Mark Schulz

Background

About Mark Schulz

Hi, I’m Mark. I’m Head of Words at True & Good: an independent tone of voice and brand language consultancy. I've been shaping the way words are used for big brands since I ran O2's first tone of voice programme, in 2007. Our specialism in verbal identity means we’re more than just handy at writing. We really know tone of voice. We know how important it is to clearly define it – and to be able to share that understanding in ways your in-house and external copywriters, designers, and colleagues can follow for the good of the brand. As Head of Words, I oversee all our projects. These include: 1. Defining – and refining – brand voices If you look in most brand guidelines documents, you'll find a page or two summing up the brand voice. Typically, this might be a list of adjectives. But what do they really mean for how things are written? Real tone of voice guidelines need to be much more detailed. Do we write in the first or third person? Do we address readers as "you"? What's our approach to sentence fragments? How opinionated are we? What kind of vocabulary do we use? How colloquial can we be? Does our tone flex across channels? In-depth guidelines cover these points, and more. With plenty of clear 'Befores and Afters'. Carrying out brand language audits How is your brand using words now? It makes sense to answer this question if you're thinking of defining your tone of voice for the first time, or refining it. We carry out full brand language audits. These can take in all of your touchpoints – from high-profile campaigns through to things like job descriptions and internal comms. We'll even look at what we call 'nooks and crannies': those seemingly trivial places that send vital signals. It's amazing what the sign above the printer can tell us about how well teams understand the brand voice. Launching brand voices – and keeping those voices alive "Defining the tone is the (relatively) easy part. The hard part is making it stick." That's because with writing, everyone's a creator. And the bigger the organisation is, the greater the likelihood of someone writing something in the 'wrong' tone of voice. At O2, we found the verbal identity was wonderfully consistent across TV and press. But when we looked at customer service teams, they were using a stuffy, formal style more in keeping with their origins as part of BT. So when you work with True & Good, you'll work with a team who know that defining the voice is really the easy part. It needs to be brought to life – and kept alive. For a no-strings chat, email hello@trueandgood.com