What Is Brand Voice? How To Develop One?

Just like in human beings, a brand voice is the unique way a brand communicates with everyone. But Britannia’s ting ting ti ding, Nokia’s basic ringtone or any other sound effect, audio jingle, etc. doesn’t count as the company’s brand voice.

Intrigued?

What is Brand Voice?

Brand voice is the uniformity in selection of words, the attitude and values of the brand while addressing the target audience or others. It is how a brand conveys its brand personality to the external audience.

Characteristics of Brand Voice

Brand Voice Isn’t Just Audio

A brand is an artificial person, and has unique characteristics just like any person. A brand voice helps the target audience recognize the brand personality when it interacts with them-

• Over a phone
• Through a letter
• Over social Media
• Emails
• Or other communication sources

Brand voice isn’t just the audio. It’s the representation of a personality. This personality has set vocabulary, values, and other characteristics which are communicated to the external world in form of brand voice through the customer touch points.

It’s The Company’s Say (and how they say it)

Brand voice communicates –

• The company’s values
• It’s brand identity
• It’s say in the market

It leads to formation of a Brand Personality, Brand Positioning, and Brand Image. It results in the communication of message in the way that the brand desires, hence all other branding strategies depend on it.

Brand Voice Is Uniform

The objective of a brand voice is to result in the formation of a uniform personality, positioning, and an image. It is  essential to set up and communicate branding strategies in a consistent way to obtain such results. Hence, it is important that the brand voice has uniform vocabulary, values, and other characteristics.

It’s Present At Every Customer Touch Point

Customer touch point isn’t just the packaging or the point of sale. Customer touch point is every point where the company interacts with the customer. This includes website, social media networks, emails, packaging, collaterals, advertisements, etc.

Brand Voice Examples

Big Brands have a uniform and differentiated Brand Voice. This is the reason they stand out and people recognize them just by seeing their color, or any phrase.

Brand Voice Of Coca- Cola

Coca Cola’s brand message is clear(happiness, joy, experiences, etc.) and is addressed through a uniform tone of voice – Friendliness. A user can imagine Coca Cola as a person with a personality and a voice.

Brand Voice Of Disney

Disney has an edge over any of its competitors because of one important quality – consistency. People can imagine a whole new world when they talk about Disney. Be it Disneyland, Disney’s social media network page, or any of the Disney product, Disney has its own vocabulary, values, and tone.

Brand Voice Of Nike

Nike has been inspiring ever since it was founded. All of its brand communication, brand campaigns, triggers, and even its tag line (Just Do It) is directed towards inspiring people on and off the field.

Brand Voice Of Ogilvy & Mather

Ogilvy, the world’s best advertising agency, is known for its peculiar brand personality. This personality has been shaped because of a very unique brand voice. Ogilvy was founded by a farmer, David Ogilvy. They are proud about it. They believe in creativity which can be seen in their brand communication strategies.

How To Create An Appealing Brand Voice?

Know Your Customers

Your brand voice is meant to be heard by the customers. Make sure it sound pleasant to their ears. Know what they like, what they want, their demographics and create the music after some initial research.

It’s For You, But They Should Like It Too.

Having a unique and differentiated brand voice which can be recognized by the customer is beneficial for the brand as long as it is liked by the customer. Your position in the market is decided by the user and hence, it’s your job to woo him.

Your Voice Should Represent Your Personality

Assign yourself an adjective first like adventurous, cool, friendly, flirty, etc. and build your voice based on it.

Don’t Act Like A Robot

A company is an artificial person, not a robot. Interact with them and use vocabulary that can be understood.

Go On, Tell Us What You Think!

Did we miss something?  Come on! Tell us what you think of this article in the comments section.