According to the founder and chief executive officer of Amazon.com, Jeff Bezos, “Branding is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.” The Amazon brand has remained strong despite the negative press that it may sometimes get in relation to it’s tax commitments. Amazon’s goal is to be earth’s most customer centric company. Everything they do is designed to serve the customer in the best possible way.
A strong brand is trusted, memorable and remarkable or unique in some way. Brand awareness in any industry gives that company an edge in increasing sales and generating loyal long-term customers. Overall, your brand identity includes the physical aspects of your company’s corporate identity (logo, colour scheme, style) as well as what your brand says, what its values are, how you communicate its concepts, and which emotions you want your ideal customers to feel when they interact with your business.
Take a look at some descriptive words listed below to help start you thinking about what your company’s brand style or tone of voice is. You can also write your own list of relevant words to choose from. Select up to five words that resonate with your brand and then get more specific about each chosen word, for example, for the word “friendly”; a friendly and mature tone of voice might say, “you’ll love these marketing ideas” where as a friendly and young tone of voice might say, “check out these great marketing tips”.
Authoritative
Caring
Cheerful
Conservative
Conversational
Formal
Casual
Friendly
Fun
Helpful
Informative
Knowledgeable
Matter-of-fact
Professional
Quirky
Respectful
Serious
Smart
Trendy
Trustworthy
Upbeat
Whimsical
Witty
Some examples of well known brands and their personalities are as follows:
Apple
Words that define the Apple brand are: lifestyle, imagination, liberty regained, innovation, passion, hopes, dreams and aspirations. Apple focuses on giving ‘power-to-the-people through technology’. Their brand values are simplicity and the removal of complexity from people’s lives. They focus on people-driven product design and being extremely helpful to enable people and businesses to achieve their goals.
Microsoft
Crisp and clear, warm and relaxed, and ready to lend a hand are phrases that define the Microsoft brand. Miscrosoft’s tone of voice is crisp and clear. This means they’re to the point, write for scanning first and reading second. They’re natural, less formal and more grounded in real, everyday conversations. Occasionally they’re fun and they know when to celebrate. Microsoft show their customers that they’re on their side. They anticipate their real needs and offer great information at just the right time.
Mailchimp
Friendly, reliable and charming; MailChimp’s tone of voice is human. It’s familiar, friendly, and straightforward.
Porsche
Descriptive phrases that represent Porsche are: an expression of freedom; a unique attitude to life; and the realisation of a unique dream. The Porsche brand is all about unconventional ways, independence and individuality.
Coca-Cola
This iconic American brand is sold in more than 200 countries. It’s brand is described as happy, playful and refreshing. Coca-Cola represents the shared experience of having a good time.
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