Brands and companies do not always have a consistent tone of voice
We have spoken elsewhere about how important it is that a company speaks with a consistent voice.
Because nothing is like a voice that speaks. But there is an important distinction that should be included here: There is often a difference between a group's tone of voice and the individual brand's tone of voice.
A company with many different voices on offer
If we take, for example, a corporation like Orkla, they own everything from an aluminium company (50% of Sapa) to a confectionary manufacturer (Nidar). Obviously they should not sell aluminium and jelly babies in exactly the same way, nor with exactly the same tone of voice. When Møller Cod-Liver Oil wants to tell Norwegians that they need to take one spoonful of cod-liver oil daily even if they don’t like it, they’re not going to do it in the same way that Nidar tries to get people to understand that it’s impossible to eat only one Smash [a sweet] at a time. Even though both of these products are owned by Orkla Foods, the marketing language used to sell them is totally different. Orkla’s own voice is completely separate from those of its individual products, and should be kept totally separate: it’s best that it does not smell of Grandiosa [Norway’s most popular store bought pizza] or Krystal washing liquid!
What is the difference between the tone of voice of a company and that of its products?
For a large yet relatively invisible company like Orkla, it’s not essential that most people associate them with the company’s own products. This is because, amongst other things, the end product is most likely to be sold via other subsidiaries, such as Nidar, Stabburet and Lilleborg. These companies may, of course, if desired, also each have their own tone of voice, which distinguishes them either a little or a lot from Orkla’s own tone of voice.
The situation is a little different for a company like Disney, since this corporation is associated with each new big-budget film that is released in its name. Even though there will, of course, be huge differences in the language they use to either little children in their nurseries or to business people, it is perhaps more often the case in the Disney camp that two different varieties of tone of voice will meet or need to overlap one another.
Take action if things need to be changed
A brand’s tone of voice will be able to evolve more quickly than that of a corporation. The style and voice of certain brands will, if necessary, be able to be quickly tossed around and modified in order to meet their customers’ expectations and other strategic goals. A corporation, however, is a more solid object, an entity that often needs to show that its values are rock solid and that its corporate culture does not constantly change to suit the weather. Nevertheless, even a large corporation may occasionally need to change direction.
If we think of the product as a yacht, which has to take into consideration which way the wind is blowing, then the corporation is more like a tanker, which cannot change direction too quickly.