Our brand voice is our style of writing and speaking.
What role does it play?
Our brand voice helps us be heard, recognized, and easily remembered. It brings our brand to life and helps us develop a relationship with our audiences.
How do we use it?
In every written or spoken communication, our brand voice creates a consistent experience for everyone who interacts with us.
Our strategic foundation
Our brand strategy and, specifically, our brand personality is the foundation of our brand voice. It is one of the ways we express our personality. Our brand voice shows us how to deliver on those qualities when we speak and write.
Who we are
We are tech optimists.
We share a mindset with our brand target audience: We believe in the power of technology to enable positive human-centered outcomes and we know that a global, inclusive perspective is critical to real change.
This tech optimist mindset is found among consumers, IT decision makers and our employees.
Our brand voice
The below brand tactics are directly informed by our brand personality. They help us communicate in a way that brings our brand to life.
Purposeful
There is an intent to everything we do.
Unexpected
We don’t sound like everyone else.
Brave
We are confident in our point of view.
- Bring a fresh POV to the subject
- Make our writing crisp and have a clear core idea
- Pick our subjects with intention and thoughtfulness
- Convey a positive human-centered outcome
- Pose thought-provoking questions to invite conversation
- Make it personal, using “you” and “we”
- Use playful wit when appropriate
- Address topics head on with frank, simple language
- Use active verbs and snappy construction
- Keep free from clichés—or put a fresh spin on them
Purposeful tactics
Purposeful means there’s an intent to everything we do. Each experience has a core idea that could be summed up in answer to the question, “how does this support our vision of a world with smarter technology for all?”
To speak and write purposefully, we:
Bring a fresh POV to the subject
Ex: We’ve always said that strength lies in diversity—even in our own company, where we blend the distinct cultures of both East and West.
Watchouts:
However, we don’t brag about ourselves or our views
Convey a clear core idea
Ex: The intersection of minimalism and raw power. The newest Legion is our most cutting-edge yet.
Watchouts:
If the topic is complex, prioritize what’s most important
Pick our subjects with intention and thoughtfulness
Ex. Join Lenovo’s Senior Design Strategist, Ali Ent, as she talks design and builds a kinetic sculpture on this episode of #STEMatHome. #womeninSTEM
Watchouts:
We join trends only when we have something relevant to contribute
Convey a positive human-centered outcome
Ex. Compassion that crosses borders. Now that’s smarter.
See how Lenovo’s edge servers are helping doctors provide emergency medical aid around the world. #SmarterSolutions
Watchouts:
Be sure to mention the Lenovo technology that enables the human-centered outcome
Unexpected tactics
Unexpected means we don’t look or sound like everyone else in our category. We may be experts in our field, but we include others in the conversation, and we speak like an equal.
To speak and write unexpectedly, we:
Pose thoughts and questions to invite conversation
Ex: Did you know hexagons are geometry’s powerlifters? On this episode of STEM At Home, we’re going to test that.
Watchouts:
Address the question; don’t leave the reader hanging
Make it personal, using “you” and “we”
Ex: In these past few months, you’ve likely questioned how to stay close to loved ones, keep your work moving, and be safe in the context of Covid-19. But ultimately, you were able to adapt. At Lenovo we’ve worked hard to do the same.
Watchouts:
Don’t forget to tie it back to our POV or what we can do
Use playful wit when appropriate
Ex: If you stare at our trackpoint long enough, you’re officially meditating… and people said you wouldn’t learn good habits in quarantine.
Watchouts:
But our humor shouldn’t be silly or slapstick
Brave tactics
Brave means we’re confident in our point of view and we communicate with optimism. We are unafraid of straight talk and don’t hide behind jargon.
To speak and write bravely, we:
Tackle topics head on with frank, simple language
Ex: As a signatory of the #DigitalDeclaration, @Lenovo joins tech developers & service providers in a commitment to ethical leadership in the digital era. Find out what responsible business really means for trust, innovation & inclusion.
Watchouts:
We never take stances that are either tone-deaf or political
Use active verbs and snappy construction
EX: Smarter fights loneliness with a plasma blaster.
See how Lenovo is helping seniors stay connected with gaming. #Smarter
Watchouts:
Avoid word play that makes the reader work too hard
Keep free from clichés—or put a fresh spin on them
Ex: The road to victory is paved in facepalms. We help a top race car builder fail in simulation so that top race teams can win on the track.
Watchouts:
Also make sure not to use any jargon
Punctuation and sentence structure
Brand voice isn’t only about word choice.
Relaxed punctuation and structure can feel more informal, spontaneous and inclusive—which contributes to our brand voice as much as the words we use.
Punctuation and formatting
- Use contractions to make it seem like we’re talking to peers
- Our wit is playful but not silly or childish, so use exclamation points sparingly
- Use sentence case to convey a relaxed tone
Sentence structure
- We can be flexible with structure, like how people speak naturally
- Opt for varying sentence length to mimic back-and-forth conversation; long sentences and paragraphs can feel like a lecture
Flexing for the right audience
It’s important to have a consistent brand voice to build recognition.
But that doesn’t mean we have to sound the same all the time. Just as you’d speak differently to your friends than you would to your boss, be aware of the context of our communications when using our voice tactics.
Tips on flexing for the right audience
- Unexpected tactics like using wit and relaxed punctuation can feel more informal and spontaneous — perfect for conveying the right tone on social.
- However, in contexts like stakeholder reports, we might rely more on purposeful and brave tactics like using vivid adjectives and a fresh take on industry trends.
Before and after examples
Press release
Before
1 | The title, along with much of the opening paragraph, uses lists to convey ideas. This can bog writing down with a lot of extra words.
2 | The opening thought introduces a lot of ideas at once, e.g., “our senses of safety, productivity, and connection to each other.”
3 | A list of our attributes adds unnecessary length and uses corporate speak to convey an otherwise simple idea.
4 | The focus of this paragraph is unclear. What’s the most important idea? The adaptation? The empathy for people? The business transformation?
After
A | Tackle topics head on with frank, simple language
B | Use active verbs and snappy construction
C | Pose thoughts and questions to invite conversation
D | Convey a clear core idea
Career posting
Before
1 | There doesn’t seem to be a single idea tying this passage together. We go from talking about bettering society, to our complete portfolio, to an Intelligent Transformation… It’s a lot to take in!
2 | Language like ”bold vision” and “world-changing technologies” feel like corporate buzzwords with little substance.
3 | This passage uses a lot of long sentences and jargon-y words, which doesn’t pay off on our personality of being brave, purposeful and unexpected.
After
A | Bring a fresh POV to the subject
B | Use active verbs and snappy construction
C | Make our writing crisp and have a clear core idea
D | Make it personal, using “you” and “we”
Social
Before
1 | This has potential to illustrate fun wit and turning a cliché on its head, but the execution is a little confusing. Why “champagne” in this context?
2 | “Technology doesn’t stand still” is a cliché.
After
A | Tackle topics head on with frank, simple language
B | Bring a fresh POV to the subject
C | Pose thoughts and questions to invite conversation
Before
1 | “Enables” is a bland, emotionless verb
2 | “The elderly” is an unappealing way to describe seniors
3 | The sentence lacks a hook and/ or fresh language needed to draw readers in
After
A | Brings a fresh POV to the subject
B | Uses active verbs and snappy construction
C | Poses an interesting thought that invites conversation
Reference our “Smarter technology for all” guidance for proper usage of the word “smarter.”
Additional resources
General writing tips
Think about the main idea.
What do you want your audience to take away from your piece of writing? Make sure everything you write adds to that—and don’t be afraid to cut things that aren’t relevant. Less fluff = more clarity.
Sound it out.
Read and re-read copy to yourself to make sure it passes the “no corporate jargon” rule. If it sounds formal when you read it out loud, keep pushing it to be more conversational.
Apply tactics thoughtfully.
You don’t need to use every tactic, or even a majority of them, in every piece of writing. Instead, focus on the ones that are most relevant for your specific communication.
Change things up.
We can be consistent with our tone of voice while still varying the way we construct our writing. Changing up stylistic elements make us feel fresh and help us stand out from the corporate crowd.
- Follow a short sentence with a long one
- Ask a question
- Use italics or bolding or even *asterisks*
- Throw an em dash in there…or even an ellipsis
- Bullet it out
Inclusive writing tips
Practices to follow
Practices to avoid
Use gender-neutral language; Ex: “chair” instead of “chairman”
Check people’s pronouns when referring to them. If you’re not sure of pronouns, use “they” instead of “he” and “she”
Use people-first descriptions; Ex: “He uses a wheelchair” vs. “a wheelchair-bound man”
Use “disabled” rather than “differently abled,” which can seem like a euphemism
Don’t employ stereotypes or make broad assumptions about groups of people
Don’t pity or patronize when talking about someone with a disability; Ex: Discussing accomplishments from someone who has a disability as “inspirational”
Don’t trivialize disabilities by referring to them casually and incorrectly; Ex: Using “OCD” when you mean to convey detail-oriented
