Somewhere in your company’s shared drive, there’s a “brand voice” document gathering dust. Once launched with fanfare, it’s now forgotten. Executives skimmed it once. Writers find it academic. Designers think it’s someone else’s problem. And everyone quietly believes they can do it better.
So what happened?
Over time, people started “interpreting” the voice their own way. One writer sounds like a professor lecturing from a podium. Another crafts messages with the swagger of a rebel. Someone else decides to sound like the friendly neighbour — warm, casual, and harmless. Individually, they all make sense. Together? It’s chaos.
And the collapse doesn’t happen in one dramatic explosion. It’s slower — an erosion. A word softened here. A phrase adjusted there. A few brand guidelines skipped “just this once.” Until, one day, the sharp edges that defined your brand’s identity are gone. What’s left is a pleasant blur of everything and nothing.
When the Voice Drifts, So Does the Brand
At Wanted.Berlin, we see this pattern again and again: teams start with a defined tone, but as they grow, they lose discipline. The brand voice — that once-distinct signal in the noise — becomes just another frequency on the dial. And with it goes trust, clarity, and authority.
A drifting voice doesn’t just weaken communication; it kills leadership. Because in markets where everyone is trying to sound clever, friendly, or “authentic,” the brand that stays consistent becomes magnetic.
The Three Voices That Still Win
To help clients either find their voice or hold on to it, we use a simple framework — three archetypes that dominate in the most resilient and respected brands:
- The Expert: authoritative, data-driven, insightful. This voice builds trust through competence and precision. It leads with evidence, not ego.
- The Contrarian: bold, provocative, unafraid to challenge conventions. This voice questions everything your industry takes for granted. It doesn’t follow trends — it rewrites them.
- The Everyman: grounded, human, and empathetic. This voice doesn’t talk down — it connects. It speaks to shared struggles and real experiences, building loyalty through relatability.
The secret isn’t to blend all three. It’s to choose one — and defend it relentlessly.
Why Consistency Is Strategy
Too many teams think brand voice is a creative exercise. It isn’t. It’s strategy in disguise. Every word you write tells the world how seriously to take you. A brand that constantly shifts tone — from corporate jargon to casual banter to rebellious outbursts — teaches its audience one thing: we don’t know who we are.
But when a brand’s voice stays sharp, familiar, and unmistakably its own, something powerful happens. Every line reinforces authority. Every sentence strengthens memory. Every message compounds credibility.
A clear voice says: “We own this category — and nobody’s taking it from us.”
What Wanted.Berlin Believes
At Wanted.Berlin, we help B2B and tech-focused brands sharpen their voice until it cuts through complexity. Because a strong brand isn’t just what you look like — it’s how you sound. Your tone either builds trust and distinction, or it buries you in sameness.
And in a market where everyone’s shouting, clarity is rebellion.
Use our Wanted.Berlin Diagnostic Tool to discover how consistent your brand really is — and where your voice might be slipping.