The first was on Michael Fleischner’s “The Marketing [>>]]]> Businesses trying to reach a younger/edgier/contemporary audience often use a little shock value—we’ve been talking around the office about humor and the way that can push the envelope, for instance. Recently I saw some more extreme examples of envelope-pushing that gave me pause on two well-established marketing blogs.

The first was on Michael Fleischner’s “The Marketing Blog,” headlined: 10,000 Twitter Followers. Who Gives A &^%$#@. The headline annoyed me immediately, but it stood out all the more when I hit the next site on my rounds, Jason Falls’ “Social Media Explorer.” There in the top right corner of the page was an advertisement for Falls’ book with the title in huge type: “No Bullshit Social Media.” (A few days later, the keyword—something of a brand for Falls, I guess—showed up in the headline of a post.)

So, clearly my mother was wrong and swearing is cool.

Falls uses “Bullshit” to lend authenticity, to proclaim that he’s not, y’know, a bullshitter. He’s assuming that his brand and his audience will connect over that kind of “shockingly” straight talk. Fleischner attempts the same thing, but he flinches, he hedges—he doesn’t use actual profanity, lest his plainspoken authenticity offend my delicate sensibilities. Thus he commits the common sin of the buttoned-down businessman trying to look cool: He doesn’t commit to the role. And while most major corporations aren’t likely to be resorting to profanity to connect to their customers, they can make the same sin of awkward half-measures.

It’s not “Wheel of Fortune,” pal

Here’s the thing: We all know the dirty words and how to use them. I look at Fleischner’s headline and my brain immediately fills in the two most contextually appropriate profanities—didn’t yours? Both bloggers have gone and put a dirty word into my otherwise squeaky-clean consciousness. Rather than sparing me, Fleischner actually makes me think about it more, because there’s more than one solution. And he has traded Falls’ authentic cojones chutzpah to crap out (hey, that’s a gambling metaphor) just as he’s trying to queue up some sharp, cut-the-crap (OK, that’s not) perspectives on social media.

Replacing a “dirty word” with random symbols, or worse, blank f- – - – - – spaces, just makes you look more square than ever. Even my mom can fill in those blanks.

S#!& my boss says

The general rule that profanity has no place in marketing copy is typically an easy one to follow. But if you are making a less extreme, “nontraditional” choice, and therefore portraying yourself as a wild card who makes nontraditional choices, commit to it. If your message calls for some #&$@% swearing, then just fuckin’ swear. (I had to check our own blog’s profanity policy before writing this, and that’s pretty much a direct quote from our VP of Content. Followed immediately by, “But really, why would you?”)

The takeaway here is not to learn to swear better in your marketing communications.  But if you’re going to be edgy, whether as an upstart startup grabbing some attention, or a familiar brand trying to reach a new demographic, don’t undercut your message.  Don’t be the person who makes a really rude joke and follows it up with a quick, “Just kidding!  Ha ha!” Either trust your audience to embrace your persona, or dial it back. Own the voice you’re using.

Otherwise you look like a jack- – -.

I learned that the Beijing dialect of Chinese has four “tones,” which make it possible to say the same combination of characters four totally different ways, something that’s [>>]]]> I’ve just returned from a Thanksgiving trip to China. It was one of the best vacations of my life—great food, good people, amazing sites—and a truly challenging language.

I learned that the Beijing dialect of Chinese has four “tones,” which make it possible to say the same combination of characters four totally different ways, something that’s not feasible in English. As a newbie to the tones, I was terrified of using the wrong one and accidentally calling someone’s antecedents into question, while I was simply trying to find the toilet.

The question of tone and how it paralyzed my communication skills got me thinking about the importance of tone in American communications. While the consequences for using the wrong tone probably aren’t as severe, it can still alienate your audience, create misunderstandings, or detract from your campaign.

So, for this end-of –year post, I’m celebrating two companies who do tone right. They use words and images in pitch-perfect harmony to enhance, augment, and advance their cause.

Luxe City Guides
Tone: Sophisticated, stylish, and smart
Audience: Travelers who want to experience the best of a city and won’t be satisfied with run-of-the-mill recommendations.
How do they do it: The guides come in a pocket-sized (really!) format, feature consistent categories of information no matter the city, and all of them—and the site—showcase razor-sharp writing. Every word is carefully curated, there’s a definite point of view, and they’re not afraid to be a little naughty. Take, for example, this intro on Paris: “…while this lulu of a city can be sweet and coquettish, she can also be a very snooty grande dame indeed. We’ve taken her over our knee, given her several smacks with the manners stick and she’s promised to behave.”
Genius: The guides feel exclusive, but never exclusionary.     

Droid
Tone: Strong, capable, “doing”
Audience: Anyone looking for an alternative to the iPhone
How do they do it: Early ads for the Droid phone went a little overboard in the testosterone department, but in 2010 they’ve found their tone by sticking to one key message: Droid Does. All words and images focus on what the Droid can do, not what it can’t do. The gravelly-voiced announcer (men want to be him, women want to be with him) calmly lists the phone’s capabilities, the TV ads show the “doing” power, and the site features sci-fi graphics and reads like Earnest Hemingway wrote it—if he worked for  an ad agency.
Genius: Strong enough for a man, but made for a woman.

These are just my two favorites. Are there sites, companies, or products that you think use tone well? What about those that get it wrong? Email me and let me know.

Author Chris Zender wants you to watch your tone when you email her.

As for Project Runway, it [>>]]]> The seventh season of Project Runway starts on Thursday, January 14, and I await it with the same feeling of anticipation and dread that I experienced when watching Star Wars Episodes I-III: I wanted to love these movies as much as I loved Episodes IV-VI, but they just kept disappointing me. 

As for Project Runway, it was love at first site. The show weaves several of my interests and preferences into one neat cloth: sewing, fashion, creativity, problem solving, TV shows that start and end a story arc in one hour, etc. So, a series that offers 16 aspiring designers the chance to launch fashion careers by responding to a series of very creative challenges was a delight.

In contrast to other reality shows, Project Runway managed to capture the personality of these contestants without chronicling the petty moments, and the feedback from the judges, while not always positive, was always balanced and professional.

At least, that was the case for the first five seasons. Season six? Not so much.

After a much-publicized brawl between Bravo, The Weinstein Company, NBC, and Lifetime—and a delay of nearly a year—season six aired on Lifetime in August 2009. The network assured viewers that it had no desire to tinker with the show—it would keep the same format. It was true to its word: With the exception of the location change to Los Angeles, the show remained the same.

Except that it didn’t.

Season six was demonstrably different than the previous five—it just felt, well, wrong. It puzzled me: The episodes were, shot for shot, structurally the same format as the previous seasons, so why did it feel so off?

It took me a couple of episodes before I could put my finger on it: It was mean. The whole tone of the season was mean. Host Heidi Klum was mean, the other judges were mean, and the contestants were mean. The only non-meanie was, of course, series mentor Tim Gunn. Tim is never mean.

I do not enjoy mean. I enjoy nice. I enjoy creative. Season six was none of those things. Seasons one through five centered on the creative challenges the designers faced; season six focused more on the interplay between the designers. Which was mean.

Yet Project Runway is (ostensibly) a reality show. So, the designers and judges aren’t (supposed to be) reading lines. Unless that changed, the fact that season six felt different means that someone edited it to be different. It was edited to change the tone.

Editing and tone are a couple of things I feel pretty strongly about. Editing should sharpen language and/or visuals, keeping the intent of the content creator intact. Editing should help clarify tone—not create it.

Yet tone is a tricky thing. It’s how you connect with your audience. To hit the right tone, you need to know your audience, and their preferences and habits, so you can weave in the proper language, visuals, music—anything that shows your audience that you understand them.

Seasons one through five of Project Runway had a much more balanced tone. The show managed to convey the designers’ struggles and triumphs without focusing on name-calling, hissy fits, and backstabbing. Unlike season six.

Is this new tone something Lifetime wanted? Do they think their demographic responds better to nasty exchanges and snide comments than they would to truly creative challenges and the innovative solutions provided by the designers in previous seasons? I guess I’ll find out on Thursday.

Let me know what you think of the “new” tone on Project Runway—or if you think I’m way off base.

The [>>]]]> During the holiday season, shoppers are inundated with catalogs, email promotions, and other retail marketing materials. I was out of town for several weeks in late November and early December and I came home to at least 10 catalogues in my mailbox, and countless email offers and reminders. Only one stood out from the pack.

The email message was from HeidiSays, a store on Fillmore that actually has three physical locations (Collections, Casual, and Shoe Salon). I’ve shopped there for years, though recently I’ve done more browsing than buying. With the economy on the skids, I’m obviously not alone. This email newsletter was actually a letter from the owner. These were the key points:

1. Appreciation. She thanked shoppers for their loyal patronage.
2. Sympathy. She addressed the fact that everyone is facing tough economic times: “Our business has seen a slowdown in the past couple of months and some of our customers have withdrawn out of necessity. We understand.”
3. A request. She asked clients to keep the store in mind as they do their holiday shopping, and she offered to match or beat department store prices on merchandise.
4. Graciousness. She talked about her stores as part of the Fillmore Street community, and asked shoppers to remember all Fillmore Street merchants this holiday season.
5. Incentive. She offered an incentive to shop at her stores—providing “HeidiSays Dollars” to clients, with a minimum purchase.

The letter from Heidi was well-written, and it hit the mark with its tone and its message. Instead of deleting it, I kept it in my inbox as a reminder to stop by her stores before Christmas this year. Now that’s a successful piece of marketing. —Julie Jares, managing editor

Keep that same principle in mind when communicating with your audience. Certain tones will [>>]]]> “Don’t use that tone with me!” Did your mom ever say that to you? Mine sure did. Usually in response to a snarky comment about doing chores or homework. She wasn’t responding to what I said exactly, but how I said it.

Keep that same principle in mind when communicating with your audience. Certain tones will resonate with certain audiences. Figuring out which tone to use depends on knowing specifically who your audience is, and just as importantly, who your brand is. That’s where your brand voice comes in.

Many companies spend lots of time and money developing their brand’s visual identity, then fail to match that with an appropriate voice and tone. If you focus all of your effort on the visual aspects of your brand, you’re missing an opportunity to further connect with your audience, stand out in the marketplace, and bring your brand to life.

Similar, but Different

Voice and tone work in concert, but can be identified separately:

• Voice communicates your company personality; it’s who customers “hear” when they read you’re marketing or site copy.
• Tone communicates a company’s attitude toward the audience and subject matter.

While tone may vary based on context and subject matter, voice should be consistent across your marketing material and website. This is not to say that all copy on the website should sound exactly the same. But there should be a set of qualities that remain consistent and make your voice recognizable and distinct.

Identifying Brand Voice

Before working with tone, you must first establish your brand voice. Chances are, you already have a good idea of what that is, but maybe you just haven’t articulated it yet. What adjectives did you use while developing your brand’s visual identity? These may serve as a good starting point for identifying your brand voice.

If you focus all of your effort on the visual aspects of your brand, you’re missing an opportunity to further connect with your audience, stand out in the marketplace, and bring your brand to life.

If you don’t have a list of brand adjectives, begin building one. Brainstorm with colleagues or interview C-level executives. After developing a list of desirable adjectives, narrow it down to a handful of three to five key terms that accurately describe the brand personality you’re trying to present. Who is this person? What are they like? How do they express themselves?

For example, investment firm Goldman Sachs has a long history and focus on big-money, corporate transactions. The brand voice tends to be serious, refined, and dramatic. Note the formal “in which” construction in the following example:

Our goal is to help our clients realize their objectives, and to help shape the debate in every sector in which Goldman Sachs is involved.

If you were to translate the Goldman Sachs brand voice into a persona, this is clearly someone who takes himself or herself seriously. The objective point of view leaves no room for personalization—it’s all about the deal. This is an appropriate brand voice for Goldman Sach’s audience of corporate executives and high-end investors.

Now compare the following copy from the Washington Mutual website, targeted to a middle-class consumer and small business audience. Note the effect of the first-person point of view:

You’ll know it right away: We’re really not like other banks. We’re informal, friendly and fun. We take our customers’ money seriously, but not ourselves. We even call ourselves by a fun name that started out as a nickname years ago: WaMu. We’re the bank for everyday people.

WaMu’s brand value is based on its approachability and personalization. It speaks directly to its audience in a friendly, casual, disarming voice. WaMu is interested in making banking easy and fun and creating better lifestyles for its customers. The brand voice embodies those values.

Find what your audience cares about and how those qualities can be expressed through your brand. Once you identify some brand characteristics and develop a voice, you need to establish your brand’s point of view toward your audience. That’s where tone comes in.

Working with Tone

Tone in writing is expressed by word choice and sentence structure. For example, you may be a friendly, positive person by nature, but your choice of vocabulary, volume, and manner of speaking would alter significantly if you were talking to your company’s CEO or a grandparent, versus hanging out with your friends after work. You’d still be friendly and positive, but your tone would change depending on your relationship to the person you’re speaking to.

Knowing your audience and how it communicates is the first step. Establishing your brand’s relationship to its audience is the next. Is your brand a professional colleague or a trusted neighbor? A gossipy friend or an admired mentor? Identifying the context of your customer communications and relationships will help you find the right language.

Just as you might adjust your tone based on where you are and who you’re talking to, so should tone change based on the context of the communication. For example, Helio, a telecommunications and mobile device company, has a distinct, edgy, almost flip brand voice that is intended to resonate with a younger, connected, device-oriented audience. Those characteristics are expressed throughout the Helio website, but the tone of the voice varies based on what it’s trying to communicate. Take a look at this sample copy explaining Helio’s value proposition:

We started Helio because we were fed up, just like you. We were tired of disappointing devices. Frustrated by sub-standard service. And totally over being surprised by our bills every month. So we decided to fix it…and do mobile differently.

The point of this messaging is to differentiate Helio from other phone companies (which they claim not to be). It’s all about striking an emotional chord with the audience. No holds barred—it takes an aggressive stance and uses the same language that its audience uses.

Now compare the above to this copy from a section of the site explaining device features:

Don’t get tied to your desk. Or laptop, for that matter. Bring your email with you, and you’ll never miss a message. Helio gives you out-of-the-box email access to all the major webmail providers, or use your @helio.com account. And with full support for Microsoft® Exchange, you can get your work email too, without the stigma of a corporate crackberry.

The use of slang and the informal sentence construction still carry the brand voice, but the tone is notably softer, less edgy. This messaging prioritizes the information it’s providing over igniting an emotional response. Always keep context in mind when working with tone.

Developing brand voice and tone are tricky, but having a clear vision of your audience and your brand’s relationship to that audience is the key to getting it right.