I have in front of me the brand guidelines for one of the UK’s leading not-for-profit organisations.
It contains over 50 pages of detailed rules relating to design, layout, use of colour, typography, photographic principles, illustration styles, grid templates and logo placement.
But what does it have to say about the use of language?
Well, apart from a strap line and few sentences recommending the use of a ‘functional’ or an ‘emotional’ tone of copy depending on the audience being addressed, the document has virtually nothing to offer on the subject.
This tells us a couple of things. Firstly – and most obviously – that this particular rebranding exercise was conducted by a design agency. And secondly, that the charity – in line with many other recruiting organisations – has no clear conception of the role and importance of ‘verbal identity’ in articulating and promoting its employer brand.
Do you find this as odd as I do?
Ask practically any HR professional what they believe to be the most effective and influential form of recruitment marketing and employer brand communication, for instance, and they will invariably answer “word of mouth” (or “word of mouth on steroids”, if they are passionate about social media).
But don’t stop there. Ask them what really lies at the heart of their employer brand and their pursuit of ‘employer of choice’ status. Most will – rightly – point to their corporate reputation in the form of what people say about the organisation both internally and in the wider market place.
In other words, they clearly and unequivocally understand that language – the careful coordination of words, phrases, metaphors, verbal imagery and, above all, story – is essential to how we experience a brand, reach people emotionally and create connections and conversations with employees and customers.
And yet these same professionals so often persist in leaving issues of language and verbal identity out of their employer branding models – and, in doing so, squander some of the most influential, persuasive and emotionally resonant tools in their branding and communications toolkits.
This is not a new phenomenon. In his magnificent 2003 book, The Invisible Grail, John Simmons argues that words “are a poorly used, misunderstood and neglected resource” in business. He continues:
“Businesses now need to build brands that go beyond a simplistic reliance on the heavy artillery of logos and advertising, because there is a subtler campaign to be fought…Brands need to discover or rediscover the power of words to help them connect more emotionally with consumers, with all audiences.”
I strongly believe that this connection can be achieved most powerfully and authentically through the process of storytelling – a point I have explored extensively in earlier articles. But such storytelling is, at root, a testament to the power of language itself to engage, inform and inspire (or, when used badly, to irritate, alienate and demoralise).
For this reason, we need to be more granular in our understanding of language and its relationship to employer branding. Chunk down from the level of story and we enter the analytical and linguistic realms of style, vocabulary and tone of voice. We engage with the way words can fuel coherence and align with corporate values. Above all, we touch on the all-important question: ‘how can our use of words build on, or diminish, trust in the organisation?’
In short, we start to define the principles and rules of our verbal identity in ways that reinforce the impact, appeal and coherence of our employer brand and the stories that give it both meaning and life.
Michael Maslansky in The Language of Trust (2010) points out that while trust involves the way we think and the way we act, it always starts with words – words whose effectiveness requires that they be personal, plainspoken, positive and plausible. We need to dispense with obscure technical information, clichés and jargon. We must accept that what we say is less important than what they – your audiences – hear. We should engage emotionally before we attempt to inform, and set context before we get down to specifics. And we must avoid ‘too-good-to-be-true’ statements, negative stereotypes and empty claims with no basis in operational reality.
Speaking as a practicing copywriter and curator of language, these are the detailed elements of verbal identity I long to see in branding documents – not because they make my job easier but because an employer brand shorn of a clear verbal identity and a distinctive voice is, at best, a half-formed beast.
The one rule every copywriter of my acquaintance abides by is ‘write as if you were speaking’. The real challenge when working for clients, of course, is to write as if theorganisation were speaking – but to do that, we need a clear understanding of its personality, its tone of voice and its vocabulary of meaning, vision and values. Sans such knowledge, and without access to the rich seam of stories that underpin an authentic brand, you end up with the woefully emaciated and uninspiring vacancy postings that litter job boards across the web.
If it’s any consolation, it seems that British companies are slightly ahead of their American counterparts in engaging with language as a critical dimension of branding. Research in 2016 suggested that 80% of US business surveyed have no formal tone of voice and 94% have no intention of creating one. Just under a third of surveyed businesses in the UK, on the other hand, have a defined tone of voice. Indeed, there are some great examples of UK-based companies with strong verbal identities, including Innocent, Sky and Rolls Royce. And if you want to see how to combine engaging and distinctive language with the power of storytelling, look no further than the sterling work done by Bulent Bayram and his team over at Vodafone.
As the statistics show, these companies a minority in an otherwise language-deaf and language-blind employer branding landscape. But they are an important minority. They show the way ahead by demonstrating that language is an identity issue, not just a communications issue. And they reveal how verbal branding, properly understood, is a real opportunity for gaining a competitive advantage.
So how can your organisation harness the potential of language and develop a powerful verbal identity? Let me count the ways. But in the meantime, let me also offer you a series of questions about your employer brand to which the only acceptable answer, I suggest, is Yes:
1. Does your brand talk in the first person?
2. Does it provide a distinctive reading or hearing experience?
3. Does it deliver your brand promise?
4. Does it reflect your brand values?
5. If you cover your logo, can you tell it’s your organisation from the writing alone?
6. Does it talk in a language that engages your audience emotionally?
7. Is it positive, personalised, authentic and relevant?
8. Does it have a consistent and coherent tone of voice?
9. Does it inspire trust?
How does your verbal identity measure up?