The Brand Voice Guide
I’m a big time language nerd. Vocabulary choice, tone, syntax, personality… I love to analyze and create language.
And while I found a passion in the field of branding, I’ll admit I found an obsession specifically with brand voice.
Many people know me as an artist and designer, but make no mistake. I am equal parts writer.
I believe visual identity design to be tremendously important for the brand because this is how the brand will earn recognition, especially in a digital space.
But a brand will never make any kind of an impact without a consistent voice and message.
Imagine a schizophrenic homeless man you pass every day on the street. He’s easy to spot because he always looks pretty much the same. But what’s coming out of his mouth is all over the place, makes little sense, and frankly makes you feel a little uncomfortable.
You can have a pretty looking brand, but you need a strong, consistent voice, too.
The Brand Voice Guide is a multipage document that can go as deep as you want into the tone, phraseology, messaging, and personality of the words your brand will use on every touchpoint. The idea is that you can hire any number of writers and they will all be able to write with the same vocabulary, tone, syntax, punctuation, etc. after consulting the guide. Anything that comes from the brand will more or less sound like it came from a single person.
And consumers pick up on these little details more than you might think.
The Brand Voice Guide also typically contains key business statements, like the mission, vision, and purpose statements, as well as the brand story. If those are not already written, I would also write those and include them in the guide.