At my wife’s coaxing, I finally saw “Juno” the other day (for those living under a rock, it’s a coming-of-age film about a teenager’s unplanned pregnancy). I found myself liking the movie, mainly due to the whip smart dialog of screenwriter Diablo Cody. In fact I started thinking that every character in the movie, and there were a number of them, spoke in the same sassy-witty-funny way.
Clearly Ms. Cody has a distinct style of speak, one that she can rightly call her own (until it is ripped-off ad nauseam by every studio who took note of the movie’s grosses). Essentially, what I am saying is that “Juno” has a brand voice.
A brand voice is one of the most powerful — yet often overlooked — aspects of a brand. While organizations can be rigid in their enforcement of their brand’s visual aspects (logo, colors, fonts, etc.), the same can not always be said of the brand voice. Yet whether it has been articulated in your brand standards manual or not, it’s there…in the way people feel about how your website, ads and collateral speaks to them. Is it consistent? Appropriate? Genuine? It should be.
Reading about “Juno,” one of the character’s many fans declared her to be ”Blunt, brave, chill, caring, hilarious, ingenious, mirthful…totally boss…alive, sparkling…retro…and nonchalantly kick-ass.”
Would your audience be able to be this specific about your brand voice?
