Let’s discuss what an organisation’s messaging is and how to ensure it reflects an organisation’s identity.
An organisation’s messaging is defined as the words (or copy) an organisation uses to communicate its identity.
It includes the name of the organisation, its tagline, the tone of voice an organisation will use, and boilerplate copy.
Let’s take a look at how each of these elements can be used to support your organisation’s identity.
If your organisation already has a name that its audience knows, it’s likely best not to make any changes to it.
However, if you are in the process of starting your organisation, it’s important to choose a name that supports your brand strategy and will appeal to your target audience.
Aquafresh BrandOccasionally, an organisation’s name may hinder its audience from engaging with it, in which case the organisation may want to consider an identity change or rebrand.
One helpful way to choose a name for an organisation is to host a focus group. You can gather a few groups of 3-5 individuals that fit the description of your target audience and ask them questions about how different naming options make them think and feel. The goal of an organisation’s name is to appeal to its target audience, whether that be by generating curiosity, gaining credibility, or bringing clarity to the organisation’s offerings.
A tagline is a memorable phrase that previews an organisation’s promise. It should be no more than a few words as it often will appear under the organisation’s name in its logo. The goal of the tagline is to tell your audience what your organisation offers them before they even explore your communication pieces.
Here are some examples of clear and creative taglines:
The amusement park, Disneyland, in the United States has “The Happiest Place on Earth” as its tagline. Now, whether or not it’s actually the happiest place on earth is up for debate. However, Disneyland’s goal is to provide families with happy memories that’ll last a lifetime. Their tagline is simple, easy to remember, and gets at the organisation’s promise.
Just do itOne of the simplest taglines yet most well-known is that of the athletic wear company, Nike: Just Do It. Nike’s promise is that it will inspire its audience to do their best in their athletic endeavours. Its tagline plays on its motivational personality and is clever as it is easily repeatable.
An insurance company, Allstate, uses the tagline, “You’re in Good Hands.” It’s a powerful tagline that is intended to make its audience feel like they are a safe choice.
A tone of voice can come through punctuation, word choices, sentence structures, and how expansive versus minimal the communication is. The following scales are helpful in determining what kind of tone your organisation should take.
Tone of VoiceThe way a tone is communicated varies by language and culture. As an example, though, in English, a professional and formal tone would limit its use of contractions (“it’s” versus it is, “can’t” versus cannot”) and would address its audience as Madam and Sir, or Ms. & Mr. rather than by their first name. A tone that is fun and passionate would use more exclamation points (“!”) and would likely use shorter sentences.
A boilerplate is a basic “About Us” statement that gives a brief overview of an organisation and lays out its promise and benefits in the proper tone of voice. It can be repeated in various communication channels and exemplifies the language that should be used to communicate. It’s helpful to include the following information in a boilerplate:
- Year the organisation was founded
- Who the organisation serves
- The organisation’s summarised promise statement
- Benefits to the organisation’s audience
All of these components of a messaging strategy help your audience understand who your organisation is and how it wishes to relate to them. Your name and tagline draw in your audience and become memorable and familiar. The tone of voice your organisation takes can comfort, motivate, or reassure your audience in a way that makes them want to continue communicating with you. The boilerplate copy is seen on varying communication pieces, providing the most important information your audience needs and creating consistency across channels. Having a well-defined messaging strategy may seem tedious, but your audience will appreciate the benefits of a clearly aligned strategy.
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In the next activity, we’ll look at Renew Maternal Care, the sub-brand of a fictional organisation, Renew Ministries, as a case study for how to form a messaging strategy based on an organisation’s brand strategy.