In a world where AI and/or Agencies can generate infinite "professional" content, we're drowning in a sea of sameness. We’re awash in "Innovative solutions." "Best-in-class service." "Revolutionary approach." It's corporate Mad Libs.
This regression to the mean isn't just boring. When everyone sounds identical, you become a commodity, racing to the bottom while your margins and competitive advantage evaporate.
But here's what most miss: Brand voice is “the personality of your business” (Allan Dibb), and that personality scales nearly limitlessly. The vibrancy and character imbues every interaction with your business, product, and people with an unmistakable feeling that there's a real human on the other side who actually gives a damn.
Your company’s specific brand voice is a competitive advantage. It's difficult to replicate, automate, or commoditize - because it emerges from the specific combination of people, values, and experiences that make your company unique.
Brand voice is a strategic investment that pays off by building trust, connection, and preference that translates directly to business outcomes. These include:
Faster sales cycles: When prospects feel like they're talking to a real human who gets their problems, deals close faster. The right voice pre-qualifies your audience and accelerates trust.
Premium pricing: Customers pay more for brands they connect with emotionally. It's why people pay $6 for coffee that costs $0.50 to make at home. They're not buying caffeine; they're buying the experience, the ritual, the relationship, the feeling of belonging to something.
Talent magnetism: That experience and belonging isn’t just for your customers - it’s also for your employees. The best people want to work somewhere with personality, where they’re more than another corporate drone. Your voice attracts people who share your values. The ultimate way to discover “culture fit” is to live your culture out loud and see who is attracted.
Customer loyalty: When customers feel understood and valued through every interaction, they stick around. They become advocates, not just users or buyers.
The best brand voices aren't invented in workshops—they're discovered in actual conversations with customers.
The voice discovery process:
Yuval Noah Harari observes in Sapiens that "contradictions are an inseparable part of every human culture. In fact, they are culture's engines, responsible for the creativity and dynamism of our species." The same applies to brand voice, as the unique way we balance contradictions creates a genuineness that feels extremely human. The tension creates energy. The energy creates memorability. The memorability creates preference.
In a world where AI can generate infinite professional mad-lib/consultancy content, your specific voice becomes your competitive advantage. It's a thing that can't be easily imitated.
Pick your tribe. Speak their language. Solve their problems in ways only you can articulate. Let everyone else wonder what they're missing.
Your brand voice isn't just how you communicate—it's how you build a business worth choosing, worth remembering, and worth spending money on.
