Through this lecture I was introduced to the concept of tone and values in the context of branding. Words and language are important to branding because they inform the tone of voice a brand takes on. If a brand uses slang and informal language, they would be described as having a casual or intimate tone of voice.
Copywriting ensures a brand maintains a consistent tone of voice when multiple writers are involved within the brand. For this exercise, I have looked at Apple’s tone of voice and created the three necessary devices used to maintain a company’s tone- a word bank, a brand dictionary and a tone of voice guide.
Language for our internal messages- Technical support, invoice, problem diagnosis, “Proposed Resolution”
How we speak to our customers- “Dear Kaley Sheerin”, “Sincerely, Apple Support”, “We wanted to let you know about an upcoming change”, “How did [Employee name] do?”
Writing for our website- “Titanium. So light. So strong. So Pro.”, “Smarter. Brighter. Mightier.”, “Watch Tomorrow at 3pm”
Three words to describe Apple’s essence would be “pioneering”, “iconic”, “reliable”.
Apple’s raison d’etre is to create industry standard technology, pioneering new technologies and remaining the no.1 most trusted choice when it comes to buying new technology.
The way apple speaks to its customers is quite different from the language used on its website. On the website, there are seldom long sentences- everything is descriptive and straight to the point. This use of language would appear rude in more directed messages though, so Apple uses a friendlier, yet still formal, tone of voice within emails and messages to customers.
Apple also creates a sense of excellence in the way they describe their employees as “specialists”. This infers that these employees are highly and especially trained for their jobs, allowing customers to feel like they are in safe hands with their products. The same goes for their support desks being dubbed “Genuis Bars”. The name makes the simple act of going to get help with a product feel more like an elevated experience.