Would Tiffany’s feature Rocky Balboa in an ad?

Of course not. So don’t let your writer use their own tone of voice for your brand.

Developing and clarifying your brand’s personality, which defines the tone of voice and visual aesthetic, is critical to making genuine connections with real people. It empowers your designers, marketing team, and content creators by clarifying what’s right and not so right for the brand.

A powerful and effective exercise we use when helping our clients define their brand personality is identifying a famous person (can be more than one, and even fictional) as the personification of the brand.

At Propr Design, we like Anthony Bourdain because he is all about relationships, experiences, people (and food and drink), and stories while being a fantastic chef. He was also authentic, irreverent, flawed, and vulnerable; things we need to remind ourselves constantly are real and OK.

It takes effort to figure out who is “right” for your brand personality, but it is fun for teams to brainstorm and discuss with this approach. And it is worth it. Once you have the “right one,” you can close your eyes and imagine that person saying the words you write, and it just feels genuine and fantastically empowering. Your audiences will be more engaged and inspired too, which will improve marketing and sales.

So, is your brand’s personality Samual L Jackson, Bill Murray, Lucielle Ball, Winston Churchill, Charles Bukowski, Sterling Archer, Gene Wilder, or Archy Bunker?

If not, then who?