With copy, is consistency really king?

Consistency is a sticky word.

We’re taught that the key to an effective brand voice is total unbreakable consistency across all touchpoints, because continuity equals familiarity, which equals loyalty, which equals sales. Makes sense.

And that’s not wrong.

Per se.

But the real question is not ‘should we be consistent?’ It’s ‘what should be consistent?’

Brands are like people

Humans use about 16,000 words a day.

Now imagine if every one of those words was uttered in the exact same way, using the exact same combination of words. If I ended a call with my landlord with ‘love you, bye’ or asked my best friend to ‘confirm her availability’ when organising a lunch date – they’d run a mile.

We adapt our language to suit the audience and situation. This helps us build the right kinds of relationships (instead of losing friends or moving house out of sheer embarrassment). The nuances in our tone or the words we use for that specific interaction will change, but we still always sound like us.

The same goes for brands. You could have a playfully irreverent personality that’s bonkers on social media, but the real test is whether this voice can easily flex to deliver the more functional messages too. If the answer’s yes, then you know it’s solid.

The dangers of being too strict

Where many go wrong is they become so fixated on sticking to a specific brand ‘tone of voice’ out of fear of ‘ruining it’, that everything is written in the same way, at the same volume, using the same selection of words. This makes the messages feel forced, overbearing, or just plain bland. That strategy will never resonate with the reader enough to cut through or create any sort of impact.

Or on the other hand, like a rebellious teen with strict parents, they go wild and create messaging that’s so far away from what the brand should be, all in the name of ‘creativity’. It’s like me suddenly slipping ‘rad’ or ‘dude’ to my vocabulary – it doesn’t matter who I’m talking to or when, I could never pull those off.

Everything doesn’t have to sound the same all the time. But everything does have to be true to your brand’s DNA.

Don’t confuse substance with style

When crafting a tone of voice for a client, we focus on making a clear distinction between brand voice and style.

Brand voice is permanent, it’s the fundamental principles that make a brand what they are which, in turn, informs how it sounds. It’s substance. And means that whenever your brand communicates, whatever the situation, consumers will always know it’s you. We build these principles from two solid foundations: a distinct personality and clear brand pillars.

The way we bring these principles to life then flexes depending on the audience, touchpoint and occasion. That’s style. It’s things like vocabulary, syntax and format.

Style can be inconsistent. In fact, it often should be.

Confusing these two elements is where problems arise, as the essence of the brand voice can easily be lost.

Teach them to fish

When carving out a brand voice, it’s important to make sure that it’s stretchy enough that it’ll work visually and verbally and in a variety of different contexts, as that’s how customers will interact with it.

It’s all too tempting to default to a handful of generic tone of voice characteristics that rely too heavily on style (who wouldn't want to be ‘honest’ and ‘clear’?) and a bank of key messages – but when these run out, you’re stuck.

Tone of voice guidelines should do just that – guide. They’re a checklist for ourselves, and other writers, to measure all messaging against. As long as your copy embodies each of the feelings conveyed in the principles, you’ll know your brand voice is consistent. Then you’re free to get the creative juices flowing, experiment with style, and build a genuine connection with your audience.

Want to learn more about how to carve out a clear brand voice?

You know what to do, get in touch.