In marketing communications, a vitally important factor is Tone Of Voice.
The optimum TOV is established by cross-referencing a variety of factors. These will include the type of product or service you offer, your key target industries, the decision-maker demographic, what their needs are, how they would prefer to be addressed, the required level of likely investment and so on.
Aggregating all these elements should clearly indicate what your marketing communications should read and sound like. Tabloid or broadsheet? Slangy or authoritative? Light-hearted or weighty? Innovative or traditional?
Once established, TOV must be maintained rigorously. Failure do so can cause expensive problems, as the following cautionary tale will demonstrate.
Goldcat worked on a marketing campaign with a provider of production monitoring systems for manufacturing industry. This particular campaign was focused around the idea of transparency - that the system would enable management to truly see right inside the factory for the first time and thereby identify cost-saving opportunities.
The campaign was built around a dazzling piece of marketing collateral. A perfect mock-up of an old-style hospital X-ray sleeve, containing a translucent bromide upon which was printed a 3D graphic illustrating the interior of an entire factory. Combined with (though we say so ourselves) a compelling and beautifully-written covering letter which concluded with a clear call to action, it was fantastic.
These expensive items were to be mailed to a small, carefully-selected group of Operations and Manufacturing Directors. We had every confidence that some serious sales enquiries would ensue.
When we came to check over the mailshot on the morning of dispatch however, we had something of a shock.
In the previous 24 hours, the company's Interim Brand Manager had paper-clipped a real £10 note to every letter and, prior to printing them out, had personally added to the text an extra paragraph saying in effect "this isn't a bribe (wink wink)".
They weren't even new £10 notes - one looked like it had been accidentally left in someone's jeans after a night out and gone through a wash cycle.
All the authority and professionalism encapsulated in the campaign was gone.
In disbelief, we asked what on earth the thinking was behind the changes. IBM replied: "Well you know, cost savings, bottom-line benefits, all that stuff. And it'll make the whole thing more memorable."
(A personally-addressed A3-size cardboard envelope containing an X-ray landing on your desk one morning isn't memorable enough? Seriously?)
The paltry amount somehow made it even more embarrassing. The people we were sending it to wouldn't buy a bottle of olive oil if it only cost £10.
Unfortunately, IBM had friends in high places and was backed on the decision. With heavy heart, we had to accede to the client's wishes.
What happened? In the days following the X-ray mailout, sales reps were reporting a poor response. The consensus among prospects was that the cash appendage was tacky.
One Ops Director said he'd given his PA the £10 to buy herself a sandwich with and thrown the remaining mailshot into the delivery yard skip.
Some days later, some of the covering letters started arriving back at the office with the £10 note still attached. Worse still, some of the money was returned accompanied by stern missives indicating that inducements of any kind would not be countenanced and that the type of company that offered them would not be considered as potential suppliers.
The X-ray mailout involved very significant outlay, but tragically not a single sales lead, product demo or request for further information was generated from it. A hugely promising marketing campaign spoiled, and all because Tone Of Voice was thoughtlessly and recklessly abandoned.
Don't let it happen to you.
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