WHAT’S OUR BRAND VOICE?

Our brand voice can be described as conversational, yet professional, and containing the following three characteristics:

  • Expressive
  • Unapologetic
  • Intelligent

What do these mean?

Expressive

We’re not afraid to show emotion in our language. Our clients do not want robots, they want our passion, ambition and pride.

Other accountancy firms communicate like soulless, corporate entities, but at AAB we are human beings and a collection of individual personalities.

Unapologetic

We’re an honest brand. We believe that clients deserve the truth. We speak honestly and from the heart and don’t apologise for who we are, or our approach to life.

Intelligent

We’re a smart company. There’s a lot of knowledge and business savvy sitting within our walls. Don’t be hesitant about it, share it. Be confident that we are the very best at what we do and our ability to think in unconventional ways separates us from the pack.

OUR VOICE PARAMETERS

In order to achieve our conversational yet professional brand voice we thought it would be helpful to set out some parameters, for what is (highlighted) and isn’t (crossed out) appropriate.

PerceptionAloofLaid-back GenuineEntrepreneurial Sensational
PersonalitySubduedConservativeCleverResoluteAdventurous
AttitudeWaryCautiousPositiveDaringAggressive
ApproachExhaustiveInflexibleAccessibleAssuredDogmatic

ENTREPRENEURIAL

We’re a confident brand, with a commercial mindset. We’re comfortable making strong decisions and identifying and maximising opportunities – for ourselves and our clients.

CLEVER

Clients hire us for our technical ability, our innovative approach to problem solving and lateral thought. We like to be considered thought leaders and experts in our fields.

POSITIVE

Ours is not just a can-do, but also a will-do attitude. It’s unceasingly positive, drawing on our knowledge and skills. That’s tempered by a sense of balance, so while we’re decisive and energetic, we’re not reckless.

ACCESSIBLE

We want people to be able to engage with our firm. When writing it’s important to know your audience. What level of technical knowledge does the other person have? Will they understand and appreciate legal terminology, or would that bamboozle them? Do they prefer to communicate formally, or are they professional but still conversational?

DO’S AND DON’TS

When writing please take on board the following specific do’s and don’ts.

Tick Do’s

  • Avoid being too technical and using terminology the intended audience won’t understand
  • Use contractions – such as don’t, can’t and we’ve
  • Make the content feel more personal by using “we” and “you”
  • Make it a two-way conversation - we can’t see the person on the other end of the conversation, so it’s easy to forget to engage the audience and write just from our own perspective. This can sound self-important. Try to avoid using ‘I’ too heavily and instead make the content feel more personal by using “we” and “you”

Cross Don’ts

  • Use technical jargon unless you’re confident that the target audience will understand and appreciate / feel reassured by seeing it
  • Start sentences with ‘I’ too often – it conveys superiority over the recipient
  • Confuse conversational with “informal” – informal means disregarding proper grammar and writing principles
  • Write to everyone – this can feel impersonal

Tick Use

  • Achieve
  • All too often
  • Aspire
  • Avoid
  • Blind
  • Bold
  • Care
  • Certainty
  • Challenge
  • Confidence
  • Confront
  • Continuously
  • Difficult
  • Direct
  • Exciting
  • Expert
  • Explore
  • Fear
  • Feel
  • Fresh
  • Future
  • Hard

Cross Don't Use

  • Accurate
  • Adaptable
  • Added value
  • Bottom line
  • Breadth of expertise
  • Commercial acumen
  • Competent
  • Cost competitive
  • Creative
  • Experienced
  • Facilitate
  • First class service
  • Genuine
  • Going forward
  • Help
  • Inform
  • Leveraging
  • Major
  • Nice
  • No obligation
  • One-stop-shop
  • Partner-led