The Importance of Being You

Creating a meaningful, memorable brand personality

#RISEATX13 @claydelk

First, a little about me.

Sr. Content Strategist!

#RISEATX2013 @volusion

Founder & Organizer Austin Content!

meetup.com/Austin-Content!

Find me online at:

@claydelk

claydelk.com

slideshare.net/cdelk

Now, a little about you.

How do you turn that into a meaningful, memorable

brand personality?

What do you mean by personality?

Let’s look at some examples

vs.

vs.

vs.

It’s all about how you talk about yourself, how you

engage with others, how you communicate.

Source: http://www.woot.com!

What is Woot? A discussion of ill-advised efficiencies, failed idealism, and trampled dreams. Woot is a lifestyle. Woot is a vision. Woot is a pungent aroma that never apologizes for what it is. Woot is the hope in the eyes of a child when that child realizes you don't have to pay List Price for cool stuff. Woot is an ever-evolving deal maelstrom churning around a tornado circling a mystery. If you haven't seen Woot since yesterday, you haven't seen Woot. Source: http://www.woot.com/faq

What is Woot? A discussion of ill-advised efficiencies, failed idealism, and trampled dreams. Woot is a lifestyle. Woot is a vision. Woot is a pungent aroma that never apologizes for what it is. Woot is the hope in the eyes of a child when that child realizes you don't have to pay List Price for cool stuff. Woot is an ever-evolving deal maelstrom churning around a tornado circling a mystery. If you haven't seen Woot since yesterday, you haven't seen Woot. Source: http://www.woot.com/faq

“MailChimp has added a splash of mischief to a product category not known for… well, much of anything.” Source: http://mailchimp.com/about/

Source: http:/voiceandtone.com

Voice & tone

Your voice doesn’t change. It’s part of who you are.

It may evolve over time, but it

shouldn’t change based on your mood or your environment.

“The!best!brands!speak!with!one!dis2nc2ve!voice.!On!the!web,!in!a!tweet,!in!conversa2ons!with!a!salesperson,!in!a!speech!given!by!the!president,!the!company!needs!to!project!the!same!unified!message.!It!must!be!memorable,!iden2fiable,!and!centered!on!the!customer.” Alina!Wheeler!Designing'Brand'Iden-ty'

Photo!credit:!www.fourfront.us!

Your tone can change without changing your voice.

You change your volume and inflection depending on your situation, audience and needs.

Black'Star'Co6op'Brand'Guide''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''blackstar.coop'

“We have more than a million users —and millions more potential users—who experience a whole spectrum of emotions when they’re interacting with MailChimp. So we consciously adjust our tone, based on our users’ feelings.”'''Source:'voiceandtone.com/about

Finding your voice (& tone)

Pop quiz

Who are you?

Who are you not?

What do you do?

What don’t you do?

How do you do it?

Why do you do it?

How do you talk about it?

Who are you talking to?

Exercise: Defining your voice

Using your answers to the previous questions:

Group them into 3 or 4 “big

bucket” traits or ideas that can define your brand personality.

Do they fit your personality?

Do they stand out in your market? (Should they?)

Will they resonate with your audience?

The message architecture

“A message architecture is an outline or hierarchy of communication goals that reflects a common vocabulary. A message architecture di!ers from brand values, which speak more to the company's credo than to how it should communicate with its target audience."

Margot Bloomstein Content Strategy at Work

Cardsorting exercise

1.  Who we are 2.  Who we are not (and don’t

want to be) 3.  Who we want to be

Credit:!Margot!Bloomstein!Content'Strategy'at'Work

UIE – Designing Usable Categories with Card Sorting�http://www.uie.com/events/virtual_seminars/card_sorting/

1. Empowering –  Professional without being stodgy –  Inspiring and motivating –  Informative

2. Approachable –  Friendly and engaging –  Empathetic –  In the know, but not know-it-all

3. Trusted –  Stable, yet flexible –  Transparent –  Helpful

Now we can define what these qualities look and sound like for: -  Marketing -  Sales -  Professional services -  In-product content -  Support -  Social media -  Etc. etc. etc.

“This is the di!erence between saying ‘we're serious and mature’ and communicating it by using more formal language, a serif typeface, slightly longer sentences, and images of associates in gray suits with traditional tailoring.”

Margot Bloomstein Content Strategy at Work

What’s your message architecture?

Questions, comments,

suggestions?

Thank you!

SOURCES'!Content'Strategy'at'Work'Margot!Bloomstein!hIp://appropriateinc.com/book/!!Designing'Brand'Iden-ty'Alina!Wheeler!hIp://alinawheeler.com/! Voice & Tone MailChimp http://voiceandtone.com/ UIE – Designing Usable Categories with Card Sorting�http://www.uie.com/events/virtual_seminars/card_sorting/ Black Star Co-op http://blackstar.coop