Think About It

Put another way: When people encounter your organization – either face-to-face or through communications you put out – what kind of language and tone are they hit with?

The words, attitude and overall feel of your communication are your “brand voice.”

Brand voice is a filter you should apply to every piece of your communication. Yet sadly, it is one of the most overlooked areas of brand development. Many organizations publish style manuals to govern capitalization, punctuation and other essentials. But few develop brand voice guidelines to make communication sound consistent with the brand personality.

That’s a missed opportunity. Think: Have you ever encountered writing from your organization that you felt was just not right – yet you had a hard time putting your finger on what exactly was wrong with it?

“It’s not that our writing is all bad,” one CEO told us recently. “It’s just that it doesn’t seem like us.” It’s the same uneasy feeling you’d get if you went to an Al Jarreau concert and he broke into an Aerosmith medley. It just doesn’t sit right.

Brand voice guidelines can help you make sure that you sound like you. For example, POV’s brand calls for a brand voice that sounds intelligent, energetic, down-to-earth, helpful and fun. Before we publish anything, we have to mentally check those boxes. If we’ve brought those qualities to life in our words, we know we’ve succeeded. If not, our writers are sent to bed without dessert.

Of course, some of POV’s brand voice qualities could apply to other organizations, and some could not. The point is to identify qualities and provide examples that reflect your organization’s unique personality. When you do that, you can help everyone in the organization appreciate when language is true to the brand – and when it’s not.

You can start by listening to your employees as they talk to customers. Look at your Web site. Read the news releases. Study a product sheet or brochure. How does your organization sound? Does the brand voice match the personality of your organization? Is it clear and consistent, or is it complicated and fractured?

Answer those questions, and you’re on your way.