Creating, Knowing, and Using Your Company/Brand's Voice

Love this question, ​@erika.kostamo!

I’ve been in this situation as well, having worked for a corporate company in the hospitality industry with multiple brands under one umbrella. Developing a distinct voice for each brand definitely makes a huge impact on customer engagement, striking the right balance between staying true to the brand’s core values and tailoring the tone to resonate with specific audiences.

I’ve found that the process of developing a unique voice starts with understanding the brand's personality, mission, and values, and then ideating how the secondary brand would speak to the core brand in its own language while still adhering to brand standards. One of the most useful ways I’ve done this with teams I’ve been on in the past is by creating an individual social playbook for each secondary brand, so it has its own reference guide.

As for getting upper management on board with a more fun/sassy/playful tone, I think it’s all about showing the potential benefits in terms of engagement and brand loyalty. For example, the audience of the secondary brand may be very different from that of the core brand (i.e., luxury vs. casual, etc.). Presenting data or case studies where humor and a unique voice led to positive results can help make the case. Also, sometimes it’s a matter of starting small by testing the waters with a few posts or responses before fully diving in!

I appreciate this topic! I find it especially difficult to dip my toes into brand voice in my role, as I represent an office that is part of a much larger university - and I always feel so boxed in to follow the larger university’s guidance! Which is fantastic for building the larger brand as a whole, but just awful in terms of attracting attention across campus, since many groups, including mine, use the same brand-approved tone. Working in study abroad specifically, it can be hard to balance playful and academic tones, as we want to be taken more seriouly than just vacation joy ride for fun, but we also want to highlight the fun of learning abroad.

Do you have any tips especially on how to share brand voice/tone guidance with others, once it’s decided? I admit I’m more of a designer than a marketer and I’m not always sure how to teach my student worker and support her best in her work for us!

This is a great question! I also manage 4 brands - two of which have nearly identical voices, and one of the other ones is similar to those two but more elegant and fun while the last brand is fun and spunky. Usually I distinguish with my use of emojis in the comments section, or puns and plays on words for the spunky brand.

I think if you’ve established a good use of voice & replies with the brands you manage currently, you could create an example list of replies in a more fun voice to comments you’ve already replied to, to show the same level of care but with a more social first approach!