It’s common knowledge that to be remembered as a brand, people have to know who you are and what you do. Whilst striking visuals, memorable logo design, and a strong strategy tend to be ‘go-tos’ when looking at awareness and impact, one element of brand that can be overlooked is tone of voice.

A brand’s tone of voice (TOV) is the way the company speaks to their audience through written content, video, blogs, or email marketing. Creating a guide on how to use TOV not only helps with consistency across business comms but also sets you apart from the competition.  

So, why should brands use TOV in comms, and how can you use it to supercharge your marketing? 

Why is tone of voice important? 

Tone of voice is a great way for brands to consistently communicate personality and values in a way that resonates with people.  

One way to think of TOV is that it creates a recognisable personality for your brand that people will associate with you in the long run. Whilst it’s hard to pinpoint an exact number, it’s estimated that people see hundreds of adverts a day. In a crowded marketing landscape, creating a memorable TOV that cuts through the noise and brings your brand to the forefront of customer’s minds is a must to make your brand stand out from the crowd.  

Which brands do tone of voice well? 

There’s no doubt that having a clear brand TOV can amplify your marketing efforts, but which brands do it well and what can we learn from them? 

Monzo 

Monzo, a mobile banking app, is a great example of how TOV can transform an everyday brand into something engaging and attention-grabbing. When banking goes wrong, it can be very frustrating for customers. Monzo recognises this pain point and uses TOV in a witty but sensitive way to differentiate themselves from alternative high street banks. Where competitor banks lean on a more formal TOV, Monzo builds rapport and brand awareness through its unique voice displayed across a range of marketing. 

Monzo’s TOV is centred around three principles; straightforward kindness, everyday magic, and warm wit. Using language people use ‘day-to-day’, the brand swaps complicated words for simpler ones – for example, using the word ‘let’ instead of ‘enable’. They also encourage using references most people would understand and avoid using formal phrases and over-complicated jargon.  

As part of its TOV guide, Monzo outlines examples of how its stylised voice can be used appropriately across channels. For example, customer service channels that need to deal with sensitive or difficult situations use a high amount of straightforward kindness and no warm wit, whereas organic social channels ‘maxes out’ warm wit so it can be playful and engaging.  

The balance of simplicity with light-hearted humour makes the brand feel welcoming, relatable, and, despite talking about sensitive financial topics, makes the customer feel their concerns are being addressed in a way that’s easy to understand.  

Adobe 

Another brand that has a recognisable TOV is Adobe. Known for its industry-leading suite of creative software, Adobe’s team knows the importance of having a strong brand TOV in order to cut through the noise. For cohesion across all of its creative suite apps, Adobe has created ‘Spectrum’ which includes comprehensive guidelines for using brand and TOV across all apps and marketing channels. 

Similarly to Monzo, Adobe’s TOV guide revolves around three core principles; Rational, Human, and Focused. However, to mimic a realistic personality, Adobe’s brand tone is then further adjusted based on a sliding scale. Using a scale means content and messaging can be adapted to suit the audience group its talking to, but still has an informed, authoritative, and consistent tone without going beyond the parameters of the brand guidelines.  

This approach means that the brand has a recognisable, uniform voice no matter what creative suite app the user may be working in. This in turn helps build customer trust as they can recognise the brand’s voice no matter what the contextual situation is. 

Tips to develop brand tone of voice:

1.Think of your brand as a person 

Your brand voice is your brand’s personality. If your brand was a person, how would they talk? What would their core values be? Making a list of values, personality traits, and interests is a great way to start fleshing out how your brand’s voice will sound. Examples to consider are if your brand would speak colloquially, do they use or avoid jargon, and what values do they want to communicate.  

2. What would your audience expect 

It’s important to know what your audience like, and what they would expect from a brand, before you start creating your brand voice. Think about their hobbies, careers, and where they consume content. For example, retail consumers may enjoy brands that use humour, like Monzo or Surreal, however senior buyers or decision makers in businesses may prefer straightforward, informative language to help them get relevant information quickly.  

3. Check your competitors 

One of the benefits of a strong brand TOV is that it differentiates and makes you stand out against your competitors. Competitor analysis is important when thinking about your brands’ TOV, and you can use insights from other brands to see what works best for their audience or what you can do differently to stand out.  

Struggling with where to start on your TOV guidelines? Working with an experienced comms or creative agency for support will help to craft your perfect brand voice. Get in touch with the Pearl Comms team today for advice and recommendations on brand guidelines and comms.