How Is a Brand's Communication Language Built?
A brand can describe its voice as “friendly but professional”. A new copywriter cannot write a single line from those two adjectives. For a voice to work, the document has to answer questions before anyone starts writing.
Adjectives are not enough, limits are
“Friendly, trustworthy, innovative” could be written for almost any brand. That is why it separates none of them. Nielsen Norman Group suggests choosing a handful of target tone words and putting anti-tone words next to them, the tones to avoid. A university, for example, may want to come across as authoritative without being pedantic. The opposing word draws a limit around the adjective.
The personality section is therefore written in pairs: “we are X, not Y”. Two sample lines go next to each pair, one that fits the personality and one that does not. A new writer looks at the difference between the two lines, not at the adjective.
Where we stand on four dimensions
Nielsen Norman Group breaks tone into four dimensions: formal versus casual, serious versus funny, respectful versus irreverent, and matter-of-fact versus enthusiastic. A piece of copy sits at an end of each or somewhere between. The source adds a warning worth keeping: it would be unusual for a writing style at the outermost limits of the dimensions to stay effective for business purposes. The chosen quality is emphasised, but it is not allowed to dominate the writing.
In the table the brand marks where it will stand on each dimension. The questions below make the marking explain itself. If the answer is “depends on the situation”, that gets written too, because the next section deals with exactly that.
| Dimension | Two ends | Question for the brand |
|---|---|---|
| Formality | Formal versus casual | Do we address the reader formally or informally. Are contractions and spoken patterns allowed |
| Seriousness | Serious versus funny | On which topics is there no humour. When explaining something that went wrong, is there ever any |
| Respect | Respectful versus irreverent | Do we poke fun at the habits of our sector. What do we never do to the reader, written down |
| Enthusiasm | Matter-of-fact versus enthusiastic | Are exclamation marks used. How do delight or apology enter a sentence |
Message order: most important first
A voice is not only tone. The order in which a sentence is built is also written into the document. Nielsen Norman Group's piece on the inverted pyramid advises starting with the most important information and leaving detail for later. Even a reader who takes in a single sentence knows what the piece is about. When the text needs to be cut, it can be trimmed at almost any point.
In a brand document this order is written as three layers. The top layer is in every text. The ones below enter or stay out depending on length.
| Layer | What it carries | When it is written |
|---|---|---|
| One sentence | What the reader should know when this text ends | In every text. The shortest poster carries the same sentence |
| Support | Two or three concrete things that carry the sentence. A number, an example, a visible piece of work | If the text is long enough. In a short one, the first support is enough |
| Detail | Conditions, exceptions, steps, sources | When the reader is about to decide. Even after they decide, it is there to be found |
Adjusting by situation
The same brand does not speak at the same speed and warmth everywhere. Nielsen Norman Group's advice is to keep the personality constant and vary the tone to fit the reader's emotional state and the topic. A company's financial report and its careers page for university students are not written in one voice. In the document this adjustment enters by channel and situation.
| Where | Reader's state | Comes forward | Steps back |
|---|---|---|---|
| Service page | Comparing, in no hurry | Clarity, concrete example | Jokes, exclamation marks |
| Proposal and contract language | Deciding, careful | Clear order, defined words | Metaphor, decorative adjectives |
| Ad copy | Busy with something else, a few seconds | One sentence, the first word | Detail, list of conditions |
| Social post | Moving through a feed | Personality, short rhythm | Formal patterns |
| Error and delay message | Annoyed or worried | The fact, what happened, what is next | Humour, excited exclamations |
Sample lines
The most useful part of the document shows lines, not rules. For each personality pair, one “ours” and one “not ours” line is written. A writer does not interpret the rule. They put a new line next to the sample.
Fictional example
This example is not a client record. Two pairs from the document of a fictional bicycle repair shop: “We speak openly, not rudely” and “We do not hide information, and we do not drag it out”.
Ours: “If the chain is skipping, we find out why and tell you. Before replacing a part, we show you what we saw.” Not ours: “We are delighted to provide you with the highest quality service.” The second line is not wrong. It is left out because it does not belong to the shop. The same pair holds in a delay message: “The part has not arrived, we will write again tomorrow.” There is no joke, the apology is a single word, and what happened is stated.
Keeping the document alive
A document that fits on one page gets used. One of forty pages stays on the shelf. This work follows the positioning sentence, because tone depends on what is being said first. That the visible side is a separate job is covered in the logo article. The document can be handled as part of brand work or inside consultancy.
- Whether each personality adjective has an anti-tone word next to it.
- Whether the brand's place on the four dimensions is marked and exceptions are written.
- Whether the three layers of message order are defined in the document.
- Whether there are adjustment lines for at least four channels or situations.
- Whether one “ours” and one “not ours” line is written for each pair.
- Whether a new person, asked to write without looking at anything else, could write a first text from this document.
Sources
- The Four Dimensions of Tone of Voice
Accessed October 20, 2026
- Inverted Pyramid: Writing for Comprehension
Accessed October 20, 2026