Remember the old series ‘The Suite Life of Zack and Cody’? The Sprouse twins looked so similar when they were little, it was quite hard to tell

 them apart. 👬🏼

But what made it easy to differentiate the two were admittedly their distinct personalities.

Zack was a more laid back and hip kind of kid. He had long hair, the skater-boy style and the ‘I don’t care’ voice. 🛹

Meanwhile, Cody was neat, smart and sometimes pretentious. 👔

These two personalities were so accurately portrayed that you could hear them speak and tell who was speaking even without seeing their faces.

Much like the Suite Life twins, your very own brand personality and voice are much needed criteria to set yourself apart from other similar brands. 

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Anyone can sell cookies with the same recipe you found online, but what makes your cookie brand stand out? 🍪 

 

Is it approachable? Is it funny? Is it sophisticated? These are some of the questions you can ask yourself when setting or auditing your brand voice.

Here are some brands that you can tell just by their catchphrase!

 

🙋🏻‍♂️ Hey, what’s up guys? 👨🏻‍🍳

A rising brand with a distinct voice today is Khairulaming. This personal brand, although selling only 1 product as of 2022, is well-spread throughout Malaysia. 

What first began as a simple vlog on how to cook bujang food, now has 3.4 million followers on Instagram and more than RM14,000,000 in sales.

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Image credit: Khairulaming

When you scroll through TikTok or Instagram and hear ‘Hey, what’s up guys’, you can instantly tell it’s him. 

Heck, if you read the catchphrase in his voice and intonation, you know his brand awareness game is at the top of the league!

The brand personality that challenges toxic masculinity by promoting simple bujang-proof recipes gains fame because of his chill yet mouth-watering tutorials.

 

Or the Malay version, ‘Sungguh enak dimakan begitu saja’. I bet you sang the catchphrase just now, right? 😆

Southeast Asian favourites then and still, Gardenia’s jingle will forever be present in the back of our minds.

Did you know, Gardenia made only minor changes to their brand logo and packaging ever since their establishment?

Image credit: Gardenia

If Malaysia had to pick an innocent brand archetype to represent the country, Gardenia would unanimously take the halo 😇 Get it; halo as in crown for the innocent? 😂

Their main mission has always been to make their customers happy, and with the simplest white bread at that! 

The brand is so widely assimilated into the society that if they changed the way they look and sound, it will quite literally kill the brand. ☠️

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Did you automatically jingled “Yusuf Taiyoob” under your breath 👀 Because let’s face it, the tagline is very catchy, unique and quite easy! 

Coming in with a Ruler personality, Yusuf Taiyoob is known to be among the best brands that imports high quality dates.

In Malaysia, every time you hear the whispery breathy tagline being played on the radio or TV, you would instantly know Ramadan and Raya is coming, even if you’re not muslim. 🕌

 

Video credit: Yusuf Taiyoob

That’s how powerful a brand voice is when done right!

Now that you know how brand awareness can help boost your sales, these are 5 functional tips to set a suitable brand personality and voice to your brand.

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1. Knowing your brand archetype

You might have noticed how I classified Gardenia as an ‘Innocent 😇’ brand and Yusuf Taiyoob as a ‘Ruler 👑’ brand. 

These titles are among the 12 brand archetypes that can help you determine what image your brand is going for.

When you’re looking into what archetype your brand belongs to, a pro-tip is to list down your brand purpose and mission in ALL CAPS.

Is your brand’s mission to make people happy like the Innocent? Does your brand claim to be the best in your niche area like the Ruler? Is your brand going against normal stereotypes like the Rebel?

Listing down your brand mission and purpose will definitely prove to be worth it for your brand and for future reference as well!

 

2. Use suitable vocabulary

Once you’ve figured out where your brand belongs among the 12 archetypes, you can start the journey to finding your brand voice. List down the words that resonate with your brands. 📝

Again, take into consideration how your brand archetype would usually sound like. If you’re an Innocent brand, aim to write copies that are cheerful and happy!

If you’re a Ruler like Yusuf Taiyoob, opt for words like ‘exclusive’ or ‘high quality’ in your copies. 

Long story short, the words you use throughout your copies should align with your brand archetype so that your mission and purpose are clear and precise. ✅

 

3. Prepare a template or layout

I’m not telling you to copy paste your ideas from last year and use it again this year but having a track record is actually a great idea. 💡

Include a brief explanation of what your brand is and is not, what your brand should sound like and what it should not sound like. 

This is so that when you recruit new employees, they’ll be able to get the main idea of what your brand is working towards.

Be it copywriters or graphic designers, having a template or layout from previous projects will be extremely helpful to maintaining your brand personality and voice. 😄👍🏼

 

4. Be consistent!

Like I mentioned in the last line of Tip #3, maintaining your brand personality and voice is not hard when you have a template and layout of your previous works.

Of course, if the brand image you’re going for now is not working in terms of attracting customers, try to change it and rev it up! 🕺🏻

But if the brand personality and voice are working the way you want it to and attracting the right customers, make sure to maintain them ‼️

Be consistent and recognisable like Gardenia. More often than not, people will go for the brands that they know have been around for a long time rather than new brands. 

It’s the sense of familiarity and nostalgia that attracts them again and again.

 

5. Reach out to a branding agency

Branding agencies prove to be helpful day in and day out. 

From providing professional insight to reaching your target audience, brand agencies help to lay out a planned content with your specific brand personality and voice. 🙌🏽

Looking for a brand agency that shares the same values as you is quite the feat. But when you find ‘The One’, just like finding your soulmate, you will instantly click with them.

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Key Takeaway 🔑

Many companies make the mistake of copying similar brands that promote cliché brand images. But it defeats the entire purpose of having your own brand. 

The main motive of building your own brand and setting a brand personality is to stand out from the crowd so that people will remember you.

So, the question remains, how do you want people to remember your brand? 🤔