At Deuce Studio, we’ve worked with businesses across the spectrum, from super food granola bars to craft beer brands. One truth always holds: no matter the industry, a company’s tone of voice is just as important as its branding, packaging, or website. Tone of voice is how your brand sounds when it speaks, through packaging, advertising, social posts, or even the words on the back of your product. It’s the personality behind the brand, and it plays a crucial role in how consumers connect, engage, and stay loyal.
In this article, we’ll explore why tone of voice is so powerful, how leading brands use it to their advantage, and how we at Deuce Studio think about embedding it into the identities we create.
Why Tone of Voice Is Essential
We live in a world where consumers have more choice than ever before. On supermarket shelves, in e-commerce stores, and across social media, new brands are constantly competing for attention. In this environment, a well-crafted tone of voice can be the difference between blending into the background and becoming a brand people actively seek out.
Tone of voice gives brands a human quality. It transforms a company from a faceless entity into something relatable, approachable, and trustworthy. Whether it’s cheeky humour, calm expertise, or bold irreverence, the way a brand communicates helps consumers understand what it stands for and whether it aligns with their own values.
At Deuce Studio, we always remind our clients: tone of voice isn’t just what you say, it’s how you say it. And that “how” can make all the difference.
How Industry Leaders Nail Their Tone of Voice
Some of the world’s most recognisable brands have used tone of voice as a cornerstone of their success.
Oatly
Swedish oat milk brand Oatly is a textbook example. Their packs are covered in quirky, conversational copy like “Wow, no cow” or “It’s like milk, but made for humans.” It’s playful, self-aware, and a little bit rebellious, perfectly suited to a brand positioning itself as the cheeky disruptor in a traditional dairy industry. By not taking themselves too seriously, Oatly made plant-based milk feel approachable and fun, helping them win over millions of consumers who might otherwise have overlooked it for a more traditional brand.
Innocent Drinks
Closer to home, Innocent has built an entire brand empire on a witty and charming tone of voice. Their smoothie bottles are covered in cheeky jokes, puns, and unexpected asides that make you smile mid-sip. What Innocent does so well is consistency: whether you’re reading their packaging, a billboard, or a tweet, the same friendly, slightly mischievous tone is always there. It feels like a conversation with a friend rather than a corporate pitch, and it’s one of the key reasons consumers feel so much affinity for the brand.
Liquid Death
At the opposite end of the spectrum, Liquid Death has taken something as everyday as bottled water and turned it into a punk-rock movement. Their tone of voice is brash, irreverent, and unapologetically loud. From the skull-heavy branding to taglines like “Murder Your Thirst”, Liquid Death proves that even a commodity product can become a cultural icon when you commit to a distinctive tone. For a younger audience tired of wellness clichés, it’s refreshingly different.
Tone of Voice Doesn’t Have to Be Funny
While humour works brilliantly for some brands, it isn’t the only option. For others, a professional, trustworthy, or heritage-driven tone is more appropriate.
Rummo Pasta
Rummo communicates its heritage and authenticity through a professional, refined tone of voice. Instead of jokes or edgy lines, Rummo highlights its long-standing history, artisanal methods, and family values. For a pasta brand, trust and authenticity are everything, and their tone communicates exactly that.
Jack Daniel’s
Jack Daniel’s is another classic example. Their long-form advertisements, often found on billboards or in print, read more like short stories than traditional ads. They lean into heritage, craftsmanship, and patience, telling consumers about the barrels, the Tennessee whiskey-making process, and the generations of expertise behind each bottle. This storytelling tone builds trust and a sense of tradition, elevating the brand far beyond a simple drinks label.
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola has mastered an empowering and uplifting tone of voice. From “Open Happiness” to “Taste the Feeling”, their language is about positivity, unity, and optimism. While it may not focus on heritage or craft in the same way as Rummo or Jack Daniel’s, Coca-Cola’s tone of voice empowers consumers to associate the brand with moments of joy and shared experiences. It’s proof that tone can inspire and motivate just as effectively as it can entertain.
The Different Flavours of Tone of Voice
As a brand, the key to consistency is knowing who you are. Taking the brands we just covered as examples, their tone of voice could be identified as:
- Playful and witty: Think Innocent, Oatly, or Ben & Jerry’s. This style uses humour, puns, and light-hearted copy to create warmth and memorability.
- Bold and rebellious: Brands like Liquid Death or BrewDog thrive on this, using sharp wit and irreverence to position themselves as disruptors.
- Professional and trustworthy: Ideal for heritage or expert-led brands, like Rummo or Jack Daniel’s, where authority and credibility matter most.
- Empowering and supportive: A tone that motivates and uplifts, seen in brands like Coca-Cola or Nike, where the copy reflects encouragement and personal growth.
Each of these brands chose a tone of voice which aligns with both the brand’s values and the expectations of its audience.
How We Embed Tone of Voice into Design
When working with brands, we don’t see tone of voice as an add-on. It’s integral to the brand identity, just as much as the logo, colour palette, or packaging system.
For example, when we worked with Gr8nola, we embedded founder Erica’s empowering and playful spirit directly into the brand’s copywriting. Messaging like #HungryForGr8ness reflected the idea that being healthy can be fun and motivating rather than restrictive.
With Crosta & Mollica, the focus was on provenance, authenticity, and Italian regionality. Their tone had to feel confident, premium, and true to its roots. Every line of copy reinforced their “Made in Italy” credentials, ensuring they stood apart from the many “Italian-sounding” but inauthentic competitors.
And then there’s Budweiser, where we reimagined the iconic line “This Bud’s for You” through our Raise a Bud campaign. The phrase has always celebrated solidarity and hard work, but our role was to refresh it for a new audience. By framing it around moments of togetherness and celebration, we gave the tagline new relevance while keeping its heritage intact.
Every project demands a different approach. But the common thread is always clarity: a strong tone of voice tells your audience who you are, what you believe, and why they should choose you.
Getting It Right
Crafting the perfect tone of voice starts with asking the right questions:
- Who is your audience, and how do they want to be spoken to?
- What values define your brand, and how should they be expressed?
- What emotional response do you want to create?
Once these are defined, consistency is everything. The best brands, whether Innocent, Oatly, Liquid Death, Rummo, or Jack Daniel’s, succeed because they never break character. Their copy on-pack, online, and in advertising all feel like they come from the same “personality.”
The Takeaway
In today’s competitive marketplace, tone of voice isn’t optional; it’s essential. It helps you stand out, build trust, and create emotional connections that last well beyond the first purchase.
At Deuce Studio, we believe that tone of voice is where strategy and creativity meet. It’s the place where your brand becomes human, relatable, and memorable.
Deuce Studio is an award-winning London based branding and packaging design agency.
If you are looking for a branding project, then let’s talk.