14 Feb 2024
- 11 Aug 2015
- 4 Min read
6 brands who’ve nailed their tone of voice
Your brain knows what it wants to express. Your personality decides how to express it.
Snoop Dogg and Queen Elizabeth share many thoughts — something as simple as I’m hungry — but can you imagine them voicing them in the same way?
It should be the same with brands. Trouble is, personality doesn’t come naturally to a brand.
That’s why you need to create and nurture your brand voice.
What is brand voice?
Brand voice injects personality into business communications. It translates base concepts into unique messages.
But a good brand voice doesn’t just help you stand out from the crowd: it speaks to key audiences in a familiar and engaging way, so they relate to your brand and form positive customer-brand relationships.
Hans Brinker
Take Hans Brinker, a budget hotel chain. Its brand voice is brutally honest, because it knows most backpackers and young travellers can see through the hyperbole of its competitors (they won’t be fooled into thinking a £20-per-night hostel is glamorous) and enjoy self-deprecating humour.
“At the Brinker you get what you pay for. The mattresses might break your back [but] they won’t break your budget.”
HUMAN
You should consider brand voice with every word choice. In this email, HUMAN, which specialises in humorous T-shirts aimed at 18–25-year-olds, ensures everything from the greeting to the promo code oozes personality.
Whether it’s serious or fun, your brand should communicate like a human — not a robot. Personifying your business and thinking about your archetypal customer is a great way to shape your brand voice.
Nationwide
Nationwide adopts the persona of an understanding, friendly bank manager who’s there to reassure and offer advice to customers. Their brand voice isn’t stuffy or complex — financial terms are explained in an easy-to-understand way. However, they don’t fall into the trap of being inappropriately informal about serious products either.
Here’s an extract from Nationwide’s Managing Debts guide:
“It can be tempting to ignore your debts, but sadly debts don’t go away on their own. The good news is that help is available if you’re not sure how to get your finances back on track.
“First, take stock of your debts. List all the people and companies you owe money to. Include as much information as you can, including what payments are due and when, and gather any paperwork together.”
Dior
When reading copy on the Dior site, it’s easy to envision the imaginary upper-class fashionista behind the brand voice. You don’t need to look at the price tags: the tone lets shoppers know these are high-end products.
“A timeless and unique work of art, the “Lady Dior” bag is imbued with the Couture spirit of Dior. This large bag, a key piece from the Autumn-Winter 2015 show, makes a splash with its extremely precious and sophisticated black and blue crocodile marquetry featuring zebra prints.”
Innocent
Much of Innocent’s success is down to unique branding — particularly its quirky tone of voice. They use super-simple language to explain nutritional information, so health benefits are communicated in a way that doesn’t put customers off. Cheeky, fun messages make the brand memorable. Here’s some copy they had on the bottom of a juice carton:
“You should probably try opening this carton at the other end. Not that we’re telling you how to run your life or anything, but it seems to work much easier when the drink comes out of the spout on the top.”
Apple
Just like the Queen with her corgis or Snoop with his momma, you have to adapt your brand voice to context. The usually cool and confident Apple CEO, Tim Cook, was forced to adopt a more humble tone when apologising for the Apple Maps fiasco.
“At Apple, we strive to make world-class products that deliver the best experience possible to our customers. With the launch of our new Maps last week, we fell short on this commitment. We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better.”
Do you need help crafting your brand voice? Our copywriting team can help — get in touch for more information.
