Brand Personality: Where Does it Sit with Voice and Tone?

FACT: Brand personality, voice and tone all live on a confusingly close frequency. Especially if they’re not terms you use on the reg’.

Are they all important? Darn tootin’!

And brand personality? It’s a huge part of your brand’s identity.

Flamin’ hot tip: It doesn’t matter how many social followers you have, or how much time and effort you put into building that (frankly wicked) logo. If your brand isn’t speaking your audience’s language (with flair), there’s some serious work to do.

Let’s be real for a sec’. Every human on this planet is different – no two special sparklin’ people will ever come out the same. So why should your brand be like everyone else’s?

Here we’ll explore the difference between voice, tone and personality. So you can shimmy yours all over the goddamn place – with confidence.

What Actually is Brand Voice?

Brand voice is the bones of your brand’s personality, the skeleton with the sick dance moves. The words you use can seriously make or break the whole shebang.

Consistency is key with brand voice. No one wants to be reading and suddenly feel like they’ve lost the author somewhere mid-spiel. You’ve gotta stick with your reader, make them really feel like part of the family. Offer them a drink. Crack out the photo album(s). “Staying for dinner, darl’?”

Brand voice done right can supercharge your brand’s impact. Say goodbye to gross robot jargon, and hello to authentic engagement. Hiding in the crowd? Not here, no sir. A killer brand voice sets you apart from everyone else. Rockin’.

Your brand voice really defines who you are. For example, Dove’s brand voice is encouraging and uplifting, and never misses an opportunity to boost a gal’s self-confidence. They’re focused on building relationships and helping their audience find that ‘comfortable-in-your-own-skin’ feel that’s all toasty and kind.

Skittles moves way past the mark, too. They’ve built a brand that’s unexpected and completely random, but with an authenticity that keeps people coming back. They embrace their weird, and that’s pretty stellar.

 

 

To do all this, these brands have pinpointed who their audience is. They know the ins and outs of their people and connect with them using a saucy mix of company integrity mixed with connective words.

So… What’s Brand Tone?

Once everything’s right in the word world, tone joins the party. It’s the quiet achiever of your brand’s personality.

It’s tone’s job to adjust across platforms. More playful on socials – more empathetic and problem-solving when replying to complaints. If voice is the weather, then tone’s the seasons.

Flamin’ hot tip (número dos): 65% of people feel more connected to brands that create emotional connections.

Getting your tone to sound just right can spark conversations and make people feel like you really care. When your customers feel more ‘at-home’ with you, they’re far more likely to sit up and listen when you speak (or write).

In the real world, tone is something we don’t usually think about. It’s a subconscious choice, hidden in our body language, our flow and social cues.

Like Ma always says, there’s a time and a place for everything. The way you write can influence the way people are gonna feel, so it’s key to get your tone spot-on. Adjusting your tone across places it’s found.

And Now, What’s Brand Personality?!

Brand personality shapes the way your people see you – and how your brand interacts with others.

Brand personality is ultimately made up of a whole bunch of human characteristics. Is your brand a dreamer? Are your words more evangelical, leaving your reader to bask in the sun and the cool breeze?

Does your audience feel like you’ve got their back? Perhaps you’re cheeky or sarcastic – maybe you care about penguins deeply or have a serious sweet-tooth. Maybe your brand has more zing, with a rebellious vibe (take the brand personality playlist quiz to find out).

The thing is, 89% of people stay loyal to brands that share their values. So, if your brand values don’t align with the people you’re trying to target? This could be a relationship killer. Similarly, 59% of consumers will trust brands more if they agree on social issues.

Giving your brand human characteristics helps build a more emotional connection with your reader, audience or potential customer. It makes them feel – and it makes you real, man.

Sure, it’d be easy to build a brand personality on how you think you should be perceived. A stern and professional financial planner with all her ducks in a row, or a super-masculine tech guru who can soothe the rampant technophobe.

But – let’s be real. Are your customers really wanting confusing wording? Overcomplicated processes? … All sans personality?

There’s no harm in being adventurous, laid-back, funny or feminine. The more you embrace the human in your brand, the more success you’ll have in engaging with humans.

Where Does Brand Personality Sit?

Brand personality might be the sold-out rockstar, but it takes a whole team of roadies to get that star on stage. Kudos to voice and tone.

Your brand’s personality is all your wordy goodness wrapped up into a little ball for the world to see. Brand personality guides your voice and tone. Laying the foundations to work from.

Brand personalities can be spicy, sweet, tangy on the tastebuds, or even a little bit ‘I can’t believe they just said THAT.’ Your brand can be unique, with a personality that shines through the ho-hum and monotonously predictable internet words.

Cogs turning? To electrify your brand’s voice and personality, shimmy over to our brand voice packages and get ready to rock your words.