Guide to guidelines

D&AD asked me to share some top tips to help anyone answering this year's New Blood Audible brief write TOV guidelines. What you’re about to read first went live here ?

Talking tone of voice: Tone of voice is how your brand talks. It’s what you say and how you say it, so it’s important everyone understands your way with words. Give them guidelines full of information, and the typical words and phrases that make sure you always sound like you.

Start at the start: Write your guidelines in your brand’s tone of voice. From the first word on the first page to the last word on the last page. This shows readers how it looks and works in everything.

Get your guidelines going: Describe your tone of voice. Write a sentence or a paragraph. Or even a whole page. Talk about where it comes from and why it’s important, and how your guidelines will help readers write right for your brand.

Present your principles: Introduce them. Say how they work alone or together. Then explain them. Write a paragraph for each one. More if you have to, but only if you have to. You want everything to be easy.

Three principles keep things simple. Less can lack direction. Five provide plenty of information. More can lack confidence.

Examples of executions: Show your tone of voice in action. Write an ad and an email, a tweet and a webpage, so readers can see how it looks in long and short copy, and when talking about different things. Maybe you lean on one principle more than another depending on what you’re saying and who you’re saying it to.

If you’re working on a re-brand, show befores and afters. If you’re working on a new brand, show dos and don’ts.

Words about words: Choose words to use that really represent your brand and its category. For example, Sky said “Plot twist” to present its first-ever TV. Pick your preferences too. For example, Innocent says “drinkers” not “customers” and Chanel says “boutique” not “store”. Write an at-a-glance A-Z for readers to reference.

Key takeaways to take away: Not everyone reading your guidelines will want or need to know every single thing. Think about people signing off copy rather than writing it. Give them a shortcut, an overview, or a checklist.

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Here's how I write a brand book, and here's a bit about branding.