Once upon a time there was a brand that created a product that would change the way the world snacks. sleeps. suntans.
Five years later there were 20 more brands changing the way the world snacks. sleeps. suntans.
The end.
Brands can live and die on a story.
Stories shape the way we build trust with our customers, stand out from competitors and determine the legacy that we will leave behind. They also tell us what to post on Instagram and what your Christmas card might say.
A distinctive brand tone of voice supports the stories we tell.
Communicating the very values on which a company is built. The copy for some brands is so identifiable that you can imagine them as human beings. Walking into a bar. Ordering a drink.
At Sonder & Tell we help brands find their voice and tell their story.
So they can communicate their message in a tone that’s true. What we believe about story and tone is always evolving, as language does. Below are some of our thoughts.
Some things we believe about Brand Story
Your brand isn’t a tagline or a logo. It’s a story that gets told. Who you are, what you do, and why you do it.
This story lives in more places than your about us page. It’s in the mind of the person buying your product. The reason your Growth Director gets up in the morning. Why a VC backs you. How the woman at the bar describes you to a friend.
If your brand is a story, brand strategy is your plan for the pages that come next. So why are so many destined to live and die in a PDF?
At Sonder & Tell, our client’s strategies don’t waste away as pyramids and matrices. They’re something remembered and felt, repeated and believed, from customer support to the C-suite
Living, breathing stories.
.
Create a brand storybook.
Turn your strategy, positioning, tone and personality into an ownable, memorable narrative.
Connect your product to your customers, your mission to your talent, ideas to investors.
Start telling the story of your brand now and shaping the future of your brand to come.
Some things we believe about Tone of Voice
Tone of voice is your personality and your values translated into words. You should look at it with the same level of discernment as you would your brand logos, colours and fonts. Sadly that rarely happens. There’s a tendency to go through a branding process and then slap a couple of slides on a ‘friendly’ tone of voice at the end. Or not to define it at all but then speak in memes on Instagram, because that’s what everyone does right?
The behavioural economist Daniel Kahneman says: “People don’t choose between things, they choose between descriptions of things”. The words you choose have a significant impact on how people perceive your brand. If you exist in a crowded marketplace, it’s especially important to build out a tone of voice with flourishes of personality that chime with the audience you want.
The challenge is to apply your personality in every communication you put out: an Instagram caption is easy; a piece of product copy less so. Tone of voice is hardest to do when presenting a serious subject matter or bad news, but that’s also where it has the greatest impact. It’s important to train everyone in your company in your tone. Isn’t everyone writing in some way?
What is a
Tone of Voice?
It’s a strategic positioning for language to help you cut through the noise
It’s a creative concept for bringing your brand to life through words
It’s a programme of practical application to instill confidence in your team