How To Use Your Brand Voice, Not Lose It

The copy is Jan, Scottie Pippen, New Jersey. The design is Marsha, Michael Jordan, New York. In a visual world, this is natural. Nevertheless, brand voice remains a powerful asset. By ignoring it brands rip up potential equity, or, worse, create inconsistency and misrepresentation.

Some brands value voice but leverage it terribly.

This generally happens in one of two ways. They say too much or talk too loud. The advertisement is overflowing with words, as if the Creative Director said, Let’s just fill the whole thing up, doesn’t even matter what they say, or the advertisement is shouting at you, as if the Strategist said, Let’s just scream, doesn’t even matter if they listen as long as they hear.

Neither of these are sound—pun intended—strategies.

A brand voice can be anything/anyone—we’ve all been to the Archetype parade—but The Friendly Scientist and the Polished Epicurean must pass the same simple test: they have to be someone you want to engage with!

Think about it literally. Do you want to talk with someone who never shuts up? With someone who shouts at you?

One emerging brand recently chose to express the exclusivity of their premium product with a voice that revels in its own obnoxiousness. We know this person in real life. They’re entertaining. We engage them maybe for maybe ten minutes, maybe one product, but not for the entire party, not for an ongoing consumer relationship.

It’s OK to be a character, just not a caricature. Brand voices should be human voices. Speak at a reasonable volume, and remember to pause for breath. Otherwise, your brand is likely to go hoarse.

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