Are You You At Every Touchpoint? Is Your Brand?
A small sample of “on-brand” at the smallest of moments.
It’s one thing to write a great post for yourself or a great video for your company, but it’s another to ensure that it ladders up to what you or your brand stand for, and that it’s not a one-off.
Even though we’re talking about writing and storytelling, it’s about walking the walk whenever you talk. Cohesive storytelling means you exude your personality and tone throughout every touchpoint, so that nothing you say or do feels out of place. Without a clear sense of how you want to be perceived, that’s harder to do. And you risk sounding like everyone else in the sea of sameness - a smart thought-leader like all the other smart thought-leaders on LinkedIn, or a safe brand that acts just like its competitors. Finding your ownable point of difference is the trick. So is making it relevant to your audience or ICP.
If you’re in e-commerce, is your shopping cart experience reflective of your brand? If you're a founder, do your personal posts complement your company’s ethos?
To get personal for a moment, I’m a writer at heart, with a thirst for wit and for adding a little spice to everything I write. I like to hide a chuckle or a wink in an insight. So when my family had a few things placed on the curb to give away, we could have simply written “Free” on them - but that wouldn’t have been on brand. And perhaps not as successful - our “free-help-yourself-to-our-used-stuff-that-we-have-no-room-for” campaign had a 100% uptake rate!
Need some more business-focused examples?
Ember, makers of the coffee mugs that keep your caffeine warm, sign their emails with “Keep warm, Ember”.
Liquid Death, the company that’s perennially hacking up traditional marketing efforts, even does it with their marketing opt-in during checkout: “You agree to be brainwashed by Liquid Death marketing through rare (but hilarious) text messages at the phone number provided. Once successfully brainwashed, we may turn you into a human battery to help power our large robots that we’re training to take over the world. You also understand that once Liquid Death controls the human race, all beverages will be Liquid Death for eternity.”
Warby Parker, the DTC brand that re-envisioned the eyewear industry, prints “Nice to see you” on the inside of their glasses cases.
All of these are small examples - a sign-off, a legal opt-in, a line in a box - and that’s the point. It’s easy to make one good commercial (great is harder) that exudes a brand tone, but keeping that tone alive across all touchpoints means you need a strong brand - a strong sense of who you are, a strong sense of what makes you stand out, and a strong desire to differentiate yourself.
So, what does your distinct voice want to say?
