Verbal Identity’s most popular writer training courses
The most popular writer courses we’ve seen for brands The best copywriter training courses for copywriters and non-writers are run by writers. We are proud to work with some of the world’s most famous companies, including Alphabet, Co Op, and many ambitious...
Why your brand’s tone of voice is much, much more than just ‘tone of voice’
Give up the idea that your brand’s tone of voice is just a ‘tone of voice’: It needs to be flexible enough to work in different channels It needs to deliver engagement to the attention you pay for It needs a more sophisticated definition than just 4 adjectives...
Writing in Real Life®: how departments can write more copy, more consistently, in less time and stay sane
A lunch-and-learn with Chris West, Founder, Verbal Identity. Do any of the following sound familiar? Your team is so successful that it’s now being asked to write more copy for more channels. The only problem is, there’s no more time and definitely no more...
What Las Vegas teaches us about language and business
Visiting Las Vegas is like taking a 72-hour, fully-immersive MBA. According to a recent Economist report1, the city is enjoying record tourism and fast employment growth. It’s easy to see why. Any Ops Director will be impressed by a 7 a.m. walk around the gaming...
How a tone of voice agency can stop your brand talking like a friend. And make it talk like a brand.
The most successful brands don't talk like they're your friend. Their brand voice flexes to talk like they're in the background, while you're becoming self-actualised. Here's how a tone of voice agency can help your brand stand out: Language for customer actualisation...
The full stop lives on in Fashionland
A linguists’ stroll down Lamb’s Conduit Street. The full stop is a relic of WhatsApp-free years gone by. Or so it might seem, until you set foot on the achingly hip retail avenue that is London’s Lamb’s Conduit Street, where artfully placed full stops are this...
What’s your brand’s narrative?
Popular conceptions of narrative are fundamentally wrong. But this doesn’t mean some narratives aren’t more enduring than others. Here are our favourites for branding. Previously, we discussed universal narratives. Despite what you may have read, they don’t exist....
Why do brands need narratives?
And how do you give a tangible narrative to an intangible product? Simply, brands need narratives because our brains are wired to look for them. We were able to evolve from a chaos of noises, opportunities, over-stimulation and predators only because we could...
“Jane Walker” by Johnnie Walker
What happens when the 3 levels of your brand’s voice clash? You might have noticed that Johnnie Walker recently released a limited edition ‘Jane Walker’ whisky. It’s received mixed reactions. Some people have criticised it as a ‘patronising’ and ‘lazy’...
DIY brand voice audit
Why you should – and how you can – audit your brand’s voice BEFORE YOU CHANGE YOUR BRAND VOICE – MEASURE HOW IT’S DOING. We’re working with brand owners all around the world to make their brand voice more distinctive, more valuable. One thing I always say is...
How to help technical people become storytellers
How do you help exceptional people tell exceptional stories? Here comes the science bit… It’s odd. Three times in the last month, with three different clients, I’ve been asked the same question: “Our experts keep confusing their audiences with technical talk....
Finding a name for a changing world
Understanding the evolution of naming trends in cybersecurity As any industry matures, naming becomes a more and more challenging prospect. How do you develop a name creative enough to capture someone’s attention and memorable enough to keep it as consumer needs...
Every business needs an elevator pitch
How to make people notice first time around To you, it’s obvious why your offering is going to change lives. But you don’t have time to talk every investor, partner or potential customer through all the reasons why. This is where an elevator pitch makes all the...
The sweet scent of 98% margins
What the rest of the world can learn from how the luxury fragrance market uses language A linguistic analysis of the fragrance market, showing how younger brands are using new positionings to stretch the market Who doesn’t want a 98% margin? The fragrance...
Brand language – the magic ingredient in cosmetics?
How smaller cosmetics brands are using language to beat big beauty companies. A linguistic analysis of the boutique cosmetics market It’s 7am on Tuesday morning. You’ve just showered. You reach for your moisturizer. It’s an intimate moment between you, the...
Cold, hard numbers and bright insights from customer comments
Text analytics for marketing and customer experience. Why text analytics? Why now? When customers are freed to express their thoughts in their own words, they reveal more about their motivations: they give marketing and customer insight teams the “Why” to...
Luxury Vs. Ultra-luxury
How the world’s most expensive car brands speak, and speak differently. After 6pm, London’s Mayfair is a mini-Monaco. Light bounces off the chrome detailing of supersized ultra-luxury cars, sitting nose-to-pipe outside exclusive members’ clubs. Meanwhile, a...
What happens now that neobanks aren’t new?
How challenger banks can use language to win customers, deepen engagement and survive shakeout There’s a serious threat approaching challenger banks: they’re starting to sound the same. The neo (‘challenger’) banks are approaching the equivalent of the pop star’s...
Why every successful organisation has a guiding narrative
How can a corporate narrative make sure strategy gets off the page? It aligns an organisation and motivates its employees. Chris explains.
Why you need an elevator pitch
The curse of knowledge: you know what’s special about your offering, but it’s so intuitive, you’re having difficulty explaining it to other people. The fix? An elevator pitch. Learn why you need one and how to make your own.
How do you give your company the best possible start?
Chris’s article ‘A strong Brand Vision is the cornerstone to Start-up Success’, published in Just Entrepreneurs, looks at how a clear Vision right from the start can save fledgeling brands from failure.
Finding a name for a changing world
Naming is a challenge for any brand, but especially when an industry starts to reach maturation. Chris examines different naming types, trends, and processes through the lens of the cybersecurity industry
Chat?
+44 (0)20 3053 8329
Head Office
65 Banbury Road
Oxford, England
OX2 6PE
View on map
Email?
London Office
10 Chancel Street
London, England
SE1 0UP
View on map