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Brand Voice

Messaging is what we say. Voice is how we say it. Simply put, it’s the personality we use in our writing. 

Built from our purpose & positioning, our brand persona & voice are powerful elements of our verbal identity.

Persona
Who we are & how we relate

“Character” that embodies our personality and brings our purpose & positioning to life.

Brand voice
How we speak & sound

Distinctive attributes that bring our persona to life in communications — realistic, committed, confident, and energizing.

Consistency

We use the same brand voice across all audiences. Our audiences share the same Adapter mindset, so we speak to everyone in the same way. It’s this consistency that makes our voice distinct and drives connection with all our audiences. 

Our Persona

This is the “character” that embodies our brand’s personality, and ours is the Agile Architect.

Always ready for what’s next, balancing bold vision with practical partnership

Armed with a detailed blueprint on how they can help their customers achieve their goals

Ready to roll up their sleeves and make change real

Realistic

We present direct, honest information in everyday language — supported with insights and implications so customers know why it matters.

  • We are honest and concise.
  • We are not terse, dismissive, or pessimistic.

How we express Realistic in our writing:

  1. Spotlight one clear benefit:
    Identify and present one clear takeaway. 
  2. Make claims that are easy to picture:
    Make your claims clear and direct, so they’re easy for our audiences to picture immediately. 
  3. Use your headline to summarize your key argument:
    Use the headline to tell our readers what they need to know upfront.

Committed

We show that we understand customers’ unique needs and highlight how we can help them achieve their goals — all in language that’s warm, personal, and approachable.

  • We are a trusted leader.
  • We are not overly familiar or casual.

How we express Committed in our writing:

  1. Diffuse challenging moments with empathy:
    We tailor our language and offer outcomes that show we understand them and are here to help.
  2. Give our readers a reason to take action:
    Explain why taking action is helpful or important by showing how the information is useful to them.
  3. Elevate the outcome, not the process:
    Lead with the outcome instead of the details that got us there; we’re showing our readers we know what they care about and value their time.

Confident

We definitively showcase our expertise, speaking with certainty and tackling the future with a can-do attitude.

  • We try to show why, not just tell.
  • We are not superior at the expense of others.

How we express Confident in our writing:

  1. Take full credit for our actions and expertise:
    Directly call out the work we’ve done. Instead of “this report provides…”, try “we’ve compiled your go-to guide on cyber attacks.”
  2. Clearly spell out our point of view:
    Rather than ask an open-ended question, let’s show our expertise by telling readers exactly what our point of view is. 
  3. Refine a commonly held perception:
    We show our expertise when we can uncover a new truth or nuance behind an accepted opinion in our space.
  4. Treat your audience like an expert:
    Show we have the confidence to acknowledge we’re not the only ones with answers. 

Energizing

We highlight our forward-thinking vision — inspiring ourselves and our customers to think bigger and expand their ambitions for what’s next.

  • We back our vision with actionable expertise.
  • We are not blindly optimistic or unrealistic.

How we express Energizing in our writing:

  1. Define future-focused outcomes:
    Focus on what the future benefits will be so readers can imagine their own future.
  2. Start with a contradiction:
    Start with a statement that doesn’t seem like it could be true to catch our reader’s attention and energize our writing.
  3. Turn a challenge into an opportunity:
    Turn stumbling blocks into opportunities to show our vision and control over change.
  4. Create a movement:
    Define a concept as a movement to inspire customers to feel like they’re part of something bigger than themselves. Just remember, we don’t want to be so over-the-top or unrealistic that we alienate our readers.

See the full Brand Voice Guide for a more in depth look, including writing examples, tips, tricks, and more.

Access on Sharepoint

Additional Resources

Access on Sharepoint

The Quick Start Guide is a shortened version of our Brand Voice Guidelines. It covers persona, voice attributes, how to write in our voice, a brand voice checklist, voice FAQs, and comm cheat sheets.

Access on Sharepoint

Naming a product or service is an opportunity to deepen understanding of our brand and deliver on our brand purpose. This playbook is your go-to guide to understand our naming strategy and put it into practice.