“Work is theater, and every business a stage.” – The Experience Economy
Your brand is more than your look. It’s everything you do, including how you sound and act. You and your team create the experience and culture that exists for both your “actors” (your employees) and the “audience” (your customers).
In my previous post I discussed the first five pages of my brand book. Today, I’m turning the page and covering Who We Are and your Tone of Voice.
Including Who We Are provides an important element in your brand book for your employees as well as your human resources team. Who We Are essentially describes the characteristics you want your employees to present. These qualities fulfill your mission and should be sought out when hiring. Your Tone of Voice provides straightforward copy writing and verbal instructions for creating your brand feeling.
STEP 7: FOCUS ON YOUR BRAND IDENTITY
Define the characteristics that will help you fulfill your mission and vision.
Explain your customer experience vision and list qualities that will make that vision happen.
Lastly, and possibly most importantly, think about what kind of life you want your employees to have. This should match or compliment your customer experience goals. Your internal culture must provide an environment that supports the customer experience you desire. If you want your staff to provide friendly service, you need to provide a friendly place to work.
Combine your lists and determine the most important attributes. If all the qualities you listed are equally important, that’s okay. Let’s be clear though, you are creating a unique brand, and you need unique attributes to make that happen.
STEP 8: CLEARING YOUR BRAND VOICE
After you know yourself and the experience you want your staff and customers to have, how does that sound? Describe the feelings you want to create and explain how to get there. In my brand book I say “We provide a breath of fresh air. We clear the clutter. We are intentional and understandable. We stay away from jargon. We make people believe in the power of branding and the calm it provides in their busy lives. And we have a little pun fun and like to play with words and graphics…”
I ended this section by providing some examples of words that inspire the brand feeling.
At MJC MKTG I want working with me to be refreshing and fun. Brand books provide the calm that I know I needed as the marketing director for an incredibly busy non-profit organization. I can help you create the calm in the chaos. Message me here.
My next post will cover logo descriptions and use.
Until then….Be Consistent. Be Clear. Be seen.