10 Great Examples of Brand Voice
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Business writing is all about effective communication, and for that, you need a strong brand voice.
In this post, we’ll take you through what brand voice is and why it’s an important tool for freelance writers to get to grips with. We’ll then explore 10 great examples of brand voice:
- Mailchimp
- Slack
- Duolingo
- Monzo
- Fitbit
- Canva
- Harley-Davidson
- Disney
- Entrepreneur
- TechCrunch
What Is Brand Voice?
Brand voice is the distinct personality a brand displays when communicating with its audience, whether that’s through social media posts, website copy, or other materials.
Businesses can make use of different linguistic tools to cultivate their brand voice, including:
- Tone (e.g., authoritative, conversational, or tongue-in-cheek)
- Style (e.g., formal or informal)
- Word choice and vocabulary
- Subject matter
Certain brand voices will cater to a specific target audience, while others will be more widely appealing.
Why Is Brand Voice Important?
As a freelance writer, there are two reasons why you should understand what brand voice is and how it works:
- When working with business clients, you will be expected to apply their brand voice to any content you produce for them. You may be provided with brand guidelines to follow.
- You will need to establish your own brand voice in order to successfully market your freelance business.
A well-executed and consistent brand voice is essential, as it can help clarify a brand’s core values, resonate with a target audience, and establish its reliability.
Brand voice also helps ensure a business is recognizable, memorable, and stands out from the crowd, so it’s important to get it right.
10 Examples of Brand Voice
We’ve established why brand voice is important, but what does a good brand voice actually look like in practice?
Let’s take a look at 10 examples of brands that have perfected their brand voice.
1. Mailchimp
Mailchimp is an email marketing platform aimed at both large and small businesses as well as freelancers.
Its brand voice is informal but informative, explaining complex marketing concepts clearly without being patronizing. It also makes use of some dry humor to build a rapport with the audience.
Take a look at this example from one of their blog posts:
The continued elevator imagery displays Mailchimp’s subtle sense of humor while maintaining a helpful tone.
The overall effect is a brand voice that reads like a friendly coworker offering advice – a great approach for a company that provides email assistance.
2. Slack
Like Mailchimp, Slack is a SaaS (Software as a Service) company that maintains an informative yet friendly brand voice aimed at professionals and businesses.
However, Slack’s brand voice tends to get right to the point with short, snappy sentences and a neutral tone.
This straightforward brand voice reflects Slack’s goal to create convenient and efficient workspaces.
3. Duolingo
If you’ve ever used Duolingo or seen its ads, you’ll be familiar with Duo, its green owl mascot. But it’s not just the language-learning app’s logo that leaves a lasting impression.
Duolingo cultivates a brand voice that is quirky and characterful with plenty of humor to be found across both its app and social media copy.
Take a look at this example from one of their social media posts:
This has proved to be a successful brand voice strategy, particularly as it reflects one of Duolingo’s key values – making learning languages fun.
It’s this informal approach to brand voice and education that sets Duolingo apart from its competitors.
4. Monzo
Monzo is an online bank that has embraced a casual tone in its content.
Financial matters are serious business, so it’s no surprise that many banks make use of a formal, complex tone.
But Monzo took a different route, earning its customers’ trust with a friendly and down-to-earth brand voice that engages people on a human level and recognizes their everyday needs.
Monzo also uses an active rather than passive voice, which creates a sense that the bank takes responsibility for its decisions – a position sure to earn respect from customers.
Take a look at this example from their homepage:
5. Fitbit
Fitbit produces wearable activity trackers that help users monitor their health and fitness levels.
However, Fitbit isn’t a brand that targets fitness enthusiasts exclusively – in fact, Fitbit makes a point of demonstrating that its products are for anyone, no matter their ability or what stage of their fitness journey they are in.
This approach is clear in Fitbit’s brand voice. Comforting, encouraging, and uplifting messages are shared across its customer-facing communications, and it makes use of the plural first person to promote a sense of community.
Take a look at this example from one of their blog posts:
6. Canva
The digital design tool, Canva, is a free service that allows anyone to create social media and website graphics.
Canva is a tool that turns complex ideas into something understandable and accessible, and the same is true of their brand voice.
Canva’s brand voice is friendly and informal but also adventurous and inspiring. It makes use of plenty of energetic words, prompting its audience to take action without overcomplicating things with lots of adjectives or tech jargon.
As they state in their brand guidelines, “Canva makes it easy for people to achieve their goals. We do this by making design simple. Our words should do the same.”
7. Harley-Davidson
Motorbike manufacturer, Harley-Davidson, haand you need a strong brand voices had a lot of time to perfect its branding since the company’s humble origins in 1903.
The Harley-Davidson brand is synonymous with rebellion, adventure, and biker culture worldwide, and its brand voice capitalizes on these qualities.
It makes use of tough, no-nonsense messaging that is full of confidence. It may seem to go against many marketing guidelines, but in fact, it asserts its expertise as a business that’s been going for more than a century and packs its content with personality.
Its “Screw It, Let’s Ride” marketing campaign is no exception:
8. Disney
The Walt Disney Company is one of the most instantly recognizable brands, so it’s no surprise that its brand voice makes our list.
The media and entertainment juggernaut is most known for its magical feature films, and that touch of magic is present across its brand communications.
Disney’s brand voice is one that is joyful and friendly. Its content across platforms invites children and families to “be part of the story,” “find your magic,” and share in the place “where dreams come true.”
9. Entrepreneur
The aptly titled Entrepreneur magazine shares news and advice on business and entrepreneurship, particularly aimed at new and smaller businesses.
As a result, its brand voice is one that is helpful without being overly complex, takes on the second person, and uses an informal tone to address readers directly.
Take a look at this example from one of their blog posts
10. TechCrunch
Last on our list of great brand voice examples is TechCrunch. TechCrunch is a digital magazine that publishes articles about tech startups and the tech industry more generally.
It’s frequented by industry experts and has a reputation as one of the most trustworthy sources of tech news, so it’s no wonder that its voice is informative and full of technical terms that demonstrate its contributors’ expertise.
At the same time, TechCrunch embraces a tone of voice that is witty and occasionally tongue-in-cheek, which creates a sense of familiarity with its core readership.
Take a look at this example from one of their blog posts:
Becoming a Freelance Writer
If you’re a freelance writer looking to work with business clients, our Becoming A Freelance Writer course teaches you everything you need to know to write blog posts and articles professionally, including how to adapt to brand voice.
Don’t just take our word for it – try us out for free.
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