User talk:TimGoodyer/Brand Language

Brand Language[edit]

Brand Language is the body of words and systems for their use in written and verbal communication associated with an organisation and/or its separate product offerings or business units. Brand Language consists of brand vocabulary and brand tone of voice. Vocabulary is what a brand is talking about, and tone of voice is how it is talking about it.

It is part of verbal brand identity, which also includes corporate naming (organisation/corporation: Sony), brand or product line naming (Sony product brands: Walkman/Playstation/Bravia) and straplines or positioning statements (Sony corporate strapline: 'make. believe').

Primary Role[edit]

The primary role of organisational brand language is to differentiate one company and/or its distinctive offerings from competitors.

It is widely associated with the marketing and sales role of competing for customers. But it can also be associated with competing for investors, recruiting talent, acquiring business partners or any area where other organisations are competing to secure the same assets.

Brand language is also used in internal communications, particularly in leadership and motivatational situations. It is closely linked to brand values as brand language needs to reinforce the qualities that brand or organisation believes make it different.

Whereas naming and straplines work mainly at a strategic level, brand language is the everyday tactical application of competitive persuasion by the written and spoken word.

Words as Assets[edit]

If positive words are strongly associated with particular brands these words become assets that competitive brands find difficult to use without simply reinforcing the associated brand. In his book Brand Sense (Kogan Page, 2005) Martin Lindstrom quotes extensive word association research carried out by Millward Brown demonstrating the strong link between the words “magic” and “kingdom” and Disney. So Disney appears to have made a successful investment in “owning” these words. A competing brand would have to make a considerably larger investment in attempting to own them than they would in trying to establish their own brand language.

The disadvantage of very strong brand language associations is that they may prove a hindrance if a brand wishes to position itself differently.

Delivery Channels[edit]

In Brand Sense, Lindstrom says brand language starts from the bottom up and “not suddenly placed on top like a piece of decorative icing”. So, as well as being competitive, brand language should be delivered as consistently as possible through all formal delivery channels.

Digital presence is now one of the most important starting points for any corporate communication. As social media have expanded, it is no longer realistic to attempt to control what people are saying legally about your brand or organisation. Worldwide marketing communications group Publicis promote their own strap line of ‘Contagious Conversations’ and it is widely accepted that organisations must now contribute to conversations about themselves. The starting point for an organisation or brand’s own communications is its digital presence.

Brand language is delivered externally through formal marketing communications, such as advertising and public relations. It is present wherever written and spoken language is used to communicate a proposition. This includes recruitment, corporate communications, investor relations, sales presentations, conference speaking, retail staff and whenever an individual answers the telephone on behalf of the brand.

Internally, brand language is delivered primarily through internal presentations, staff conferences and through intranet sites.

Because brand language is so widespread, it has many internal and external contributors. This diversity of sources and contributors makes it very difficult to control. Visual identity is produced from a central source, usually a design agency. It is usually delivered with a set of design guidelines produced to ensure the consistent delivery of design. Variations from these guidelines can be identified relatively easily by the brand’s managers. This is much more difficult with language.

Brand Language Practitioners[edit]

Brand Agencies[edit]

Brand design agencies have diversified beyond their roots in brand logo and packaging design into corporate identity and brand language. They are global businesses with the scope to ensure that brand naming and brand language works in different languages. Leaders include Landor and The Brand Union, both part of WPP Group, and Interbrand. Interbrand has dedicated verbal identity departments in both London and New York.

Digital and Social Media Companies[edit]

Brands are tracking social media in order to understand how people are talking about them. Practitioners include Visible Technologies, Lexalytics and Polecat. The corollary is that they contribute to how brands are talking about themselves. Linguabrand claims to have invented brand language analytics and to provide brand vocabulary and tone of voice measurement.

Copywriters[edit]

There are large numbers of freelance copywriters. Many have repositioned themselves as brand language experts. Where copywriting agencies exist they tend to be smaller, domestic businesses lacking the global reach of the big brand agencies. A prominent copy writer is John Simmons. He has written extensively on how brands can use words more effectively. His books include 'We, Me, Them and It (Texerre), Dark angels (Cyan) and The Invisible Grail (Cyan). Simmons was also a founding director of 26, a UK-based organisation promoting the use of better brand language.

Bibliography[edit]

Lindstrom, Martin (2005). Brand Sense. UK: Kogan Page. ISBN 0-7494-4371-5.
Simmons, John (2000). We, Me, Them and It. US: Texerre Publishing. ISBN 1-5879-9045-8.
Simmons, John (2005). Dark Angels: How Writing Releases Creativity At Work. UK: Cyan Publishing. ISBN 1-9048-7903-9.
Simmons, John (2006). The Invisible Grail: In Search of the True Language of Brands. UK: Cyan Publishing. ISBN 1-9048-7969-1.