Whether you’re discussing a rebrand, or working with a startup, there are many points that need to be considered. However, one of the key ones is discovering the right voice for the brand.
Building personality and emotion is one of the most challenging areas in branding and design, but is also one of the most vital if we want your customers to feel engaged and valued.
The problem
We are not all experts at usefully articulating emotion; experience has however, taught me that a straight question, such as “describe your brand’s voice”, often leads to two responses:
- A list of generic (often contradictory) adjectives – friendly, knowledgeable, respected.
- A list of competitor or well-known brands – Apple, MailChimp, Innocent.
Both responses are equally unhelpful when the goal is to elevate a brand above the standard.
An alternative approach
Here is an alternative approach, particularly useful in the modern, media-centric world; ‘use well known film characters as a base from which to build your brand’.
We now have a first question to ask. This in turn will help the client explain their brand values, whilst avoiding the typically clichéd responses:
“If your brand was in a film, what character would it play?”
Past experiences have provided some great responses ranging from Han Solo in Star Wars, George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life and The Concierge in Pretty Woman. When you’re in a meeting with more than one stakeholder, these types of discussions are always entertaining and often lead to the conclusion that the brand’s voice has not been discussed before.
It is also a great icebreaker for a first meeting and helps to make it memorable whilst raising the agency and the brand’s profile above the competition – who wants to deal with a dull and predictable design agency?
It is important to remember not to lead a client in a direction that is too obscure and off topic, proving yourself as a film buff is not the aim here. Focusing on what the brand wants to achieve is vital.
Now, we have a character we can interrogate a little deeper, like asking what the character stands for, and how this character would react in different situations, for example;
* How would the character deal with a complaint?
* How would the character describe a difficult subject? Would it be technically or through metaphor?
* How would the character reward or thank someone?
* How would the character sell a product? Forcefully or flirtatiously?
* Is the character formal or informal? Are they well-spoken or do they use colloquial based language? How about the use of grammar, do they care?
* How about the character’s opinion of themselves? Are they self-deprecating or more arrogant?
Once all the above are understood, you are now much nearer to finding the brand’s personality without ever hearing the response “corporate but fun”, which to this day, I have no idea how to design for and I challenge anyone to deliver on that!
Other considerations
Another consideration is longevity, will the brand maintain the same customer base and grow older with it, or will the core customers be continually refreshed by the next generation?
If the brand is looking to keep the same customer base throughout, then how will the character age? Would a 60-year-old Han Solo react in the same way to the same question as a retired Han Solo would?
If the customer base is to be refreshed, will a rebrand be required in order to maintain relevance? If the brand’s voice was James Bond would it be Sean Connery or Daniel Craig? All-important points to be considered when thinking about the brand’s future.
Why identifying a brand’s voice is vital
Identifying the right voice can lead to the hallowed land of brand loyalty from customers. There are many organisations out there offering very similar products but the way they present themselves makes the difference for so many.
One of my favourite examples is that of MailChimp and Campaign Monitor. Of course there are differences in the two products but they both solve a similar problem and the presentation is very different.
Campaign Monitor presents itself as a very factual, powerful and knowledgeable system whereas Mailchimp is friendly, almost playful but more accessible. Both are very effective but will attract different feelings and emotions from users. The disclaimer here is that these are my impressions of them and how they speak to me.
By eliciting an emotional response half the battle is won, the key is to make sure the brand is getting the correct emotional response from the target demographic.
How we can use this ‘new-found’ voice
It would be too easy to stick purely to the tone of voice relating to copy, personality is more than the words we speak (or type!), it should influence the design style, which in turn covers layout, colour palette and typography. These are the parts that a design agency should be most interested in.
Ideally a guideline document relating to the brand’s personality will be constructed, always written in the voice of the brand, to ensure consistency across all communications.
