Why do customers choose to spend their hard-earned money on one product over another? They might tell you that it’s all to do with quality, price or convenience, but in truth, it’s more likely that their preferred brand is better at informing and persuading their target demographic. As we move into 2026, it’s more critical than ever that brands have a distinct voice that grabs the attention of intended buyers. In a world flooded with homogeneous AI-generated content, clear, original brand voices are capitalising on this opportunity to stand out from the rest.
What is Brand Voice?
Your brand voice is a key component of your marketing strategy; it’s how you get your message out to the world. It’s a consistent style you adopt that elevates your brand, building recognition and reaching intended buyers across all channels of communication, like social media, email, and paid ads. Where customers are constantly bombarded with an endless barrage of ads, divisive news, and social media highlight reels, your brand voice is how your company’s identity cuts through the clutter.
There are all sorts of different voices out there from which you can take inspiration, but in the end, it all comes down to your brand identity and your target demographic. Buyers who are more serious tend to favour formal brands, while informal buyers will gravitate to brands which are more irreverent and playful. Much of this also depends on your market: an IPA brand can lean into the fun of sharing a drink with friends, while a law firm wants to assure potential customers that it is authoritative, well-established, and will take their case seriously.
How to Define Your Brand Voice
Many so-called ‘thought leaders’ recommend that you and your team pencil in a brainstorming session that involves googling various synonyms and generating a list of basic adjectives. Doing so would be a mistake, as it doesn’t guarantee consistency; words are malleable – they mean different things to different people and can potentially sacrifice your brand voice if you choose to chase this week’s trend.
Instead of listing down some words, ask yourself a couple of questions:
- What are your company’s goals?
- What are your company’s values?
Focus on a clear statement of purpose that prioritises your values. For example, if you were a sandwich shop with a more irreverent brand voice, but promote your use of quality local ingredients, you might write: “We love a good joke, but never at the expense of a good sandwich. Local ingredients and honest quality must always come first.” This way, you not only clarify your brand voice but also prioritise its different aspects, informed by your values.
Moreover, it’s always important to consider your potential customers’ traits. Formulate a buyer persona that represents a typical customer by evaluating what customers want from your brand, how they prefer to be marketed to, how they engage with your business, and even more trivial qualities, like their movie/television preferences and favourite clothing outlets. To get the most reliable data, survey your customers. It’ll equip you with the best information to help you home in on your customers’ motivations.
Brand Archetypes
If you’re still having trouble landing on a brand voice, you can take inspiration from brand archetypes, which trace back to the Swiss psychologist Carl Jung’s personality types. Each archetype offers its own set of values that tap into primal human desires and help make brands more relatable.
‘The hero’, for instance, values traits of inspiration, honour and bravery, and seeks to motivate its buyers with traits of inspiration, courage, and honour. The most notable ‘hero’ brands that come to mind are sports brands like Nike, Gymshark, and Red Bull. On the other hand, the appeal of ‘the creator’ is in their innovation and how they use their creative talent to solve complex issues.
Brand archetypes will help to maintain consistency across a variety of communication channels. You can take a look at the full list of twelve archetypes and see which you feel best aligns with your brand. Once you’ve made your decision, ask yourself the following questions:
- What does the voice of this brand archetype sound like?
- What does it do?
- What does it avoid?
- How does it motivate its target demographic?
- How can I apply those motivational strategies to my market?
It is also worth noting that brand archetypes aren’t always perfect. They might not be an ideal fit for you and could potentially be too restrictive. If your brand doesn’t fit the mould of any particular archetype, do not despair; brands are often more nuanced and complex than these twelve archetypes allow. In such a case, view each as a broad outline that can act as a north star, either individually or combined in pairs.
Reflect Your Product or Service
If you’re a private dentist, your brand voice will be colder and more formal than a shop that sells woolly jumpers. If you’re an independent jeweller, your brand voice will likely be more formal than a toy shop’s. In addition, don’t forget about your organisational culture. If you have a great product and a fantastic team culture, celebrate it and share it with your buyers.
Yes, there’s a degree of common sense that informs the decision-making process, but you’d be right to assume that in some cases, going against the grain will also set you apart from the competition. Dollar Shave Club, for instance, went on to become a massive success with its humorous, down-to-earth voice, in contrast to its competitors’ celebrity endorsements and sleek, tech-focused ads. But doing so can be risky; depending on your industry, you could be walking a fine line between eye-catching and unprofessional.
It’s also worth bearing in mind that some markets offer greater flexibility for brand voices. If you own a gardening business, your branding is less dependent on your services than on your target demographic and your business goals. Do you want to be cheap and cheerful, or would you prefer to position yourself as a luxury gardener who mows manor house lawns?
Distinct Brand Voices in the Wild
Duolingo
Playful yet self-aware, the language-learning app embraces its off-the-wall brand voice with a witty, fun tone that reflects its gameified approach to learning.
Apple
Minimal, sophisticated and confident, Apple’s brand voice reflects its product line. The trillion-dollar company’s emphasis is firmly on technical innovation and eye-catching design choices; it strikes a fine balance between covering the necessary technical language and keeping design front and centre for the masses who make up the bulk of its audience.
Biotiful
The health food brand utilises a calm, friendly tone and accessible scientific language to educate the public on the wonders of kefir yoghurts. The brand does not rely on exaggeration or risk sounding preachy; the warm, confident tone is inclusive, reinforcing the beliefs of their health-driven target buyers while attracting a broader range of new customers.
If you invest the right amount of time and resources, you can establish a distinct brand voice that aligns with your company’s goals and target buyers, all while celebrating your product and culture. When you’ve decided who you are and how you want to come across in your market, you are far more likely to find your base. You’ll win over new customers while converting others into loyalists who buy into your ethos and spread the word themselves. Whatever your business goals are, you need to market yourself effectively to achieve them. And to market yourself effectively, your brand needs a voice.
Written by Damian Woods