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Establish the Voice of Your Brand & Get Ready to Be Loved
3 min read - 1 Quote & 1 Lesson
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Read time: 3 min
At a glance:
Quote: Voice matters
Lesson: The Clouds & Dirt brand voice model
Quote
"It only takes one voice, at the right pitch, to start an avalanche."
Dianna Hardy, Author
Lesson
Words move people.
From “I have a dream” to “This was their finest hour”, language creates ideas in people’s minds and if you change the language, you can change the ideas. “Self-checkout” sucks, but “express checkout” is attractive. “Sports mode” is ok, but “ludicrous speed” is exciting. Yes, words matter, both what you say, but more importantly how you say it.
One of the most informing book I read about the power of language and how to create a brand voice comes from Strong Language by Chris West. (Go buy the book! You won’t regret it!) He uses the example of Mini and Ferrari, showing how a brands voice can show up dramatically differently.
Mini
Born to corner. Driving a Mini is a ton of fun, thanks to its legendary go-kart handling. We could go on about its lightning quick responses and glue-like grip…
Ferrari
The Ferrari embraces the Side Slip Control 6.0 concept, which incorporates an algorithm that delivers a precise estimate of sideslip to the onboard controls systems…
It gave me and my practice of brand strategy an adaptable model to create a voice for any brand I’m helping to create.
Establish a voice for your brand that your audience will recognize and love
In this issue, I will share with you the Clouds & Dirt Brand Voice model, derived from the brilliant work of Chris West.
MACRO VIEW “CLOUDS”
Narrative
At the highest level, we need to know what story the brand is always telling. This sets up who the brand is trying to be. If there is already a brand strategy document, you will find either a brand narrative or you will be able to craft a narrative from the purpose, core values and personality traits. Here are some questions the brand narrative needs to answer:
What is the world the brand is trying to create?
What kind of people live in this brand’s world?
What does the brand stand for or against?
What does this brand believe in?
Example:
Mini (the Mini Cooper) believes in a world where driving your car should be fun, like driving a go-kart.
Tonal Values
You only need three tonal values. Each of them with descriptions that make the value clearer. Tonal values can be extracted from the brand personality. A brand that is “caring” can have a tonal value that is “friendly” or if a brand that is “prestigious” can have a tonal value that is “aloof”.
To give the tonal value more specific descriptions, use the 5 HOW technique, ask it again and again, until you get the value defined and differentiated in the category.
The brand sounds friendly.
How so?
It’s friendly like your neighbor
How like a neighbor?
Like someone who is welcoming
How is it welcoming?
By being very open, acknowledging your presence and sharing information
(Here we are getting someone - Friendly through information sharing)
You can keep going until you get to something highly relevant and differentiating for the brand.
MICRO VIEW “DIRT”
Once you have the Clouds set, it’s time to get down to the ground and really be specific.
Lexicon
Jargon is inevitable in any industry. The question is, which ones will you retain and which ones will you kill? If you are launching a whole new sub-category that is trying to differentiate itself, what words will you kill from your vocabulary?
What are some of the most used but meaningless words that your brand will not stand for?
Create a list around different groups, for example:
Product description
Customer service
Culture and careers
Problem statement/ disease state
Category/ sub-category description
Levels
When you have your tonal values, there is an ability to fine-tune them by your audiences. Take each tonal value and give them a 0-10 scale where your language most embodies that value at 10 and least embody that value at 0 (neutral). So effectively you have different levels of each value by audience.
For each of your key audiences whom you will be developing targeted copy for, go through an exercise to score a number on the scale to denote how much of that tonal value you will be using.
Example
Physician audience (Friendly 5, Prestigious 8, Nimble 10)
Patient audience (Friendly 8, Prestigious 5, Nimble 7)
This will give your brand voice guidelines the specificity it needs so your writers can do their job effectively and efficiently!
Conclusion
Establish a brand’s voice and you can paint the world in the mind of your audiences. They will recognize your brand anywhere and they will love you for it.
Ways I can help you:
Subscribe to Healthy Brand Mondays: Leverage brand thinking to accelerate your growth
Download free guides and tools: Learn from my years of experience as a brand strategist
Work with me: Be a podcast guest or hire my services for your brand
Seven Principles for Brands to Capture & Hold Attention
3 min read - 1 Quote & 1 Lesson
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Read time: 3 min
At a glance:
Quote: The value of attention
Lesson: How to capture & hold attention
Quote
"One of the greatest gifts you can give to anyone is the gift of attention"
Jim Rohn
Jim Rohn probably didn’t see it coming, but he predicted the attention economy. The value of our attention is being traded everyday and so if we were to master this economy, we have to master attention. Not just giving our attention intentionally but also the skill of capturing and hold the attention of our audiences.
Lesson
To influence anyone’s behavior, you have got to first capture and hold their attention. If not, your brand is invisible and will do no one any good.
I will share seven principles I learned from the book: Influencing Human Behavior by Harry Allen Overstreet and use The Dollar Shave Club ad as an example to illustrate each principle.
This ad has more than 28 million views on YouTube, it launched in 2012 and sky rocketed the brand into unicorn status, ultimately resulting in a $1Bn acquisition by Unilever four years later in 2016.
Learn and apply these key principles of attention for any brand
1/ MOVEMENT
Imagine if you had to hold your attention to a dot on the wall. It’s an impossible task, our eyes want to wander and if it does in fact stay focused on one spot, our brain is going to be put into hypnosis, or state of sleep.
Movement is paramount to holding attention, and if you’ve noticed, the scenes in the Dollar Shave Club ad is in motion the entire time. Whenever you ask “What is happening” or “What is going to happen?”, you’ve nailed this principle.
2/ KEEP THEM GUESSING
Unpredictability and drama is key. When the audience discovers it for themselves as opposed to being spoon fed and explained, they pay far more attention.
In the ad, they keep you guessing the whole time. What other crazy things will Mike say?
“Are the blades any good? No, our blades are f***ing great”
And what ridiculous scenes will appear?
Screenshot from Dollar Shave Club YouTube Channel
3/ LIKE ATTRACTS LIKE
The way in which we influence will determine who we influence. When we speak passionately, we arouse those with passion, when we proceed with cheerfulness, we get frank cheerfulness from those naturally cheerful.
I also call this the magic mirror. We need to show up as the person your target audience wish to become.
In this ad, Dollar Shave Club is clearly attracting those who have a sense of humor, not prude and see themselves as a rebel of sorts.
4/ LEAVE IT UP TO THEM
It’s infinitely more interesting if you ask a question than if you give a statement. Example in the book:
Let’s say there is a pamphlet on habit training for kids. Which is more attention grabbing?
“Does your child have temper tantrums?” vs. “Many children have temper tantrums”
“Does your child fuss about his food?” vs. Many children fuss about their food”
When you are asked a question, you are expected to reply. It leaves the answer to the audience and it engages them.
In the ad, Mike asked:
“Do you like spending twenty dollars on brand name razors? 19 of them go to Roger Federer”
This is infinitely more interesting than saying “The brands you buy today are too expensive”.
5/ INTRODUCE A CHALLENGE
When Gandhi flung a challenge to the British Empire, he became a figure of foremost interest in the world. If you want people to pay attention, throw up a challenge, but it needs to be fair and it needs to show sportsmanship.
Mike throws down a challenge to the status quo of paying for expensive razors.
“Do you think your razor needs a vibrating handle, a flashlight, a back scratcher and ten blades? Stop paying for shave tech you don’t need.”
And people paid attention. It rallied an entire market to rebel against big brands choose affordable convenience instead.
6/ NEW BUT FAMILIAR
We all know that introducing something new attracts attention, but what’s really important is that the new thing you are introducing, it needs a connection to what is familiar.
If an idea is introduced that seems like a complete overturn of the current perception and idea, you will turn people away instantly. The magic in the new never grows old, but be sure to sufficiently tie it back to the old to be at least interesting as well as acceptable.
The new business model of a subscription vs. buying each blade at a retail store wasn’t just thrown out there in the ad. It was introduced as money and time saving solution. Affordable blades shipped to your home.
7/ DON’T OVERWHELM
The mental limits of attention is real. When too many options are given, when too many elements are presented in a piece of art, the mind wonders, it shuts down and attention is lost.
With all the craziness going on in the ad, the key message is clear and presented as a slogan at the end of the commercial.
SHAVE TIME. SHAVE MONEY
Conclusion
Attention is critical to influence behavior. Apply the seven principles so you can best capture and hold the attention of your audiences.
P.S. - I’ve watched the ad probably 50 times. It’s just so good…
Ways I can help you:
Subscribe to Healthy Brand Mondays: Leverage brand thinking to accelerate your growth
Download free guides and tools: Learn from my years of experience as a brand strategist
Work with me: Be a podcast guest or hire my services for your brand
The Problem of Brand Purpose & How to Solve It
2.5 min read - 1 Quote, 1 Lesson & Framework
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Read time: 2.5 min
At a glance:
Quote: Give it away, give it away , give it away now!
Lesson: Learn a framework to get your purpose “just right”
Quote
"The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away."
Pablo Picasso
The idea of purpose has become a cultural talking point, at least here in the United States.
But the big problem about purpose is that it can be too big and intimidating for every brand to embody (at least that’s the prevailing perception today)
I saw this comment once on LinkedIn
“We sell ball bearings to businesses, there is no need for a purpose, we aren’t saving the world”
So what should brands do?
(My point of view is that I don’t care what you call this: mission, vision or purpose, technically they are different and I’m more than happy to get into an academic discussion about them, but hey, who has the time? You just need an idea to bring energy and a direction to the brand.)
Lesson
In this issue, I will help you solve this problem of purpose.
I will share a framework that helps you choose a purpose that is just right for the brand and use it as a Northstar, no matter how “small” it may be.
A brand’s purpose should feel natural and bring energy to the brand
Introducing the Goldilocks Purpose Zone
Where the right purpose for the brand rises above the BAR OF IMPORTANCE and falls within the ROLE OF THE BRAND.
1/ THE BAR OF IMPORTANCE
A purpose needs to feel important. It doesn’t have to be about saving the world, but it needs to feel like something a person would be willing to fight for. Something that goes beyond the product.
Some brands talk about being the best, building the best widget in the industry. If we are honest about it, does it rise above the bar of importance? Do people really care? Are they willing to fight for it? What about your customers and stakeholders? Do they care?
But Howie, my company just makes widgets…
I say, if water company can have something compelling, you can too
Liquid Death: “To make people laugh and get more of them to drink more water more often, all while helping to kill plastic pollution”
To make people laugh -> right there is an idea that goes beyond the product, water in cans. Who doesn’t want to laugh more and feel more joy?
Even if you are making ball bearings, are you helping the world run smoother? Can that idea transcend the product?
Notice that this is a choice, and that’s part of your brand strategy: making a set of decisions and choices to win in the market.
In the world of healthcare, brands can usually rise above this bar, the problem is usually the next guideline.
2/ THE ROLE OF THE BRAND
Sometimes the purpose of the brand is unbelievable, so audacious that it feels inauthentic, forced and unachievable.
Some brands will talk about “transforming the entire industry”. And whenever I hear that in healthcare, I call BS. No one company and brand can change the multi-trillion dollar industry with misaligned incentives at every level. That’s going beyond the role of the brand.
But Howie, my company IS really saving the world…
This is where we have to take an honest look at not just our beliefs but actions. What is the proof of your company saving the world? Especially beyond what you are selling? Brands who have grand visions of world changing work, don’t just do it through the products they make, because that is self-serving. When making claims of world changing ideas, actions need to directly oppose making money.
Patagonia: Yvon Choinard cemented their purpose of “in business to save the planet” by giving the entire company to a trust that will forever fund sustainability efforts.
CVS Health: “Building an entire world of health care around each and every person we serve, no matter where they are on their journey” They were one of the first to pull all tobacco products from all of their stores even though it meant losing millions and millions of dollars in revenue at once.
Fall within the role of your brand.
Don’t go talking about world changing ideas unless you have the actions to back it up and it passes the sniff test.
Conclusion
Every brand can have a purpose. Having a Northstar beyond just making widgets and money will bring energy to the brand, and give it opportunity to communicate and engage on a larger idea. Just make sure it rises above the bar of importance and falls within the role of the brand.
Ways I can help you:
Subscribe to Healthy Brand Mondays: Leverage brand thinking to accelerate your growth
Download free guides and tools: Learn from my years of experience as a brand strategist
Work with me: Be a podcast guest or hire my services for your brand
What is your healthcare company DNA?
Every company has an intrinsic DNA. And it is imperative that its brand reflects its DNA in order for its expression to be authentic and real. What is your healthcare company’s DNA type?
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Every company has an intrinsic DNA. And it is imperative that its brand reflects its DNA in order for its expression to be authentic and real. You can try to force a personality on a company, but you will probably fail, such misalignment requires a cultural change, which can take many years to complete. Some DNA changes however, come naturally as the company grows.
During my many years of working with healthcare companies, I’ve come to find a handful of DNA types that show up again and again. By recognizing them, it guides the entire strategy of the brand, making it more likely to be adopted and aligning the outside with the inside.
The four DNA types:
The Scientist
Scientists pride themselves in technical and scientific discovery. These are companies that typically have a scientific platform that they’ve discovered and patented, using it to create multiple treatments and therapies. Scientist companies are usually led by founders who are researchers and have deep technical expertise. Scientist companies stand apart by educating and communicating to stakeholders the potential of their platform.
OPPORTUNITY:
Scientist companies have a defendable secret sauce to help them stand apart.
TRAP:
Messaging that is so esoteric that only the internal team understands and cares about, resulting in an irrelevant brand expression.
Examples:
The Mother
Mothers are all about the people. In the case of healthcare companies, it would be patients, members, or the general public. They pride themselves in the best service and experience over everything else. These are companies that tell patient stories and celebrate the impact on their lives. Mother companies are typically commercial stage companies and later in their lifecycle.
OPPORTUNITY:
In healthcare, there is plenty of room to innovate on customer service and experience because of the disjointed and complex nature of the industry.
TRAP:
In a B2B2C environment, it can be seen as an over-reach, because when companies rely on physicians and healthcare professionals to treat patients, the companies themselves don’t actually deliver the care.
Examples:
The Designer
Designer companies are obsessed about their products and the systems they put together. They appreciate both form and function, taking a user centric approach when developing their solutions. High quality and reliable are typical descriptors of Designers. There is usually a very strong engineering and UX culture in the company and execution is deemed as an essential principle of success.
OPPORTUNITY:
Safety is such an important facet of anything healthcare related and Designer companies can build a strong sense of trust in their brand.
TRAP:
Too much focus on products and systems can come off as self-centered and cold.
Examples:
The Visionary
Visionaries are on a mission to change the status quo of care. They are typically thought-leaders and have a very strong point of view about what is wrong and what needs to be done in the healthcare space. Their purpose is often very clear and they can attract the biggest names in the industry. True Visionaries in healthcare combine both a strong opinion with the goods to back it up.
OPPORTUNITY:
Visionaries are charismatic and is able to tell stories that galvanize an industry, bringing awareness easily.
TRAP:
Too much “talking”, not enough “walking”. Touting some kind of a silver bullet without proof can backfire in the complex world of healthcare (ie. Theranos).
Examples:
Conclusion
The four DNA types are not mutually exclusive, but understanding which is the lead is important for any brand building initiative. Once you’ve identified which is the core DNA for your company, alignment and adoption can be attained more efficiently.
Which DNA is your healthcare company?
Ways I can help you
Download free guides (Healthy Brand Blueprint & Branding 101) to help you build healthy brands
Work with me as a fractional CMO/CBO or through Healthy Brand Consulting (Schedule a 15 min intro call)