I’ve long thought that Dolly Parton has the best summary of what it means to be an authentic brand: ‘Find out who you are, then do it on purpose’. It’s as true for B2B engineering firms as it is for rhinestone-encrusted country singers.
But you have to be careful with Dolly’s wisdom. It’s tempting to over-interpret her to mean ‘just be your regular self, but with the contrast turned up a bit’. (Which is often what ‘authenticity’ in branding washes out as, isn’t it.) I don’t think she’s saying that at all. I think she’s imploring us to pay proper close attention to who we ‘really are’ – and to follow that wherever it may lead us.
There are several examples of brand voices in the Tone Knob archives that do this brilliantly. I share them with clients often. They’re not ‘normal, but turned up a bit brighter’. They’re examples of brand voices that often break the rules of ‘good writing’.
The CIA. True emotional connection means… not showing any emotion at all.
A couple of years ago, the CIA ditched their bland and stodgy government website for something altogether more… austere. They removed all emotion. Their voice is clipped, terse, almost impatient. It’s a recruitment website that’s the very opposite of warm and welcoming.
And the effect is… electrifying. By not giving off any of the usual ‘welcoming’ vibes, their brand voice captures something much more authentic: the vibe of people too busy with important (and probably classified) stuff to waste time smiling. 👉 Read more about the CIA’s authentically austere brand voice
Inner Beauty.
It’s not about you, it’s about us.
Conventional marketing wisdom says make everything about your customers. What are the benefits? What’s in it for them? And the standard ‘luxury services’ approach is usually to play it cool and understated. In this example, Inner Beauty is having none of that. They do ‘intimate waxing’ – and the main thing they’re interested in is telling you how much they bloody love it. Check this out:
This is wild, unashamed, unbridled enthusiasm! These folks clearly really love their jobs. And it’s so infectious. There’s ‘be more yourself’, then there’s Inner Beauty. It’s so rare to see a brand say what it really, really, really thinks. What would happen if your brand voice was authentically unfiltered? 👉 Read more about Inner Beauty’s unfiltered brand voice.
Lemon.io.
When being ‘real’ means playing a character
Lemon.io do IT recruitment. And IT recruitment brands are usually pretty functional. Not these guys. They created their own unique world – a mash-up of a fire and brimstone religious cult, and gaming ‘quest’ vibes.
Doth! Who says DOTH these days?!
It’s cartoonish and fun – and it also gives Lemon.io a positive way of talking about recruitment. Their clients are in search of the ‘righteous’; Their 4-stage assessment is ‘judgment on the path to ascension’. By being highly artificial, Lemon.io have found a language that allows them to be more authentic. 👉 Read more about Lemon.io’s diabolically authentic brand voice.
Who Gives a Crap?
When being ‘authentic’ means being two things at once
Who Gives a Crap are a fun brand on a serious mission. They make toilet paper that’s more sustainable, and use their profits to improve sanitation in countries where hundreds of children die every day from diarrhoeal diseases. They’re a great example of a brand that’s not afraid to be both absurd (‘our 3-ply is as soft as unicorn kisses and as strong as 1000 ponies’) and really serious – often in the same sentence. Their confidence to be authentically both things at once is part of the power of their brand voice.
Who Gives a Crap: also made a hero of the ‘emergency roll’! 👉 Read more about Who Gives a Crap’s doubly authentic brand voice.
Palace.
Just cos you blow up, doesn’t mean you gotta try hard
Palace do stakeboards, accessories, apparel. They’re an example of that rare thing – a cool brand that has grassroots respect and mass appeal. And through it all, they’ve had a running joke: their product descriptions are brilliantly useless. They tell you nothing about the products, and instead just riff on whatever. Like a bored skater stumbled across a flashing cursor one day and just typed random shit for their own amusement. They’re so infamous that Palace published a book of them.
Many brands start cool, but succumb to the pressure to ‘grow up’. Palace’s product descriptions give them an under-the-radar-and-in-the-bullet-points format where they can just totally be themselves. 👉 Read more about Palace’s gonzo brand voice.
How’s that for ‘authentic?’
Have the courage to be unlikeable through your brand voice. Be totally unfiltered. Create an artificial world where you can be more yourself. Embrace your paradoxes. Find the format that amplifies the real you. That’s not everything that defines a brand voice by any means, but it’s an excellent start. Remember, there’s more to being ‘authentic’ than just ‘being a bit more you’. (Tho if in doubt, there’s always rhinestones.)
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FOOTNOTE:
1. I just checked, and apparently the full quote is now: ‘Find out who you are, and do it on purpose. And do it with purpose’. I can’t tell if the ‘with purpose’ bit at the end is a recent addition, perhaps to give her sage advice an added ‘purpose’ twist, while launching her recent range extension of microwaveable ready meals. 🤷♀️
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