The Voice
A brand’s voice is the prime connector of its culture to its community.
What makes Apple sound so clever? Who told Trader Joe’s you’re overeducated and underpaid? How is Fenty Beauty reading your mind again?
There are reasons, beyond elegant design and desirable product, why iconic brands are instantly recognizable and very much themselves at all times. It has to do with the way they communicate their values, not just by the stories they tell, but by how they tell them. This kind of impact requires an ownable lexicon that befits the philosophical foundation and outward-looking culture of the brand. It’s what we call brand voice strategy, and it is absolutely essential to successful creative direction.
“Brand voice strategy not only governs how the brand speaks, but also how it is spoken about.”
Understanding your brand voice requires more than intuition. It involves working to gain a deep understanding of the desired relationship between the brand and its public, as distinguished from its competitors, then implementing a set of principles to nurture that goal. This way, everyone communicating for the brand, from the CEO to the newest intern, is aligned.
The effect grows exponentially as the public catches on to the brand attitude and begins to speak naturally about its promise. The best marketing is word of mouth—but how can anyone talk about your brand if you don’t show them how? Brand voice strategy not only governs how the brand speaks, but also how it is spoken about.
There are methods for this, principles and rules that branch out from the core of the company to every platform and, eventually, to outsiders. Developing and implementing a brand voice is best done meticulously, systematically, with great care.Like cocktail party gossip, brand stories can change shape as they go. A disciplined strategy, with ruthless consistency, is the only way to avoid chaos.