marketing-brand-voice

---
name: marketing-brand-voice
description: Legacy fallback for brand governance and style policy work. Prefer copywriting and copy-editing for operational production tasks. Use when documenting or auditing voice rules, not as the default drafting workflow.
---

# Brand Voice Skill

Frameworks for documenting, applying, and enforcing brand voice and style guidelines across marketing content.

## Brand Voice Documentation Framework

A complete brand voice document should cover these areas. Use this framework to help users define their brand voice or to understand an existing brand voice configuration.

### 1. Brand Personality

Define the brand as if it were a person. What are its defining traits?

Example: "If our brand were a person, they would be a knowledgeable colleague who explains complex things simply, celebrates your wins genuinely, and never talks down to you."

### 2. Voice Attributes

Select 3-5 attributes that define how the brand communicates. Each attribute should be defined with:

- What it means in practice
- What it does NOT mean (to prevent misinterpretation)
- An example demonstrating the attribute

### 3. Audience Awareness

- Who the brand is speaking to (primary and secondary audiences)
- What the audience cares about
- What level of expertise the audience has
- How the audience expects to be addressed

### 4. Core Messaging Pillars

- 3-5 key themes the brand consistently communicates
- The hierarchy of these messages (which comes first)
- How each pillar connects to audience needs

### 5. Tone Spectrum

How the voice adapts across contexts while remaining recognizably the same brand.

### 6. Style Rules

Specific grammar, formatting, and language rules. See the Style Guide Enforcement section below.

### 7. Terminology

Preferred and avoided terms. See the Terminology Management section below.

## Voice Attributes

### Common Voice Attribute Pairs

When defining brand voice, it helps to position attributes on a spectrum. Here are common attribute spectrums:

| Spectrum   | One End                       | Other End                 |
| ---------- | ----------------------------- | ------------------------- |
| Formality  | Formal, institutional         | Casual, conversational    |
| Authority  | Expert, authoritative         | Peer-level, collaborative |
| Emotion    | Warm, empathetic              | Direct, matter-of-fact    |
| Complexity | Technical, precise            | Simple, accessible        |
| Energy     | Bold, energetic               | Calm, measured            |
| Humor      | Playful, witty                | Serious, earnest          |
| Innovation | Cutting-edge, forward-looking | Established, proven       |

### Defining an Attribute

For each chosen attribute, document it in this format:

**[Attribute name]**

- **We are**: [what this means in practice]
- **We are not**: [common misinterpretation to avoid]
- **This sounds like**: [example sentence demonstrating the attribute]
- **This does NOT sound like**: [example sentence violating the attribute]

Example:

**Approachable**

- **We are**: friendly, clear, jargon-free, welcoming to beginners and experts alike
- **We are not**: dumbed-down, overly casual, or lacking substance
- **This sounds like**: "Here's how to get started — it takes about five minutes."
- **This does NOT sound like**: "Yo! This is super easy, even a noob can do it lol."

## Tone Adaptation Across Channels and Contexts

The brand voice stays consistent, but tone adapts to context. Tone is the emotional inflection applied to the voice.

### Tone by Channel

| Channel                  | Tone Adaptation                          | Example                                                               |
| ------------------------ | ---------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Blog                     | Informative, conversational, educational | "Let's walk through how this works and why it matters for your team." |
| Social media (LinkedIn)  | Professional, thought-provoking, concise | "Three things we learned from running 50 campaigns this quarter."     |
| Social media (Twitter/X) | Punchy, direct, sometimes witty          | "Your landing page has 3 seconds. Make them count."                   |
| Email marketing          | Personal, helpful, action-oriented       | "We put together something we think you'll find useful."              |
| Sales collateral         | Confident, benefit-driven, specific      | "Teams using our platform reduce reporting time by 40%."              |
| Support/Help docs        | Clear, patient, step-by-step             | "If you see this error, here's how to fix it."                        |
| Press release            | Formal, factual, newsworthy              | "The company today announced the launch of..."                        |
| Error messages           | Empathetic, helpful, blame-free          | "Something went wrong on our end. We're looking into it."             |

### Tone by Situation

| Situation                 | Tone Adaptation                        |
| ------------------------- | -------------------------------------- |
| Product launch            | Excited, confident, forward-looking    |
| Apology/Crisis            | Sincere, direct, accountable           |
| Celebration/Success       | Genuine, appreciative, collaborative   |
| Educational/Instructional | Patient, clear, expert                 |
| Sales/Direct response     | Urgency-driven, benefit-focused, clear |

## Style Guide Enforcement

### Common Style Rule Categories

When reviewing content, check for consistency in these categories:

1.  **Punctuation**:
    - Use of the Oxford comma
    - Use of em-dashes vs. en-dashes
    - Punctuation inside or outside quotation marks
    - Use of exclamation points (e.g., "max one per piece")

2.  **Capitalization**:
    - Headline case vs. sentence case for subheadings
    - Capitalization of job titles
    - Capitalization of product features or specific brand terms

3.  **Formatting**:
    - Use of bold for emphasis
    - List formatting (bullets vs. numbers)
    - Date and time formats
    - Number formatting (e.g., spelling out one through nine)

4.  **Perspective**:
    - Use of first person ("we", "us")
    - Addressing the reader directly ("you")
    - Use of third person ("the company", "users")

## Terminology Management

### Preferred Terms

Words that align with brand voice and category positioning.

### Avoided Terms

Words that are off-brand, overly technical, or used by competitors.

### "Forbidden" Words

Specific terms that should never be used (e.g., "cheap", "best-in-class").

### Pronunciation and Spelling

Guidelines for brand-specific names or technical terms.