GET HEARD.
NATWEST GROUP:
I CREATED THE TONE OF VOICE STRATEGY FOR THEIR CORE BRANDS.
I’ve seem so many guidelines that say things like: ‘we’re friendly, not serious’. Which sounds great, but what does that actually mean? My idea of friendly will probably be different for yours. so, instead I created three really easy to follow principles.
The main one being to talk like a person, not like a bank.
A simple articulation with a clear objective.
I GAVE THEM A PERSONALITY THAT PEOPLE COULD RELATE TO.
A VOICE THAT WOULD LAND THE BRAND CONSISTENTLY.
I rolled-out the new voice and up-skilled our in-house teams and agency creatives through bespoke workshops, Coaching over 1,800 people,
I also created a master suite of ads, emails and letters so they weren’t just working to a bunch of rules. They could hear the voice.
My mission was to get our writers to stop defaulting to clichéd bank-speak.
The ‘we’ve got a mortgage/credit-card to suit you. Look at any big bank and they all sound the same.
the way of talking was a big hit with customers.
This conversational tone was a big departure for NatWest, so we added a feedback mechanic to the first email that went out. Over a third of people who opened it responded. 96% of comments were positive. (The ones that weren’t had an issue with app banking rather than the tone.)
