Which brands totally nail their brand voice?
It’s one thing to have a tone of voice in place, but what about brand voice? Because let’s face it, your tone adapts depending on who you’re speaking to. It’s no use having three vague adjectives if your team doesn’t know how that translates to different members of your audience.
That’s why we wanted to explore the brands who are really nailing their brand voice. Sometimes it’s helpful to see things in action, y’know?
Marks & Spencer
This isn’t just a brand voice.
Need we say more? You completed the sentence without us even having to write it. That’s the power of consistent brand voice. You recognise their brand seeing nothing except their words. From their food and clothes to their homeware, M&S carry their brand voice across their categories, tailoring the tone to fit each one.
Whether you’re stocking up on Percy Pigs to restocking your underwear drawer, you know exactly what you can expect from M&S. And that’s what brand is all about - consistently building and meeting consumer expectations.
And if we’re getting down to the details - notice how you’ll never see M&S write ‘Marks and Spencer’. Whether full name or abbreviated, that ampersand is always present. And that won’t be a coincidence. Someone will have thought long and hard over that. And so they should. Because as soon as we see ‘M&S’, we know exactly what we’re in for.
Monzo
The online bank Monzo have made it their mission to make banking easy for everyone. They’re determined to break down preconceptions that banking is inaccessible, and help their customers feel more confident with their money.
Part of how they do this is through the language they use. Monzo’s ‘tone of voice’ (we’d argue it’s more of a brand voice ourselves!) is available to view online. This is partly for easy access for everyone in their team, but it’s also so their customers can hold them accountable if they fall short on their promises. We personally think this is a great idea!
The best bit? Monzo provide real life examples of their voice in action. They go beyond the basic description and show their teams and their customers what content should look and feel like out in the real world.
Nando’s
We’re not entirely sure who the first person was to coin the phrase cheeky Nando’s, but Nando’s are certainly riding the wave. Their brand voice has become well known for their playful, and often topical style. Their napkins in particular have become a place for them to showcase their wit - including a ‘messier than 2020’ and a ‘wipe right’ napkin in recent times.
This is a fantastic example of a brand who are confident in their brand identity and can act quickly when trends shift.
Bumble
In 2021, over 300 million people were swiping left and right. Dating apps therefore need to be at the top of their game to come out above their competitors - and that includes how they use their voice on various platforms. Bumble use their highly relatable brand voice to capitalise on advertising space on several mediums - from billboards and TV to social media and beyond.
You might have seen the recent collaboration between Gymshark and Bumble. This was a fabulous example of two very confident brands coming together for a cohesive campaign that really nailed it for their target audience - singles who like to workout. It’s alignment in key messaging at its finest!
Mailchimp
Marketing automation and email platform Mailchimp have helped businesses all around the world to communicate with their audiences. Their brand voice document is one of our favourites.
Why? Because we love all those juicy details.
Anyone who has a section on ‘grammar and mechanics’ are our kinda people. Not to mention anyone who breaks down how to write for legal things, for social media and accessibility. These are the things that really distinguish a brand voice from a basic tone of voice.
What do this gang have in common?
You might have started to notice some patterns about what puts these brands ahead of the rest when it comes to brand voice.
Details, details, DETAILS
An accessible document
A brand voice that successfully translates to their different audiences
Details, details, DETAILS
When it comes to creating and implementing your brand voice, the devil is in the details.
These are things like:
How do you write dates, times and currencies?
How do you write your company name? Do you ever abbreviate? Do you use specific punctuation (circa the M&S ampersand for example)
How do you talk about the people you work with? Are they clients? Customers? Pals?
Do you have a glossary of terms if your industry has a lot of technical language? Have you given examples of where it’s appropriate to use them and where it isn’t?
You get the picture. It’s worth sweating the details so you can pull an M&S and be instantly recognisable from your words alone. Not to mention, it should reduce the number of approvals you have to make when you’re trying to get your content out in the big wide world.
An accessible document
The problem we see many brands having is that once the voice has been created (whether it’s a comprehensive one or the dreaded three adjectives), it often gets left in a folder or in a drawer gathering dust.
And let’s face it, that’s not a fat lot of use to anyone trying to communicate as you in your organisation. For your brand voice to be successful, everyone in your organisation needs to have easy access. That way, there’s no excuse for inconsistencies in your content, and it should minimise people weighing on stylistic choices where it isn’t necessary.
Your brand voice should be a living document. It’s not a one and done thing. Even the most classic, household brands will update their voice and their brand to keep up with the times.
Look at the likes of the big supermarkets. In 2021, Sainsbury’s retired their ‘live well for less’ and opted for ‘helping everyone eat better’ to tie in with both the idea of a better diet, but also with their sustainability messaging.
Translating to different audiences
The problem brands experience when their brand voice consists of ‘friendly’, ‘playful’ and ‘knowledgeable’ is that it’s pretty hard to apply those things to different audiences. Everyone will have their own interpretations of what those three things mean.
A good brand voice will demonstrate how you take those personality traits and apply them to different contexts. Your audience doesn’t want to receive a jokey ‘lols, sorry’ response to a complaint or a bad experience. It’s important that you give clear examples of what your brand voice looks like in a variety of different ways, depending on the needs of your brand.
Go back to your personas and work from there!
If you don’t know your brand voice from your elbow, don’t panic. That’s what we’re here for. A helping hand to get all your ducks in a row, your voice firing on all cylinders - or any other metaphors you might like.
If you want to make it on to our next round up of fab brand voices, let’s talk.
