A term used in several arts, including in marketing, is “voice.” People refer to an “authentic voice”, “consistent voice”, “believable voice”, etc.
This isn’t just the sound of a person speaking. It is the tone, flavor, personality that comes across in written, spoken, or graphic communications. It is a part of branding.
If you are selling to rural Southerners, would you want to sound like a Harvard professor? Probably not. If you are selling Caribbean vacations, do you want to sound like a California surfer? I don’t think so.
In spoken communications, It isn’t just about accent. Choice of words and grammar are vital, both in written and spoken communications.
But it starts with determining what an appropriate voice would be.
That is a matter of appropriateness, believability, and domination.
1. What kind of voice is appropriate, both to the product or service being sold, the market it is being sold to, and other aspects of the branding?
2. What kind of voice would be most believable, delivering the message you are trying to get across.
3. What kind of voice tends to dominate in that market and for that type of product and service, meaning, it’s communications tend to be taken as orders?
For example, in the U.S., an upper-class British accent, spelling, grammar and word choice tend to dominate. That’s not true across the boards but it is surprisingly universal. I don’t know why that is – but notice how often commercials use a British accented speaker. Funny, but in the U.K. it’s the reverse – a brash American voice dominates.
Listen for the voice in marketing. I think you’ll find it enlightening.