A brand’s voice has more similarities to a human persona than people give it credit for. 

You’re a human. We’ll use you as an example. 

You have an attitude, a sensibility, a way of speaking. You probably lean into certain words more than others and are known for expressing ideas and opinions with a particular perspective. But likely, your tone shifts based on your audience. Consider how you speak to a grandparent versus your best friend, at a work dinner versus happy hour. Your core persona stays the same—your energy, sense of humor, and the intractable qualities that make you you—but your tone is tailored to the appropriateness and expectations of the situation. 

These intentional shifts in tone are what allow you to be adaptable, relatable, and approachable. Without them, you’re a robot.  Siri and Alexa have empathy limitations for a reason.

Brand voice isn’t created; it’s embodied. It’s a living energy. You don’t just do this work before you launch, touch it up during a five-year rebrand and call it a day. Imagine if your voice peaked at five-years-old. The world your brand lives in changes daily. Language evolves. Awareness matures. The savviest brands embrace the shifts and sway in culture and communication and evolve their voice with the same reverence and intention as their personal voice. 

We recommend brand tone checks every quarter and a broader strategic voice review every year. Think of the difference between Q1 and Q2 in 2020. Your audience wasn’t even living in the same world. How utterly bizarre if your brand’s voice and communication had just...stayed the same. 

When you’re conducting a tone check for your brand (or yourself—humans need tone checks, too), consider these questions: 

• What’s going on in your audience’s lives right now? How are they looking to you for help? 

• What keeps them awake at night, worrying about the day ahead? 

• How do they relax? 

• How do you want people to feel when they connect with your brand? 

• Who are you potentially alienating, and how can you better connect to that audience? 

• What is your audience responding to on social? What isn't capturing their attention? 

• What hesitations have you observed? What causes them to drag their feet before purchasing your product or engaging your service? 

• What about your brand is different from last year? How have you matured? What are your goals? 

If you regularly ask these questions, you’ll be sharply ahead of your competition.  Use the answers as the lens through which to review and edit your messaging. Adjust your positioning to solve for your audience's problems, and imbue your copy with the energy your audience favors. These measured micro shifts will help you grow organically with your audience and stay connected in a more authentic way à la real life. 
 

Want a more in-depth tone check? We’ve got a process clients really respond to, and we suss out your competition, too. We’d love to walk you through.

It’s a question that’s come up with all our clients recently, filtered through various lenses. How, in this new world, do we talk about: SPF for a summer that won’t exist; lipstick for mouths hidden behind face masks; art for a museum-less world; anything, really, for a population that’s nearly 15% unemployed? 

The collective mood is grim, and rightly so. The borders of our individual worlds have receded at a breathtaking pace, and we are unable to rely on the social and spiritual fuel of our previously contact-full lives. We can’t even envision the future. 
 

Antonym doesn’t offer quick, strategy-starved copy for a reason. It guts intention, and we know good communication is an art. As Helen Rosen Woodward—whose groundbreaking career in advertising copywriting allowed her to retire at the age of 43 in 1924 as one of the highest-paid women in the industry—said, “In writing good advertising, it is necessary to put a mood into words, and to transfer that mood to the reader.” 

The internet is the cornerstone of our new social lives. Coincidentally, it is also the only place where brands can currently exist. People are flocking to its pages and applications, desperate for fresh ways to engage and interactions that make them feel less hopeless. Words unattached to a meaningful mood are senseless. 

Think of it this way. When your friend’s having a tough time, and you want to do something special, you don’t just have them over for dinner, plop some food in front of them, and unpack all the reasons they should feel better. You lower the lighting, put on some music, arrange vibrant flowers, spend a few extra bucks on wine, make sure the temperature’s just right. You set a memorable mood because it shows you care. And it always outlasts the taste of the food. 

This is the world now. The food is cooked. How will your brand use language to magic a new mood for your customers? We're not talking spinning out content for content's sake. Think fresh editorial platforms, social campaigns, winsome email offerings, and connected platforms that help you solve your customer's problems tout suite. 

Want help? Contact us, and let's strategize.