Brand voice: how you can create your own
Ask any brand design company today and they’ll tell you that apart from the usual branding strategy and other brand elements, there is another significant aspect of branding; and that is your brand voice. An oft-ignored element of branding, “your brand’s voice”, deserves substantial attention, not the least because how you communicate matters more than what you say.
Your brand voice contributes significantly to consistency across platforms, but it also resonates with your audience, or at least it should. For instance, a finance brand may not want to get too quirky, while a kids’ brand may sport fun and funny posts on social media. Thus, your brand’s voice – be it formal, casual, or quirky – helps shape your brand persona.
Before everything, let’s find out what is a brand voice?
Brand voice is the tone and emotion instilled into all your brand communication. What if Kinder Joy, for instance, adopted a formal official tone in their communication? Instead of saying, “A little surprise goes a long way,” what if they said, “Here’s a surprise for you,” instead? Would it have the same effect? Even with the visual of the kids? Naturally not. Having a clear message to communicate is important. But the way it is expressed is important too.
Why do you need a brand voice?
According to Forbes, the UX for your consumer is shaped by your brand voice. A terrific and unique experience, even if perceived, attracts more customers than a bland and merely informative message. And once the emotional connection is established, it builds trust and loyalty.
Cadbury positions itself as a brand that believes in love and romance. And the love they portray is not limited to romance either. The brand believes in all types of love, from family to neighbourly love, apart from romance. Love is their brand voice, and it resonates with their customers. They appreciate the sentiment and relate to the brand. Whenever you think of giving a gift with love, you think of Cadbury. That’s the power of a strong brand voice.
So, how do you Create Your Brand Voice?
The simple answer to that question is to have clearly defined brand voice guidelines that also specify the tone and manner your brand communicates. Communication expresses many emotions, and emotions are an important aspect of human life. Joy, humour, romance, anger, greed, or envy – there is a whole range of emotions that your consumers experience. Depending upon your target audience, the voice or tone of your brand must resonate with these emotions.
A study by PRNewswire shows that consistency in branding can increase revenue by 33%, and your brand’s voice is an important part of consistency. The question is how to incorporate that voice into your brand strategy. Let’s take a look.
Have a clear mission and vision
The most crucial component of branding is understanding why you exist. It’s been talked about a lot, but at the cost of repetition, if you do not know what problem you solve or what value you bring to your consumer, you won’t last long.
So that’s the first step. In your mission and vision statements, clearly describe the reason for your existence and your company’s goal. Include the value you provide to your customers and ensure that you, as the founder and everyone else in your organisation, believes in these values.
Beessential, a firm founded by a family of beekeepers who enjoy the outdoors, provides eco-friendly cosmetic products to their customers. They not only love outdoor adventures, but they are also conscious of hygiene. So they sell organic products and believe that their consumers value the same things they do.
Know what your audience think and feel
When a mother hugs her child who is throwing a tantrum, she knows that it’s the only way to calm him down enough to listen. That’s the kind of connection you need to have with your audience. Apple has hit the nail by consistently sending out crisp, clear messages in all their campaigns. The company asks, listens, and understands the buyers’ needs and delivers consistently. Apple has set a tone of professionalism and trust, and it is apparent in all their communication.
Audit Consistently
A while ago, everyone – including brands was talking about the pandemic. Almost every marketing activity was focused on this. But all that content and even the message it conveyed is irrelevant now. As the world emerged from the situation, brands began talking about coming back to normalcy and a new normal, which has now become redundant. So while you should have a consistent message, you should constantly adapt to social, economic, and other changes. Cadbury, for instance, came out with their Not just a Cadbury Ad in support of local retailers, maintaining their underlying empathy, an emotion of love and bonding.
This not That
Take paper and pen and while contemplating your brand write the sentence “We are _________, but we are not _________.” Do this exercise several times, each time filling the blanks with different emotions that may or may not represent your brand. For instance, Kinder Joy might write We are fun, but we are not funny indicating that while their product is something to be enjoyed, it’s not quirky or funny. Doing this exercise may help you figure out your brand and what emotions relate to your brand.
Communicating your brand message in just the right way so that it resonates with the emotions your consumers feel when they think about your brand is an important aspect of branding. While there are many tools like brand voice guidelines and brand voice charts that you can use to the perfect tone for your brand, the most critical decision is which tone to use. And then, you must cultivate that tone and ensure that it is used consistently across all marketing channels and collaterals.
So if you haven’t already, invest some time and effort in cultivating your unique brand voice. Litmus Branding, your brand design company in India, is here to help. Call us on +91 99984 12378 or write to us at hi@litmusbranding.com.
