Tone of Voice (and making food sexy)
Tone of Voice (often written as TOV) is so important.
But what is it?
It's the 'voice' of your brand, your company, your business and your product.
It's how you come across to your audience, how you would speak to prospective customers and how you hope and wish to connect with them.
I think of Tone of Voice as how I see my friends - all with their individual characters that appeal to me in their own way.
Brands needs to stand out. They need to have character. Growing consumerism means that there are an amazing amount of brands out there, all vying for the same market.
So how do they stand out? By giving themselves a character, a tone of voice - a way of speaking to people that will enable them to gain their trust, keep them interested and will ensure that those people stay loyal to them, their brand and their product.
Examples of brands that are MY favourites for their TOV:
Innocent drinks.
They produce juice drinks. They don't really need to say much else (apart from how good-for-you their drinks are) so they spend the rest of their time and energy engaging their audience with their hilarious and unrelated copy! See: 'Rules for riding a dinosaur', the 'Innocent wee-ometer' and 'Tales from your tongue'. They make me giggle, they make me want to tell OTHERS about their shenanigans, and I want to buy their products, even just to see what's written on their packaging... genius.
Marks & Spencer Food Hall.
Huffington Post called it 'food porn'. You know, the ad that changed the way that we thought about puddings forever: the sultry-sounding: "This is not just a chocolate pudding...this is a Marks & Spencer chocolate pudding." while the spoon cut it in half and out ooooozed some chocolate sauce. Oooh saucy! While we all took the mick, M&S laughed all the way to the bank while their sales of food rocketed 3500% that year! They've used 'subtle sexy'. They've used David Gandy speaking sexy in his pants (clever, as they know the wives buy the pants). And yet, still husbands trust them 'for good shirts', grannies continue to shop there for their cardies - an all-rounder brand. Well played, M&S. (apart from the recent 'lingerie' ad. d'oh.)
Jimmy's is like talking to your best friend. I may be a bit biased, as they're a local brand. Founder Jimmy Cregan says he has 'always tried to keep the brand fun and relaxed.' He began, and continues, to be the face of the brand and to be himself - by using his own TOV. The Jimmy's Homepage focuses on their 'flat white', stating it's: 'sleek, sexy and s... umm... something else. I can hear Jimmy saying this! (i've met him a few times). Their Twitter says 'Yo! We make awesome, ready-to-drink Iced Coffee available in the best fridges across the UK and beyond' - and i'll eat my (#KYCU) hat if Jimmy didn't pen that. Cregan says "It's about being memorable, not shouting the loudest."
hear, hear Jimmy.
Lidl and Aldi.
They'll hate me for putting them in the same shopping basket, but they deserve it - as they're both awesome. They both hail from Germany, and are both known for their discount groceries. And their witty tone of voice. They sell other discounted household goods and products, ad-hoc. So do they need to stand out from the crowd? Not really. Do they need to stand apart from each other? Probably not. But marketing works in mysterious ways - own a tone of voice, amuse people and they'll remember THAT brand the next time they need to shop. Clever, huh?
Remember Aldi's ad about fruit? Bon Jovi song, with a lemon and a pear. Remember Lidl jumping on the John Lewis bandwagon while selling a keyboard? Make 'em laugh, and they'll come flocking...
So who's responsible for setting Tone of Voice?
Marketing teams. Creative Directors. Ad agencies. More often than not - copywriters. Like me... *coughs*. It's not an easy task. We live, breathe and research a brand and its audience until all we can see are middle-aged ladies in fancy bras (one of my clients) when we go to sleep at night.
Then we write a proposal that fits in with your brand guidelines.
Then we (well, I do) write a 'tester' blog article, press ad, facebook post, whatever you're using. Then we (hopefully) all agree to continue to use that tone.
Why? Because it resonates. The audience get to know your brand like they know a friend (see Jimmy's Iced Coffee). They trust you and buy from you.
If you would like me to look at your TOV, I'd be happy to! Bras, underpants, sex toys, you name it- they all have to have a brand voice.
Give me a nudge on [email protected] to chat about YOUR brand...