool for a process, not an end in and of themselves.
4. “Your voice is mainly relevant for the marketing team.”
It’s easy to focus on all the obvious areas your voice should show up. Your campaign ads. Your website. Your social media. The big bits. The bits that usually come from Marketing/Comms.
But inconsistency is a killer. Because if your company sounds one way on the website homepage but another way on the error messages, or speaks one way in a sales email but another way in the product descriptions, it makes everything feel like bullshit. Like your brand has put on a show in public, wearing a personality like a costume – then you go behind the curtain and The Great and Powerful Wizard of Oz is just some despotic old fucker shouting into a microphone.
And the thing is that most of those less obvious bits – email footers, client contracts, privacy policies, signs around your office telling people where to go or saying that the toilet is out of order - don’t come from your marketing team. They come from a whole range of people across the organisation.
So brand voice can’t just be some little pet project for the comms people – it has to be understood and embraced by every single person who ever writes or says anything on behalf of the company.
5. “Your voice needs to be funny / edgy / quirky / [insert zeitgeisty adjective here].”
Oatly. Liquid Death. Nike. Surreal. Seeing so many marketers hold up these brands as the tonal holy grail is making me want to stab myself in the eye with a small, sharp fork.
Not because I don’t like those voices, I do. But they’re almost always being praised for the wrong reasons.
What makes those voices great isn’t that they’re funny. Or contentious. Or self-aware. Or off-the-wall. What makes those voices great is that all of them successfully capture both the heart of their brand and the attention of their audience. In other words, they make good connections.
So if what it takes for you to connect with your people is to talk to them in a humorous, provocative, or eccentric way, then great – do that. But if it takes speaking in a quiet, measured, formal way – do that instead. If it means actually using quite a bit of jargon, fine. If it requires keeping things neutral and steering clear of sounding too friendly and familiar, that's ok.
Don’t let the herd set your course. Don’t aspire to be cool, or quirky, or witty, or outrageous. Aspire to be effective – whatever that sounds like for you. It’s not as sexy. But it’s a hell of a lot more relevant.
Bethany Joy is a freelance brand voice strategist (a handle she acknowledges is only slightly less wanky than ‘consultant’) who’s been playing around with language in a business context for almost 20 years. You can find her on LinkedIn bitching about her kids, talking way too much about vulvas, and even occasionally sharing opinions on brand voice.
Dodging the brand voice bullshit
One of the best things about platforms like LinkedIn is that absolutely anyone can share their ideas.
And one of the worst things about platforms like LinkedIn is that absolutely anyone can share their ideas. Because some people really do talk a lot of shit.
So when it comes to unearthing your brand’s personality and developing the language that reflects it, here are five of the biggest steaming piles you absolutely need to ignore:
1. “People should be able to recognise your brand voice even when there’s no logo”
It's easy to get distracted by wanky marketing ninjas sharing endless screenshots from well-known brands with kooky ads and hilarious Twitter banter. To get caught up thinking your organisational voice has to be this epic, remarkable, shareable thing.
But here’s the truth: you don’t actually want people to notice your voice. You just want them to be getting on with liking you.
Because the goal of a strong voice isn’t to build fame, it’s to build a connection. And it does that by showing your audience who you are and what you do – acting like a window into your brand. Windows aren’t for looking at, they’re for looking through.
Your company’s tone might well be recognisable even when your logo’s not there. Great. Well done you. But that kind of distinctiveness should be a satisfying bonus, not your main aim.
2. “Your voice isn’t about you – it’s about your audience.”
In my former life as a copywriter, the mantra “It’s not about what your business wants to say, it’s about what your audience needs to hear” was one I spent a lot of time repeating to clients. And in terms of what you talk about (i.e. your messaging) that’s absolutely right. But when it comes to how your company speaks and the personality your words evoke (i.e. your voice) that’s pretty much all you, baby.
It’s not that you should completely ignore your audience when it comes to your tone. Understanding what kind of language they might use in relation to your product or service, or being aware of the level of their knowledge when it comes to sector-specific jargon, etc, is hugely valuable.
But don’t give your company’s audience too much sway. Don’t be so focused on understanding and reflecting their personalities that you lose your own.
The aim of the game isn’t to talk like your customers – it's to be someone they want to talk to.
3. “A set of guidelines is the foundation of a strong brand voice.”
There’s no denying that a brand voice without the buy-in of those expected to use it is like an erection in a convent—a complete waste of time.
But I can tell you from experience that a set of guidelines is not what will get your organisation on side. They’re just a tool (one among many) that can help to equip people who are already bought into the voice.
The real work of embedding a voice is, unfortunately, much more nuanced, more slow-going, and less easy to package up into a neat little PDF. It’s in a whole host of conversations, consultations, and training sessions that start way earlier and continue much longer than most people expect.
Of course guidelines will have their part to play. They document and explain agreed decisions about language, and can offer a kind of north star as you work to integrate the voice into organisational culture.
But don’t expect them to do the heavy lifting. They’re a tool for a process, not an end in and of themselves.
4. “Your voice is mainly relevant for the marketing team.”
It’s easy to focus on all the obvious areas your voice should show up. Your campaign ads. Your website. Your social media. The big bits. The bits that usually come from Marketing/Comms.
But inconsistency is a killer. Because if your company sounds one way on the website homepage but another way on the error messages, or speaks one way in a sales email but another way in the product descriptions, it makes everything feel like bullshit. Like your brand has put on a show in public, wearing a personality like a costume – then you go behind the curtain and The Great and Powerful Wizard of Oz is just some despotic old fucker shouting into a microphone.
And the thing is that most of those less obvious bits – email footers, client contracts, privacy policies, signs around your office telling people where to go or saying that the toilet is out of order - don’t come from your marketing team. They come from a whole range of people across the organisation.
So brand voice can’t just be some little pet project for the comms people – it has to be understood and embraced by every single person who ever writes or says anything on behalf of the company.
5. “Your voice needs to be funny / edgy / quirky / [insert zeitgeisty adjective here].”
Oatly. Liquid Death. Nike. Surreal. Seeing so many marketers hold up these brands as the tonal holy grail is making me want to stab myself in the eye with a small, sharp fork.
Not because I don’t like those voices, I do. But they’re almost always being praised for the wrong reasons.
What makes those voices great isn’t that they’re funny. Or contentious. Or self-aware. Or off-the-wall. What makes those voices great is that all of them successfully capture both the heart of their brand and the attention of their audience. In other words, they make good connections.
So if what it takes for you to connect with your people is to talk to them in a humorous, provocative, or eccentric way, then great – do that. But if it takes speaking in a quiet, measured, formal way – do that instead. If it means actually using quite a bit of jargon, fine. If it requires keeping things neutral and steering clear of sounding too friendly and familiar, that's ok.
Don’t let the herd set your course. Don’t aspire to be cool, or quirky, or witty, or outrageous. Aspire to be effective – whatever that sounds like for you. It’s not as sexy. But it’s a hell of a lot more relevant.
Bethany Joy is a freelance brand voice strategist (a handle she acknowledges is only slightly less wanky than ‘consultant’) who’s been playing around with language in a business context for almost 20 years. You can find her on LinkedIn bitching about her kids, talking way too much about vulvas, and even occasionally sharing opinions on brand voice.