Tone of voice clients
I work with consultancies to create tone of voice guidelines for brands. The aim is to manage that part of the brand experience influenced by language.
Most tone of voice guidelines contain sensible advice on writing well. You want to stop bad copy undermining the brand. More ambitious claims are made for brand language but much of this is wishful thinking. For a full review of what is and isn't possible, see my thought piece.
Because creating a unique tone for a brand is far harder than creating a unique visual identity, tone of voice guidelines are starting to suggest certain messaging. Lloyds TSB: 'for the journey'.
Another route is to ape Innocent. But when a mainstream brand starts trying to be trendy it can sound false. See this blog discussion for how the new funky Barclays is going down.
My aim, when preparing tone of voice guidelines for a brand, is to:- See if there are ways language can be used to achieve a distinctive tone which conveys the brand's essence
- Offer practical advice to in-house writers on how to write well so their writing doesn't undermine the brand
- Provide guidance on the writing requirements of different media (writing for the web demands a completely different approach to writing a sales letter, for instance)
- Set this advice out clearly and briefly so it is useful for an employee in a hurry who needs some prompts to improve their writing.
The need for training
Many companies are starting to recognise that language is a key part of the brand experience. Tone of voice guidelines are getting larger and more prominent in brand books. But how do you help in-house employee writers change ingrained off-brand habits? I believe it requires more than asking them to read a few pages in a guide: you need a structured training programme. This must be designed for your company writers' particular levels of skill and the media they're writing for. I have a professional postgraduate teaching qualification and have designed such programmes for clients. They really do improve the writing for the brand and sales effectiveness.
Tone of voice development clients
P&O Cruises
- TOV guide and training
Davidoff