.bodytext {float: left; } .floatimg-left-hort { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right: 10px; width:300px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 10px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} Once a company’s leaders identify their brand, they quickly move to communicating that brand to their marketplace. Excellent – just as they should. But in most cases, they stop short.

One of the most powerful and overlooked aspects of your brand is its voice. Just as consistency in your brand’s visual presentation (logo, color palette, fonts, etc.) is critical to building brand awareness and understanding, the same can be said of the voice.

Not sure what a brand voice is? If you saw an ad for a Macintosh computer and the copy was very technical and dry, would it feel right?

Of course not, because that’s not Apple’s voice.

If you saw a brochure for the United Nations that was filled with hip-hop slang, would it feel right?

Again, of course not.

The same is true of your organization. Whether you’ve ever thought about it or not, you do have an authentic brand voice. When you use it, it feels comfortable and genuine. When you don’t, it sounds and feels artificial.

Many companies try to use a more formal or authoritative voice in their marketing materials because they think it makes them more “official.” But really, it makes them sound fake.

The greatest brand compliment you can receive is to meet someone for the first time and have them tell you that you “feel” just like your Web site or collateral materials. That means you are being consistent; you are speaking in the same voice, regardless of the medium.

Remember, good branding relies on consistency. In all aspects of your brand.

Drew McLellan is Top Dog at McLellan Marketing Group and blogs at www.drewsmarketingminute.com. He can be reached at Drew@MclellanMarketing.com. © 2007 Drew McLellan