What would it be like to go on a blind date with your brand?
If you can’t answer that question, you haven’t truly defined your brand personality.
Likewise, everyone in your organization should be able to answer that question pretty seamlessly.
And really, a customer relationship IS like dating.
Would your ideal customer want to date your brand?
Brand personality defines and outlines all of these things. It not only creates a brand persona for your customer to connect to, but it also ensures brand consistency across all platforms.
Why Brand Personality is Important
Imagine booking a stay at a new, modern hotel, touted for their customer service.
You walk into the contemporary and open design of the lobby and are greeted by a pleasant desk clerk who gives you a key to your room.
The bellman comes to help with your luggage, he rips your bag from your hands and yells something in a different language at you.
You are a bit taken back, especially at a hotel that brags about their amazing customer experience, but hey… you’re on vacation, you promised yourself you wouldn’t sweat the small stuff.
Your bellman throws your luggage into your room and storms out.
As you walk into the room you do a double take. It’s furnished with large heavy wood furniture, thick, ornate drapery, and dark colors.
What happened to the modern design?
You need a drink. You head to the bar, but as you enter you realize everyone is using sign language to communicate.
No words.
Is this a dream? Are you in Las Vegas? What happened?
Here’s What Happened?
What happened is exactly what happens when you don’t have a consistent brand personality.
Customer experience relies on a consistent brand personality through every channel and touchpoint.
This is true in the:
- Visual design of your logo, website, and other brand images.
- Content you create to represent your brand online and off.
- Voice and personality your team uses to speak with customers and communicate both internally and externally.
If a customer experiences a different look, feel, or voice in one or more of the channels your company uses to communicate, it instantly dilutes their trust and confidence in your brand.
The Brand Personality Document
Unfortunately, maintaining a consistent brand personality is easier said than done.
As your organization and team grow, it’s imperative to create guidelines to ensure everyone is on the same page.
That’s why when it comes to your visual identity, you create brand guidelines. And likewise, when it comes to your messaging, you create a brand personality document.
What is a Brand Personality Document?
A personality document is a guide which lays out the voice and identity (or personality) of your brand.
It ensures brand consistency in voice and messaging across all customer touch points.
This includes both online (website, blog, placed content and guest blog posts, social media platforms) and offline (store locations, events, conferences, speeches), and by all employees.
Communication across every PESO model channel you use to create and distribute content.
It should be included in your PR plan and align with the objectives and tactics presented there.
It must be used by all team members and external partners speaking on behalf of your brand and through all four media types.
A personality document includes:
- Key messages, elevator pitch, and boilerplate
- Mission statement and values
- Target audience overview
- Tone and voice guidelines
- Qualifiers
- Industry-specific lingo (to use and to avoid)
(Need help creating these things? Make sure you join our 2019 30-Day Communications Challenge. Join the Spin Sucks Community to be the first to know when our third annual challenge launches in just a few weeks.)
Brand Personality Documents for Every Organization
Brand personality documents range from the basic to the very detailed.
A good rule of thumb is the larger the organization, the more detail the personality document should be.
Why?
Team members are more degrees of separation away from the core leadership. Because of this, messaging and voice have a greater tendency to become altered and distorted.
Just think about what happens when you play a game of telephone.
In addition, the more nuanced or sensitive your industry, the more specific it needs to be.
For example in the financial, insurance, legal, or medical industry, there are very strict guidelines as to what you can and cannot say. These need to be included in your personality document—along with any specific disclosures or language which must be used (or avoided).
The Elements of a Brand Personality Document
Let’s break down each of the main elements of the brand personality document to help you create a template for your own organization.
Key Messages
Key messages tell your consumer who you are and how you can help them. They are written for the consumer and speak directly to their needs. You should have one overarching key message and several secondary messages.
Mission Statement
Why do you do what you do?
Why does your business exist?
While the key messages are the external messages you want to project, the mission statement has an internally-directed focus. They must be clearly related and connected but can have slightly different perspectives.
Ideal Customers(s)
Similarly, your ideal customer is who you want to work with and who you want to buy your product. These are the people who you are talking to with your communications messages.
This section is where you’ll lay out your buyer personas and any other information relevant to understanding your customer. If you have actual customer profiles, include these here.
Voice and Tone Guidelines
What five adjectives describe your company?
Would your employees and customers agree?
List these out and describe how your organization lives them.
In the end, you should have several sentences formatted like this:
“Our brand is (insert adjective) because we (insert reason).”
Qualifiers
These will relate to values and mission, but also help represent the unique aspects of your organization’s personality. They are the nuances that make you different and help define you. They also help provide structure for what is and is not OK when it comes to presenting your company voice.
These are “we” statements. And look something like this:
We…
- believe _____
- never _____
- always _____
- hate _____
- like _____
- provide our customers with _____
- are at our best when _____
Industry Guidelines and Language
This is where you include any language, restrictions, or other guidelines specific to your industry.
Further, when thinking about what to include here, consider the following:
- Are there legal guidelines you need to follow?
- Are there certain words or phrases that must be avoided? (Either for legal reasons or because they project the wrong message or are offensive to certain consumers.)
- Are there restrictions as to advice you can give or how you can represent yourself?
Brand Personality is Evolving and Collaborative
As a result, a brand personality document must be a living document, and it cannot be created in a vacuum.
Create your brand personality document with input from team members at all levels and through all customer touch points.
Provide examples of how you live your values and mission through real-life examples of interactions with consumers.
The creates the perfect knowledge base to guide your organization’s voice.
Distribute it to all team members and revisited semi-annually.
Smart organizations continue to evolve the way they communicate with their audiences.
Your organization’s personality is an important part of who you are as a company. Furthermore, it defines you for your customers, so don’t be afraid to let it shine!
It’s Not a Secret Document
Ultimately, you should distribute your brand personality document to all current employees. Provide it to all new employees and outside contractors or partners. Review it at regular intervals with the entire team. Highlight examples of team members displaying the brand personality well.
You’ve got… personality, brand personality. Don’t be afraid to show it (consistently).
