Why Your Brand Voice Is Just as Important as Your Visual Identity

Have you noticed how many businesses seem to be saying the same thing lately? Everyone’s driving innovation, unlocking potential and delivering exceptional experiences. Different logos, different industries, but all communicating with the same tone of voice. 

And with AI making it easier than ever to produce content, there’s a good chance we’ll be seeing even more of it, in years to come.

AI isn’t the only villain here, and nor should it be. It’s an incredible tool when used properly. The trouble starts when businesses rely on it to create their personality for them, rather than using it to communicate the one they’ve already got. That’s when everything starts sounding a little too polished, predictable and suspiciously familiar.

You can spend years building a recognisable visual identity, but if everything you say sounds like it could have come from the competition, how much of your brand’s personality is really getting through?

Your brand voice is just as important as how you look

Your brand voice is how your business makes itself heard. From the language you use to the opinions you put forward, it all shapes how people understand, recognise and remember you.

And it’s a much bigger part of your brand identity than you might think.

Businesses tend to put plenty of thought into how their brand looks. The logo, typography, colours and all the little visual details that make it recognisable. But what about how it sounds?

You could have the most distinctive visual identity in your industry, but if your website, emails and LinkedIn posts sound like they’ve been written by three completely different businesses, you’re only telling half the story.

A consistent brand voice helps everything feel like it belongs together. That doesn’t mean sounding identical everywhere, of course. You might loosen up on LinkedIn and take a more considered approach in a client proposal, but people should still recognise the personality behind both.

Because your brand identity is just as much about what you say and how you say it as it is about what people see.

Is AI making every brand sound the same?

AI is brilliant at helping businesses produce content more efficiently. But without clear direction, it has a habit of sanding down the interesting bits.

Ask it to make something sound more professional and you might end up with perfectly polished copy that could belong to practically any business under the sun.

The little quirks get ironed out, the opinions lose their edge and before you know it, you’ve got a website that is saying all the right things without actually saying much at all.

The answer isn’t to ditch AI altogether. Far from it. It’s about giving it something worth working with in the first place. Your own ideas, your expertise and a personality that comes from the people behind the business, not a cleverly worded prompt.

A distinctive brand voice starts with having something to say

Standing out doesn’t necessarily mean being louder, funnier or more provocative than everyone else. Sometimes it’s about the things you’re willing to say.

Take Oatly. They’ve made an art of saying things other brands probably wouldn’t dare put on their packaging. They’re cheeky, opinionated, and wonderfully self-aware.

From the packaging to their advertising, there’s a consistency in how they communicate that makes the brand recognisable even without the logo. They’re happy to poke fun at themselves, question the industry and occasionally say things that most brands would probably run past three departments before approving.

But there’s a reason it works. They’re not trying to sound human for the sake of it. The personality comes from having a clear point of view and the confidence to express it, consistently.

Your brand personality should make people feel something

When was the last time Dove tried to convince you that its shower gel was the best thing since sliced bread?

Its long-running Real Beauty positioning speaks to how people feel about themselves and the pressure to look a certain way. In 2024, its The Code campaign brought that same thinking into the conversation around AI, pledging never to use AI to create or distort images of women.

There’s a belief behind that decision, and an emotional reason for people to care. Dove is giving people something more substantial to connect with than another beautifully lit bottle of shower gel.

You don’t need a grand social mission to have a point of view. Perhaps you disagree with something that’s become the norm in your industry, care deeply about a frustration your customers face or simply have a way of looking at things that makes people smile.

Not everybody will agree with you, of course. But when people recognise something they believe in, or hear an opinion they’ve been waiting for somebody to say out loud, you’ve given them another reason to get behind your business.

LinkedIn’s B2B Institute found that emotionally driven marketing campaigns generated seven times more very large long-term business effects than rationally focused ones.

That’s not to say every business needs to start cracking jokes or being deliberately provocative. Emotion can come from trust, reassurance, confidence or an opinion that makes someone stop and think.

The important thing is giving people something to connect with, rather than another paragraph of perfectly polished promises.

At Giant Peach, we believe your personality, opinions and the way you see the world deserve just as much attention as the services you offer. They’re what give people a feel for the business behind the branding, and a reason to connect with you beyond what you sell.

Because relevance might get you noticed. But a distinctive brand identity gives people something to remember you by.

Five signs your brand voice needs attention

• A case of corporate copy-and-paste. Different businesses, same old promises about going above and beyond. Hardly giving anyone a reason to choose you over the competition.
• Everything’s had too much of a tidy-up. The writing might be polished, but all the interesting bits have been ironed out.
• Your website and LinkedIn sound like two different businesses. There’s room to adapt your tone across different channels, but people should still recognise the same personality behind them.
• Your team wouldn’t dream of saying half of it. If your team reads your website and wonders who on earth wrote it, you’ve probably got a problem.
• You’re so busy playing it safe that nobody knows what you actually stand for. You’ve got a lot to say, but not much of a point of view. And there’s only so much excitement a list of services can generate.

How to create a consistent brand voice

You might be surprised how much personality’s already sitting right under your nose.

It’s in the way your team talks to clients, the opinions they share and the little turns of phrase that never seem to make it onto the website.

Start there. Work out what feels genuinely yours and build a few practical brand voice guidelines around it.

Then, if you’re using AI, give it something useful to go on. A bit of context, some real examples and a proper understanding of how you want to sound. It shouldn’t have to guess.

Give your brand something worth listening to

Your logo can look the bee’s knees, but if everything underneath it sounds like it could belong to any other business, you’re missing a trick.

A distinctive brand identity needs more than good design. The words you use, the opinions you share and the personality behind your messaging all contribute to how people recognise and remember your business.

At Giant Peach, we help businesses bring their brand strategy, visual identity, messaging and digital presence together, making sure the way they look and the way they sound feel like they’re coming from the same place.

And preferably somewhere with a bit of personality.

Let’s talk about your brand.