Most brands do not have a voice problem because nobody can write. They have one because ten people are writing, each in a slightly different key, and there is no agreed answer to a simple question: who are we when we talk? That answer is what I build, and then I write it down so it survives the next hire, the next agency, and the next launch.
I am Brennan Keller, a creative director and brand copywriter in Chicago. I have built and written voice for global brands including Coca-Cola, Heineken, Subaru, and Culligan. Brand voice is the part of the craft I care about most.
What you get
- Brand voice guidelines. The personality, the principles, and the do and do-not examples that make it usable, not just inspiring.
- A tone-of-voice system. One voice, several tones, so the same brand can be funny in an ad and steady in a hard moment and still sound like itself.
- A messaging framework. What the brand stands for, what it promises, and the lines that carry it, from the tagline down to the button.
- A voice audit and fix. When the voice has drifted, I find where, and rebuild a single voice the team can follow.
A brand voice is not a list of adjectives. It is a hundred small decisions about which words carry the weight, made the same way every time.
How I find a voice
The hardest part is that most clients can feel their voice but cannot describe it. So I do not start by asking you to describe it. I start by reading everything you have already made, listening for the lines that are unmistakably you, and pulling the pattern up to the surface where a team can see it and repeat it. I wrote about that process here: the voice the client cannot describe.
From there it is craft. One ownable idea, said with commitment, beats a clever idea nobody remembers. That belief runs through everything I build, and through this short piece on the power of one plain idea.
Who this is for
Companies launching something and setting a voice for the first time. Startups that want to lock the voice before a dozen people pull it in a dozen directions. And teams whose voice used to be sharp and has quietly gone generic. If that last one stings a little, it is the most fixable problem on this page.
Questions people ask
What is the difference between brand voice and tone of voice?
Voice is constant, the personality that is always there. Tone flexes with the moment. A good system defines the voice once and hands the team tones for different situations.
Can you fix a voice that has gone inconsistent?
Yes. That audit-and-rebuild is one of the most common reasons people get in touch.
How do I start?
Email kellerb7@gmail.com with your brand, what you have today, and your timeline. Brand voice work is available as a standalone project. Rates on request.
