
Fun Fact: Did You Know Britney Spears’ Breakout song “Baby One More Time” wasn’t written for her?
It was first offered to the R&B group TLC who turned it down because they couldn't see themselves singing those words.

"I like the song but do I think it’s TLC?" said their lead singer T-Boz, "No disrespect to Britney, it’s good for her. But was I going to say ’hit me baby one more time’? Hell no! So, I’m clear that it was a hit, but I’m also clear that it wasn’t for TLC."
(That's right they didn't chase Waterfalls they stuck to what they knew!)
Looking back it's hard to imagine anyone else singing the song.
So what does this have to do with business communication?
A brand's Tone of Voice (TOV) refers to the unique personality and voice that a brand uses to communicate with its audience.
It's this tone that sets your brand apart from others in your industry and builds a connection with your customers. And when done right it can make your brand instantly recognisable across your platforms.
Unfortunately, too many B2Bs ignore the importance of their TOV.
Let's try an exercise:
Take a look at these examples
Can you spot which statements are from Tesla, Volkswagon, Ford, and Toyota?

Not easy - That's because when we say the same words we sound the same as our competitors making it impossible to stand out.
In his book Six Rules for Brand Revitalization: Learn How Companies Like McDonald's Can Re-Energize Their Brands, Larry Light Global CMO of McDonald’s from 2002 to 2005 writes about how changing their tone of voice created a ground-breaking campaign that helped bring McDonald’s back to life. He said: "What we communicate is important. How we communicate is also important. The tone and style of our communications had to be relevant."

In the early 2000s McDonalds was in serious decline.
It was under attack from the media, embroiled in child obesity debates and unhealthy food claims. They even made a documentary about the effects of eating McDonalds for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! While previous McDonald’s campaigns seemed to focus heavily on the brand telling customers how to feel and what to do - this type of lecturing tone of voice was not what their customers wanted to hear. "We told customers that they should take a break today; that we do it all for them; that nobody makes their day like we do at McDonald’s;"

"They did not want a corporation telling them how great they are and that customers should appreciate what McDonald’s does for them. Clearly, we had to change the way in which we spoke to our customers. The traditional voice of McDonald’s might have been. “McDonald’s. You will love it. We called the new McDonald’s tone, the “I voice.” Instead of telling customers how to feel, we let them tell us how they feel. The expression “I’m lovin’ it” said that... I enjoy having McDonald’s in my life. It reminded everyone that McDonald’s was part of their lives and their culture and that McDonald’s overall experience was one of warmth and a real slice of everyday life." Source: Business Insider
Here's what you need to do:
Find out Who you are
In the first 5 seconds of meeting your audience wants to know what makes your brand tick, what makes you different, and what they can identify with.
Imagine if you had to introduce your brand to a friend at a dinner party How would you describe your brand’s personality?
While it may seem strange - Personality is extremely important and attaching human characteristics to your brand allows your audience to make an instant connection.
You may remember the 2000s I'm a Mac ads where a PC was portrayed as all business and traditional compared to the Mac creative, out-of-the-box thinker.

Your audience wants to know what makes your brand tick
- What makes you different, what can they identify with.
(Even better ask a customer or somebody outside of your company how they would describe your business in three words.)
When Liquid Death entered the Water market they didn't want to be another bottled water company.
Instead of the usual serenity, yogi, mountains, and streams they
created a Brand (water in a tall can) with a punk-rock personality that fought against plastic pollution.
Their bold designs and statements like "Murder your Thirst", or "Death to Plastic" gave their brand an instant personality so different from the usual water brands that drew in a different target market and made drinking water cool.

Set the Right Tone
What tone should your writers adopt to consistently get your brand voice across?
Start to build a list of tone characteristics. Remember this will need to be consistent across all of your platforms so choose one that you like
Here are a few common tones of voice traits see if you can match them to the brands below
a. Encouraging, inspirational, uplifting
b. Curious, daring
c. Friendly, informative, empowering,
d. Assertive, confident, aggressive
e. Direct, straightforward, no-nonsense
f. Trustworthy, Caring, Educational
g. Dry, upbeat, witty, pun-filled

3. Find your Language
The type of language that a brand uses is a strong indicator as to the type of relationship it is looking to form with its customers.
David Ogilvy said “If you’re trying to persuade people to do something, or buy something, it seems to me you should use their language, the language they use every day, the language in which they think.”
Select the language style and vocabulary that aligns with your brand's personality with your audience. For instance, if your brand aims to be friendly you'll want to use language that makes you approachable rather than distant.
Learn to ditch the generic industry jargon

Dove's content although educational is never a lecture but more like having a conversation with your older sister or cool aunt.
David Ogilvy said “If you’re trying to persuade people to do something, or buy something, it seems to me you should use their language, the language they use every day, the language in which they think.”
The type of language that a brand uses is a strong indicator as to the type of relationship it is looking to form with its customers.
Select the language style and vocabulary that align with your brand's personality with your audience. For instance, if your brand aims to be friendly and approachable, you could use conversational language and avoid jargon.
Upmarket brands often use structured, aspirational language built around sophisticated concepts – or, if they are a global brand, they may look to express much of their personality visually and with a distinct lack of words.
More populist brands look to break down the jargon and acronyms of an industry and talk to consumers in language that is much closer to how their buyers speak.
Professional brands tend to be the most talkative – although this doesn’t always work in their favor because they can become self-absorbed very quickly.
Lifestyle brands are often cheeky and carefree, and their language reflects that casualness.
Formal Tone: Professional & Corporate
Characteristics: You will want to maintain a polished and more structured language style. The formal tone is professional, authoritative, and often used in serious or academic contexts. It adheres to proper grammar and syntax, avoids contractions, and uses a more extensive vocabulary.
Use Cases: Formal tone is suitable for legal documents, academic papers, reports, and business communications where professionalism and authority are essential.
Inspirational Tone: Caring & Inspiring, Positive
Characteristics: The inspirational tone aims to motivate and uplift the audience. It uses positive language, often employs storytelling, and strives to create an emotional connection.
Use Cases: Inspirational tone is effective in marketing campaigns, advertisements, and content meant to inspire action or convey a sense of purpose.
Conversational Tone: Playful & Friendly
Characteristics: The conversational tone is friendly, approachable, and relatable. It mimics everyday speech and often includes contractions and colloquial expressions.
Use Cases: Conversational tone is ideal for blog posts, social media content, email marketing, and any communication that aims to build a personal connection with the audience.
Humorous Tone: Casual
Characteristics: The humorous tone incorporates humor, wit, and playfulness. It uses wordplay, puns, and jokes to entertain and engage the audience.
Use Cases: Humorous tone can work well in advertisements, social media content, and marketing campaigns where the goal is to entertain and create a memorable impression.
A brand may speak in multiple languages – but it should look as much as possible to speak in one distinctive tone of voice everywhere.
4. Create The Rhythm
Every brand needs a speech pattern, that is a specific pace and pattern so that your audience consciously or subconsciously recognises you and ‘hears’ your brand’s voice whenever they read your words.

What I do which isn't too weird, is to ask myself "When I read my words out loud who's my perfect narrator?" I'm currently imagining Florence Pugh reading this newsletter.
Having said that, there are often sectoral dialects. Retail brands speak quickly and with energy to convey urgency and opportunity.
Lifestyle brands, are relaxed, adopting a slower-paced tone of voice, more attuned to the peaceful surroundings of their audience.
Professional brands tend to use a more measured, carefully structured style of speaking will longer, fluent and structured sentences. This reflects their desire for credibility, authority, and reliability.
And while you don't want to confuse your audience sometimes 'it's good to go against the norm and break the pattern.
Take a close look at who you are as a brand and what perception you want people to have of you from your writing.
Consider Context and Platform:
Adapt your tone of voice to suit different contexts and platforms. What works on social media may not be suitable for formal documentation. Train your team to adjust the tone accordingly while staying true to the brand's core voice.
Test and Iterate:
Pilot your tone of voice in real-world scenarios, such as marketing campaigns or customer interactions. Collect feedback from both internal and external sources. Use this feedback to refine and improve your brand's voice over time.
Train Your Team:
Ensure that your team members, especially those responsible for content creation and customer interactions, understand and can implement the brand's tone of voice guidelines effectively. Training and ongoing support are essential.
Monitor and Maintain Consistency:
Continuously monitor your content and communication channels to ensure consistency in your tone of voice. Regularly review and update your brand voice guide as needed to reflect any changes in your brand's identity or audience preferences.
Adapt to Feedback and Trends:
Be open to feedback and evolving trends. The tone of voice should remain flexible enough to adapt to changing audience expectations and industry shifts while staying rooted in your brand's core values.
Your Brand TOV is extremely important especially if you want to differentiate yourself in a complex market.
If you don't take the time to nail and align it in your company messaging you risk leaving your core customers confused. Customers who expect the brand to behave in a particular way only to find themselves being spoken to in a conflicting, way elsewhere.
Yet too often brands fail to follow this through. They create their ToV only to apply it to where they think their customers' main touchpoints are ie: appearing in advertising and some external communications but it’s not present in other forms of correspondence or digital environments.
When a brand fails to carry its voice through to all its touchpoints, it quickly muddles expectations and experiences.
Your tone of voice should paint a clear picture of who you are as a brand.
The way you make your readers feel will define your personality and will directly impact your business.
I train and advise B2Bs on their messaging and narrative arcs and help them connect with their customers on a human level.
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