By their nature, writers are some of the most judgemental people you’ll ever meet. It’s just that the best writers happen to make incisive judgements. (The worst will have to google ‘incisive’.)

Intuition about your imagined audience goes a long way towards making correct judgements. Careful assumptions can be the difference between words that hits all the right buttons… and work that falls flat on its face.

But how do you write something that doesn’t ‘make an ass out of U and me’? How do you get from presumptuous copy… to something that really makes someone think?

To do well, copywriters have to make a set of smart observations – in part about their clients, but mostly about the audience they’re writing for. You have to draw inferences from websites, from existing literature, and from your creative brief. It’s a half-unconscious process, not least as we constantly interpret and filter information all the time, but it’s critical.

Say you’re given a new project. Deadlines are approaching… but you’ve got a little while to get into the mindset of this new client – their wants, their goals, their objectives. You’ve got to think about their industry – what their audience expects, thinks, feels. And you’ve got to think about how you’re going to write messages for your client that won’t patronise their customers.

In short, you’ve got time to become the client. And if it’s On-Hold Marketing we’re talking, the first thing you have to ask is: What does my caller want?

Answering that question means becoming an expert – or at least sounding like one.

The only way to do that is to speak their language.

This month’s Sound Ideas identifies how different groups, subcultures and audiences each have their own ways of saying things. In the extreme, we call this jargon – words that work to exclude the casual listener. Yet for the most part, these words simply come from certain processes or techniques within or relevant to that industry.

Me, I can speak ‘car’ fairly fluently. My life experiences have given me a decent working knowledge of vehicles, engines and garage equipment. My professional writing has seen me learning the benefits of many mechanical bits and bobs. But ask me how to write about false nails and I’ll probably start crying. It’s one of the reasons it’s nice to work in a team.

But delegation can be a short-cut. If there isn’t the option, I’ll have to learn, filter and repackage key marketing messages for people who, crucially, will already know what I’m talking about. I’ll have to learn the features, identify the benefits… and write like I know what I’m talking about. Or even like I’m a dab-hand at applying false nails myself.

I like writing about cars because I’m also comfortable with the language that surrounds them. The phrases, the ‘in’ words, the nomenclature – the slang, if you like, for certain vehicles and their features. Most importantly, this means I know how to make cars sound appealing… and mechanical work seem less daunting. So when callers hear what I’ve written, they’ll hopefully feel reassured (or inspired to book that test drive).

But when I don’t have that luxury, I know it’s time to learn. If I’m unfamiliar with the topic, I’ll do what I can to read around it. This way, I can get a feel for the callers the business is trying to connect with… and then imagine myself as one of them.

From here, I can then work out how to apply this language. After all, there’s a huge difference between the customers of a professional motor factor and a local garage – even if the products and services are essentially the same. Identifying the audience allows you to gauge how technical or explanatory you need your language to be.

So, intuition only goes so far. Luck isn’t enough in the professional world. In reality, there’s no substitute for information. And if all else fails, it’s worth remembering one other technique: keep things simple. Because ultimately, inauthenticity ruins hard work – and people have a sharp nose for bull.

Increasingly, modern life is about choice. News services by the dozen, TV channels by the hundreds, radio stations by the thousands – it even seems that the majority of undergraduate degrees on offer are modular, giving students enormous control over what they study. And so for the humble art of copywriting, increased consumer choice means that, more than ever, it’s not about what you want to say, it’s about what your customer wants to hear.

For example, Dove’s creative team decided to make a virtue of using ordinary women in their advertising rather than ‘aspirational’ models. This associated Dove with self-empowerment, a celebration of personal identity and a non-conformist attitude to the media’s interpretations of femininity and beauty. It created a huge connection between Dove and their consumers and is proof that when you consider the sensibilities of your client base and get it right, it can be very right indeed.

But failing to understand your customers can have unexpected consequences, too. Just a month or so ago, Nike attempted to ride on the back of the hugely popular St Patrick’s Day celebrations in the US by releasing a new pair of brown and black trainers. The idea was to pay homage to a drink with a strong Irish connection, often called ‘Half and Half’. In America it tends to be made of half a Guinness and half a Harp lager – a truly Irish mix. However, the trainers were not called ‘Half and Half’ but rather ‘Black and Tan’ – this is the other name for the same drink and obviously the reason for the colours of the trainers. Unfortunately, ‘Black and Tans’ was the nickname of a British paramilitary unit sent to Ireland in the 1920s who, among other things, brutalised and murdered Irish civilians. This, of course, led to quite a backlash from the Irish community in the US and a public apology from Nike – not quite the impact they were hoping for.

Customer preconceptions

The perceptions of your customers are of great importance to copywriters. Just ask Audi what they think of the world’s preconceptions of the Germans – their strapline is Vorsprung Durch Technik. Now, prepare yourself for one of those ‘I should know this’ moments…

What does Vorsprung Durch Technik mean?

Ten points if you know it means ‘Progress Through Technology’ (literally ‘Forward Jump Through Technology’). For the rest of us, let’s marvel in how familiar we have become with a strapline that has no literal meaning for us yet overflows with connotations. We consider Germany to be the home of the world’s finest engineers – they are meticulous, accurate and efficient. It’s this strong cultural belief that makes it work. It’s about us, not them. Imagine a Swedish or a Croatian company using a strapline in their own languages – it just wouldn’t work.

Understanding your audience

In international markets, there’s always the danger of unexpected meanings – ‘Irish Mist’ is an evocatively named whisky liqueur over here but in Germany ‘mist’ means ‘manure’ – it would certainly lose its mystique. And a name change would be in order should the Swedish chocolate bar ‘Plopp’ ever cross the icy waters to the UK.

Of course, many businesses don’t have to concern themselves with international language and cultural barriers. Although some may find that the situation will alter for a while during the summer because there is, of course, the small matter of the Olympic Games – thousands upon thousands of people from all of earth’s imagined corners will descend on our tiny island. And with celebration on their minds and money in their pockets, it’s going to be a great time for commerce. So anything you can do to avoid confusion will be all to the good. Clear and simple language where idioms and cultural references are approached with caution is the order of the day. Also, thinking about what your new customers want and need during their time in the UK should inform your choices of promotions and offers.

Rough vs. literal translations

Here at PH Media we service a raft of global companies as well as British companies that have spread abroad. Subsequently, we know the critical importance of using an indigenous speaker for any translations. Just to illustrate the point, Dutch football fans sing a war cry during matches called Hup Holland Hup (Go Holland Go)… It roughly translates as:

Go Holland go
Don’t make the lion look foolish
Go Holland go
Release the animal
Go Holland go
Don’t let them take you back
Because the lion wearing football boots
Can take on the whole world

The above captures the spirit through a rough translation – something that a good, indigenous translator would give.

Below is a literal word for word translation. And as you will see, the spirit of the football chant seems to be missing a little:

Go Holland go
Don’t let the lion stand in his little vest
Go Holland go
Don’t let the animal wear slippers
Go Holland go
Don’t let them beat you out of the field
Because the lion wearing football shoes
Can take on the whole world

This is why we offer a translation service to our customers – so the spirit of the text can be captured and delivered by native speakers. But what about those of us whose customers are a little less exotic? We can learn a lot from the edict ‘it’s not what you want to say, it’s what your customer wants to hear’. Think about how you change your style of communication from person to person in your own life. How you speak to your friends, your spouse, your staff, your bank manager – there will be subtle variations in all of these. If you start to spot the differences, you’ll start to really appreciate how the smallest of copy changes can make such a big difference. This is particularly relevant in On-Hold Marketing, which is one of the most intimate and direct of all media.

Your call is important

In terms of callers who are placed on hold or transferred, considering the nuances and variations of communication is very important – it doesn’t get more intimate than one person listening to one message at a specific moment in time. And because of this intimacy, congruence and rapport are essential – a customer on the phone is more likely to think ‘This is aimed at me’ than when they’re listening to a radio commercial that they know another half a million people are listening to simultaneously. Your On-Hold Marketing messages need to connect with your callers.

So ask yourself, who are your customers? Not necessarily in terms of demographics – age, class and gender might not be most important things here. For example, if you owned a fishing tackle outlet, the answer to this question might not be ‘men between the ages of 35 and 70, mainly blue collar’. Instead, the answer may be, ‘people who enjoy fishing’ – and this alone can tell you all you need to know. If that’s your business you’ll know what personality traits they will tend to have… Competitive? Technically minded? Introverted? – You see the point.

It’s important to consider everything from the caller’s perspective. Your script needs to make your callers feel that they are at the right place, that they have some kind of connection with the company and that they’ve made the right choice in calling you. A company supplying skateboard and BMX products will know that almost every customer, from the 14-year-old boy to the 45-year-old woman, will almost certainly share a certain philosophy and outlook. If your company can tap into that, your On-Hold Marketing will be a success – higher caller retention, increased customer satisfaction and more cross sales. In other words, a company that will always be wearing the football boots and never have to stand in its little vest.

For people to understand, you have to make yourself understood. Sounds pretty obvious, but it’s one thing writing words on a page and a completely different kettle of fish saying them out loud. So the rule of thumb is, when it comes to articulating your message, make sure that the way your words are spoken is reinforcing the message you want to give.

The conventions of speech differ from culture to culture which means that what you’re actually saying is only part of the story – it’s another dimension for interpretation. Take the Athabaskan Indians of North America: they don’t talk to strangers, they like to feel familiar with people before they engage in conversation – which must mean a fair bit of sitting around in silence before you stop being labelled a stranger. There must have been occasions where they’ve met non-Athabaskans and the culture clash has led to negative opinions on both sides. Athabaskans being perceived as rude may be sullen or dismissive, while non-Athabaskans may be shallow, pushy or insincere; pretending to be friends with complete strangers.

Linguist John Gumperz tells a story of Indian and Pakistani workers serving in a cafeteria at Heathrow who felt they were being discriminated against after some customers claimed they were rude. It transpired that when people requested meat, British staff would say ‘Gravy?’. The Asian staff would also say ‘Gravy’ but with a downward inflection rather than an upward, questioning inflection. Until this was pointed out in a workshop, the Asian staff thought that they were doing exactly the same as the British staff – they were both saying ‘gravy’ after all. They simply didn’t know that westerners could perceive the same word as both rude and polite depending on the intonation.

In Greece it’s normal to answer the phone by saying ‘Embros’ or ‘Go ahead’. Well, how rude – not even a ‘Hello’.  But to the Greeks of course, it’s not rude at all. We just perceive it as rude from our cultural standpoint.

The English and Americans have a tendency, especially when abroad, to smile at strangers when they catch their eye. And because of this some Europeans are suspicious because they consider it a sign of insincerity. It seems to be the state of the human condition that we all feel we have the copyright on what is correct and reasonable behaviour but we are actually all wrong and all right at the same time; which means mistranslations can often occur.

These misunderstandings aren’t unique to language and cultural differences between nations. Every culture has its subcultures so it can be a domestic issue too. And ‘subcultures’ doesn’t even have to mean things as simply definable as religion, sexual orientation or sports affiliation. It can be middle-aged women or fashion-conscious men; high achievers or the thrifty minded. Each subculture will have things that attract and repel them, so it’s worth considering how your marketing messages may be received by your predominant customer ‘types’.

These considerations are slightly less complicated when it comes to on-hold messages – there are no facial expressions or body language to cloud the waters. But on the other hand it may be more problematic because the only cultural cues available are the words and the sounds (the way the words are spoken, music and sound effects). We believe that the key to success is knowing your audience – learning what the dos and don’ts are for your customers and callers is the goal.

Our creative team understands that, in one industry, a bright and happy intonation may be perceived as flippant and unprofessional, while in another, the tonal qualities of a ‘corporate’ voice may be considered pompous and condescending. It’s with this kind of knowledge that we can find what’s right for your business.

Music can define cultures, music can change cultures, heck – music creates its own cultures. It is defining and empowering. It brings people together and it divides them. It can heal the sick and break your heart. Music is all around us and it’s inside us – it’s the deepest and purest expression of humanity. It yours, it’s mine, it’s everyone’s – it’s personal and it’s universal all at the same time. Music lights the touch paper of the soul and you can harness its cultural impact to boost your profits. Read on to discover how.

If you’ve haven’t really considered quite how important music is to everyone, try criticising someone’s favourite artist or type of music. If they don’t bite instantly, persist in telling them why that music isn’t very good. It won’t be long before you get a response that’s akin to badmouthing a member of their family.

There is a lot of scientific evidence that backs up what we know intuitively – music can increase or decrease your heartbeat and your blood pressure. It can relax you and stimulate you. Some athletes use calming music before competing and, in sports where it’s possible, high tempo music during events. And it is now known that music stimulates more parts of the brain than any other human function.

But there are other effects that seem to be more far-reaching than you may expect. In 2007, a study in Germany found that music therapy helped improve motor skills in patients recovering from strokes. And music therapy has been shown to improve mental focus, help control pain and boost the immune system.

Although different countries produce different styles of music, the cultural gulf is not as great as was once imagined. Although the musical differences can be huge, the language of the music is something that may be universally understood.

In 2004, 150 Japanese volunteers listened to excerpts of Japanese, Western, and Hindustani music. Then they were asked to rate the emotions in each piece – their choices were joy, anger and sadness. The results showed that the participants were able to read the musical cues in all of the music because the things that affect us stay the same regardless of the music’s origin. Complex and loud recordings were perceived as portraying anger; sadness was associated with slow and complex pieces; and joy was associated with fast, simple and melodious tunes. So it appears there is a language that can transcend cultures. When it comes to marketing, it’s very useful to know this as it means our musical cues will be understood universally.

Here’s a study that’s really, really useful to know about:

Fans of two vastly different musical genres were asked to evaluate the descriptions of three types of people. People with their musical taste, people who like different music to them and people who stated no musical preference at all. The participants were asked how much they thought they would like each of the people and how similar they thought the people were to them.  The results showed they liked a new person better when finding if they had the same taste in music. And the degree to which they felt that they would like the new person was based strongly on how much they thought the new person would share similar values rather than similar personality characteristics. It’s fair to assume then that we assign similar tastes in music to similar values and characteristics.

This is fantastic news for those who want to achieve great things with On-Hold Marketing. Using a particular genre of music can make you friends, fast. A solicitors’ firm, for example, may want to sound as serious and professional as possible and therefore decide to use classical music. But if the highest proportion of their customer base is made up of C2DEs then there is another element to inform their choice of on-hold music. Finding something that may still have the professional and trustworthy values but is more aligned to the taste of the customers could illicit a very positive response from callers. On-hold productions bring an intimacy to your marketing and can be used to build customer rapport very quickly.

Music pulls our strings in so many different ways; it’s the perfect way to turn the physical connection of the phone call into something more visceral and long-lasting.

Finding the music that will best suit the needs of your business and customer base is something we do for our clients on a daily basis. We can help you harness the power of music with original compositions to increase your profits; news of which will be music to your ears, as well as your callers’.

From humble beginnings to global expansion, organisations have some great stories to tell. It’s why storytelling is such an essential part of scripting for audio branding. But when it comes to narrating your own story, there’s a question worth asking. When your callers are sitting comfortably, how do you make sure they listen?

In Sound Ideas this month, we’ve established that choosing the right voice for your organisation is paramount. Not only does it have to fit in with people’s existing ideas of your brand… but it must also carry the messages that convince new customers that you’re the people to go with. And as any nagged parent knows, convincing means subtle (or not-so-subtle) persuasion – so short of some Jedi mind tricks, you’ll have to start with the basics: the words themselves.

A good script literally skips from the page. It scans well, it reads naturally. It’s short and succinct – and it delivers without drawing too much attention to itself. You’ll hope not to find too many stereotypes in there. More importantly, it won’t make its reader sound like a cyborg.

To really make the script work wonders – and ensure it perfectly fits your brand – you’ve got to go beyond your offerings, and into the world of tone. It almost goes without saying that tone of voice has a massive impact on delivery – it carries clues about a company’s heritage, history, style and even intent. Tone of voice comes from the script itself, and is one of the first things you or your copywriter will want to identify before they get cracking.

The key point is to be yourself. You’re talking to people, so it’s a good thing to show off your brand’s personality. If you’re an esteemed organisation serving a traditional client base, you might want to sound distinguished. This means you’ll take your basic facts and dress them up in carefully chosen words from the posher end of the scale. You’re unashamedly upmarket, after all, so why shouldn’t you be discerning? Ultimately, you’ll come over politely assured and authoritative – adding real weight to your claims, and helping callers to trust in your long-held expertise. You’d likely never say ‘Hi’. You’d absolutely never say ‘Yo’. Because, intuitively, you know that wouldn’t be your brand.

On the flipside, the young start-up with bold ideas might want to trim the vocabulary and talk to callers in a casual, easy style. Conversation here is no less personal: you’re talking in their ear, after all, but you’ll want to swap out ‘I am’ for ‘I’m’. You’ll want to switch down from polite to familiar – and use everyday words that your voiceover artist will be more than comfortable saying out loud. Just bear in mind that being ‘down with the kids’ is often perceived as inauthentic, or worse, a little try-hard (don’t say ‘Yo’ here either, basically). Likewise, simple doesn’t have to mean patronising.

So, a few important things to consider. Whether you’re dealing in budget brands or prestige… appealing to the enthusiast or opening your doors to all… your tone says a lot by hardly saying anything at all. Above all, though, it’s essential to sound helpful: because anything you do to make that time on hold more bearable will be noticed, appreciated, and remembered.

Right now on your TV screens you’ll see Usain Bolt convincing the world that he’s Richard Branson in order to sell fast broadband. It’s both funny and logical – Bolt is by far the fastest man to ever walk the planet so who better to point out that ‘…this is not buffering by the way, this is me standing still…’?

On the other hand, the short-lived union between Sharon Osbourne and Asda was seen by some as doomed from the start. A multi-millionairess with a pretty atypical lifestyle being an Asda mum who revelled in saving a couple of pounds on her weekly shopping just didn’t… well… add up. This illustrates why just employing a celebrity for your brand is no magic bullet – to see a return on investment it takes more than just a willingness to spend a lot of money. It needs an understanding of why celebrity works when it does.

We all project an image of ourselves to the world at large. In most cases, that image is almost identical to our private selves, but is a projection all the same. In fact, you could say we all create our own brands. And the higher your public profile is, the more important your brand becomes. When you reach celebrity status, it can be responsible for success or failure; it’s what you trade on.

The reverse observation can also be made – a brand could be described as the ‘projected personality’ of an organisation or product. Those of us who revelled in GCSE English Lit might go so far as to call it a personification.  Look at it like that and you can see the similarities that exist between companies and celebrities. It’s when these brands come together that amazing things can happen… as long as you tread carefully.

When you use a celebrity voice, you are locking their brand together with yours, which is great as long as there’s alignment. Imagine that the two brands are jigsaw pieces – if they go together it’s easier to perceive the bigger picture. If they don’t then it’s just confusing. And if your brand confuses people then all of the hard work and investment will probably come to nothing.

In 1995 USA Today stated that ‘…it is believed that using celebrities [in advertising] is an unnecessary risk unless they are logically linked to the product…’

OK, that was in America; it was in the 90s and it was referring to above-the-line advertising – but the rules remain the same for audio branding in the UK today. Brand congruity is the key to success.  So if you decided to pursue the use of a celebrity voiceover, picking the right celebrity for your organisation is the name of the game and, broadly speaking, there are three methods that people employ:

• First of all, some pick their favourite actors or comedians for no other reason than they like them. This method isn’t going to work, no matter how great the celebrity is, unless by some fluke the celebrity just happens to fit the brand.

• Secondly, some choose a person they would like people to associate with their brand. This can work but it’s important to proceed with caution – realigning a brand can sometimes be exactly the right thing to do but if the gap between the organisation’s current brand and the celebrity’s is too great it will most likely be a bridge too far.

• Thirdly, there are those who defer to their agency’s creative team who make suggestions based on a coherent plan and relevant creative executions. Even the most straightforward looking of scripts will be designed to effectively use the style and brand of the celebrity. This is the best way forward – use the talents of the experts, have a plan that fits the organisation’s needs and tailor your messages to best bring together the two brands.

It’s also important to consider the practical issues involved – a lot of factors have to be right for a celebrity voice to work – affordability, agreement (the celebrity may decide that an organisation’s brand would be an unhelpful association with theirs), availability and flexibility. All of these are as important as each other but flexibility should be given special consideration because it’s the one that’s easy to miss. Failing to plan for future copy changes is a schoolboy error that causes many a headache. Nobody wants to find themselves needing to get a seasonal message voiced only to discover that their chosen celebrity is away filming a one-off TV special in Australia for six months.

Many companies have done incredibly well over the years by using famous voices; enjoying returns on their investments, improved brand perceptions and even company growth. But it’s a case of risk bringing reward. For many people the entry cost and the pitfalls make it too much of a gamble.

The good news for the more cautious among us is that you don’t need celebrities for success – a professional voice that’s a great brand fit, reading a well-crafted script, can deliver an excellent and risk-free return on investment with steady growth in profits and brand recognition.

For a free professional voice artist and music sample, bespoke to your business, or further advice on finding the right voice for your business and brand, call us on 0808 159 6153 or fill in the form above and we’ll get an audio branding consultant to speak with you.

The perceived values of using an amateur voice in advertising and marketing are that it conveys warmth and friendliness; it sounds sincere and real and will be received as natural and genuine. Although that sounds logical and persuasive, when you add the complications of conventions, the picture changes… a lot.

Things seem ordinary and natural to us only in the context that we are used to experiencing them. Outside of the right context the ordinary can become unusual, even jarring.

We probably all know the story of the woman who unwittingly tucks her skirt into her underwear and visits half a dozen shops before realising the awful truth – hundreds of conversations that evening will begin with ‘you’ll never guess what I saw today’ will end with them laughing at her. It’s mortifying yet quite odd when you stop and think about it – every summer, many of us hit the beach and embarrass the sun by exposing a lot more than our hapless shopper did. And yet no one bats an eyelid. Because convention changes with context.

Here’s mock voiceover Stevie Velvet voicing ads for a fictitious nightclub in Dudley and his own version of the classic M&S food commercials. The exaggerated ordinariness amusingly demonstrates how an amateur voice clashes with the conventions of the context.

Nightclub in Dudley

M&S food

This is particularly pertinent in the world of media – a TV performance is very different to one on stage. Movements and expressions are smaller, voices are quieter and enunciation is less pronounced – there is no projecting to the cheap seats on TV. In the same way, what may sound warm and friendly in real life can be lost in context of a recorded message mixed with music. What sounds normal when you speak with someone is different to what sounds normal on an audio branding message.

Professional voices can deliver inflection exactly where it’s needed in order to bring the script to life and to ensure that the message gets from the page to the customer’s ears exactly as it was intended. And here’s an odd fact – reading out loud is much more of a skill than you’d think. Most people can’t do it and even fewer can do it and sound anywhere approaching natural. It’s a surprisingly professional skill, and here’s how it’s done right.

Professional voice artist

In terms of on hold audio, any messages that are not bespoke should ring alarm bells – a standard message bundled with a standard voice will do you no favours at all. There really isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution, or at least not one that will deliver a return on investment, regardless of what any telecoms company may tell you. The great thing about professional voice artists is that they come in all shapes and sizes – the perfect fit for your brand is out there and they need to be found.

Professional voice artists are also less noticeable, which is a good thing – that may sound like a strange statement but it’s the message that’s important. If the voice is professional and brand congruent it will go almost unnoticed because it fits. It’s in the right place. They are in line with the conventions of audio media. If you notice something unusual it can distract you from the meaning and this won’t happen with a professional voice artist. Some might say that grabbing people’s attention is a good thing. And they’d be right. But again, it’s all about context. Attention grabbing is great when it comes to advertising – your brand enters a potential customer’s life and tries to get noticed. Your advert is just one of thousands of daily distractions and grabbing attention is the number one priority. But when someone calls an organisation the dynamics are very different. The potential customer now wants to interact with you and you have their full attention – you don’t need to grab it. This is something professional voice artists do extremely well.

There’s one way of using amateur voices, generally in above-the-line-advertising, that is serious and can sound professional – Vox Pops.

Vox Pop is short for Vox Populi which is Latin for ‘the voice of the people’. Usually you will hear these used in a testimonial style – it will be three or more members of the general public delivering a line each. This style of ad will invariably be used alongside a professional voice over artist who will be the ‘voice of the brand’ usually at the top and tail of the commercial. The Vox Pops never make up the complete message themselves.

If that isn’t right for your business or brand but you’re still in in two minds about going with a professional or amateur voice then think about how often you’ve heard marketing and advertising using an amateur voiceover. It’s probably somewhere approaching never. So if there was ever a time to follow the crowd, this is it.

For a free professional voice artist and music sample, bespoke to your business, or further advice on finding the right voice for your business and brand, call us on 0808 159 6153 or fill in the form above and we’ll get an audio branding consultant to speak with you.

When it comes to using a regional accent there are two choices – go indigenous or choose one from farther afield. Using a Yorkshire accent in Yorkshire may be the right thing to do if you want to instil pride, warmth and instinctive loyalty. But ‘foreign’ accents can elicit any number of different responses. A Yorkshire accent for an organisation in London may lead people to consider it quaint and straightforward with old-fashioned values. Whereas a London accent for an organisation in Yorkshire may be perceived as savvy, down to earth and worldly-wise.

Here are a few examples of how accents might be perceived:

• Geordies as fun-loving and social
• Mancunians as industrious
• Scottish accents as friendly and approachable
• Irish as calm and persuasive

And let’s not ignore the fact that not all of the responses to accents are positive; it can be a two-edged sword –there’s a reason why UK call centres are usually in Newcastle and not in Birmingham.

So now we’ve established that different accents are received in different ways, the next step is utilisation. GB Oils, a PH Media client, uses different accents for each of its sites throughout the UK – Scottish accents in Scotland, Welsh accents in Wales and so on. The aim is to localise its national brand for a warmer, more approachable feel, while neutralising the potential for a negative response driven by national rivalry. It’s a common theme with near neighbours, which is worth bearing in mind. A Yorkshire accent in Lancashire may have its pitfalls and might not be the best approach.

Once an organisation has established its brand values and how they want to be perceived, they are ready to ask questions. Are the perceptions of any particular accent closely aligned with the brand values and marketing aims and objectives? If so, you must consider negative associations that you may come across. How strong or subtle should the accent be? Should there be dialect in the copy? Using the odd word or phrase of dialect with an RP accent can shade a brand beautifully with the lightest of touches. But if you wanted to maximise regionality then using an accent and dialect will best achieve this. The diagram below shows how the variables of accent and dialect can produce a series of results:

Using the diagram above you can best decide how to use accent with your brand. In most cases the choice will be ‘NO dialect AND RP’ but it’s better that the decision is an active one rather than passively defaulting to standard English in a neutral accent. And whatever decision is made, the need for consistency across all touchpoints is, as ever, an important consideration. This doesn’t necessarily mean uniformity, though. A strong regional accent in a radio or TV campaign backed up with a more subtly accented professional voice for On-Hold Marketing delivers brand congruity without uniformity. The main thing is that every point of contact serves a specific function and as such will need to be given consideration on its own in relation to brand values – something that can be simplified with the right advice.

For a free professional voice artist and music sample, bespoke to your business, or further advice on finding the right voice for your business and brand, call us on 0808 159 6153 or fill in the form above and we’ll get an audio branding consultant to speak with you.

This month, our Sound Ideas posts have leant an ear to the use of music in building a brand. But while on-brand music is all well and good, when it comes to On-Hold Marketing that really kicks some arse, it’s only half the story. Because while a wordless film might’ve struck gold at the Oscars this year… our scriptwriters aren’t going to engage waiting callers without a few choice words in their lug-holes.

So far, so obvious. We all know that being persuasive is key to a great marketing message. Yet when you’re writing for the ear, there’s another consideration: sounding authentic. Because while being persuasive on paper is one thing, capturing the voice of those words is essential. And it all starts with the script.

We put a great deal behind audio profiling. That’s the process of matching a voice to our clients’ existing brand – something our production guys have bags and bags of experience in. What you might not realise, though, is that our writers take a good look at that data, too.

The reason’s obvious, given a bit of thought. Where accents inform the delivery of script – the intonation… the dropped vowels of a Northern voice… the long ‘A’ of a Southern accent… even the rhoticity of the Cornish accent (had to look that one up) – the dialect of a script can lend real authencity and character to a brand with a strong local or even national identity.

Dialect – which covers words that are indigenous to certain places – is fun to play with. We can’t go overboard and start alienating people, of course, but in certain circumstances you’ll find yourself subtly adapting your language to suit the audience you know the client wants to connect with.

Say if there’s call for a friendly script from a Northern company (or a Northern site of a national company), you might invite callers to ‘pop in for a brew’. Or if we’re being friendly down South, you’d ask them to ‘drop by for a cup of tea’. If we’re North of the border, there’s a whole subset of words we can put into our scripts (starting with the obvious ‘wee’). And if you’re writing for a company with a strong Welsh identity, there are some fascinating nuances to consider – like ‘we’ll be with you now’ instead of ‘we’ll be with you shortly’.

In all of these cases, a little research goes a long way: sprinkle a script with a few clever words or phrases (that won’t lose too much meaning for a wider audience) and you’ve not only got another means to inject your phone system with extra personality… but can create a stronger audio brand besides.

One of life’s great pleasures is browsing through things you’d love to own. Taking time to find exactly what you’re looking for can be very therapeutic. But when time is precious and you need to find the perfect music to represent your brand it may seem like a daunting task. Thankfully, the process can still be a pleasure with a clever bit of categorising and cross referencing.

Broad stroke categorisation is a very useful means of narrowing choice to what is strictly relevant – just look at any TV guide to see this in action: sport, news, drama, entertainment etc. Everything is neatly divided up so you can find exactly what you’re looking for. But where do you look if you want to find a sports quiz, for instance?

That’s the point at which you may think, ‘if only I could cross reference sport and entertainment.’

It may be a problem when it comes to finding your favourite TV shows but when it comes to employing an easier way to find the perfect musical theme for your organisation and brand, it’s a different matter.

Music can be grouped into hundreds of genres that all have their own particular niches. Fortunately, when it comes to brand types the list can be pared down to four categories: relaxed, motivated, corporate and friendly.

This means that rather than having to trawl through a dauntingly large number of music tracks, you can shortlist music that will be relevant to your brand. This is excellent for many industries:

• Gyms will listen to an array of music from the ‘motivated’ list.
• Supermarkets from the ‘friendly’ list.
• Spas will want to hear tracks from the ‘relaxed’ list
• And finance companies will probably listen to the ‘corporate’ list.

If you were looking for music for an airline, things may become a little more complicated. They would probably want to sound corporate (suggesting you can trust them) and friendly (suggesting a pleasurable experience).

This means that they would have to listen through two categories as they think to themselves, ‘if only I could cross reference corporate and friendly’.

Sound familiar?

Time is often a lacking resource for businesspeople so anything that makes a complicated and difficult task easier is a great asset. And this tool does exactly that.

Try it for yourself – it’s really easy.

Below is a matrix that puts ‘corporate’ and ‘friendly’ on one axis and ‘relaxed’ and ‘motivated’ on the other.

Click the square that you feel best describes your company’s brand, fill in your details and we’ll make you a bespoke On-Hold Marketing sample based on your choice.