Brand guidelines

What is brand voice and tone?

Short answer

Brand voice is the consistent personality in everything a brand writes - for example warm, plain-spoken and confident. Tone is how that voice adjusts to the moment: more upbeat in a launch post, calmer in an apology, more precise in a help article. The voice stays the same everywhere; the tone changes with the audience and the situation.

The difference between brand voice and tone, and how to write them down.

Voice versus tone

Think of someone you know well. They sound like themselves at a celebration and in a difficult conversation - that is their voice - but they don't speak the same way in both - that is tone. A brand works the same way.

How to describe your voice

A useful voice guide is specific enough that two writers would make the same choices:

Three to five words that describe it, each with what it does not mean: "confident, not arrogant"
Words and phrases you use, and ones you avoid
The same message written well and written badly
How the tone shifts by channel: social, email, support and ads

Voice and tone in Melon Cut Guidelines

Melon Cut Guidelines has Voice & Tone among its 16 kinds of brand foundation, next to Personality, Terminology and Key Messages. Each can have a usage note and a version for each market, and readers copy the text with one click.

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