Mind your brand voice

“The art of marketing is the art of brand building,” writes Philip Kotler, professor at Kellogg School of Management. “If you are not a brand you are a commodity. Then price is everything and the low cost producer is the only winner.”

This is the heart of brand voice—what Volusion.com, an e-commerce consulting firm defines as a key component in shaping brand’s identity. It should reflect your company’s personality in every communication medium.

Back in the ‘80s at a time when branding pioneer Alan Siegel coined the term, it would mean all tri-media efforts dominated by print collaterals where annual report was king. Today, in the world of multi-screens, it encompasses website, social media messages, emails and packaging.

Olga Kazakova of Volusion cites few global brands’ efforts in projecting consistent brand voice: Apple-Innovative, Coca-Cola-Happy, Disney-Magical and Nike-Motivational.

“In digital marketing, content is the key to brand voice,” says Len Stein in Visibility, an online magazine for marketing strategies, but laments that “ brands, to date, have a poor record of strategically engaging in meaningful conversations with consumers.”

“Brand stewards must recognize that content is but a means to the end,” Stein emphasizes. “Content drives conversations. Conversation is the way to engage people. Engaging with people is the only way brands will survive and thrive in a social mediated environment. And, it is the corporate, the brand voice that defines the brand personality for better or worse.”

In recent lecture on social media marketing in International Institute of Digital Marketing, Dierdre Breakenridge, CEO of Pure Performance Communications and author of Social Media and Public Relations and PR 2.0, identifies few important touch points for brand voice these days.

These are phone, forum, social web, customer feedback, web self-service, chat, online search, and email.

“Companies have to communicate with customers through the channel of their choice and at every touch point is brand voice,” reminds Breakenridge

Always remember that social media channels should be social. Learn how to communicate the right way with the Social Media Marketing Specialist Track of the Certified Digital Marketer Program.

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