How to blow it with Brand Voice
A lesson from the Seattle Mariners
Imagine having a brand voice so well-defined that it stays consistent, no matter who’s writing for you or which agency you hire. Writers can come and go, agencies can change… but your voice never disappears. It’s possible!
The problem is, many businesses don’t know who really “owns” their brand voice. Without realizing it, they rely on one creative director, one writer, or one agency. And when that person leaves…. so does the voice.
Which leads to confusion for your team, wasted time, and trust broken with your audience.
Case in point:
The Seattle Mariners might not be good at much, but for decades they’ve absolutely dominated the dojo in one thing:
Their ads.
For 40 years, the Mariners ran “the funniest ads in baseball,” according to Adweek. The spots were shared on SportsCenter and gushed over in Sports Illustrated & the Bleacher Report.
But most importantly, the Seattle fans looooooooved them. (Which makes sense; the tagline was You’ve Gotta Love These Guys.)
It was more than an ad campaign. It was an identity.
We Seattle fans get no joy watching the M’s lose season after season. But those ads magically brought us “in” on the joke. They made fans part of something special. They packed the stadium game after game.
If a baseball team can have a Brand Voice, that’s exactly how it would look.
And then in 2020 the M’s did something very on-brand: they blew it.
They abandoned their beloved personality-driven ads which had so successfully bonded fans to the players and the franchise.
It left fans bereft. I think it hurt even more than the infamous A-Rod trade to Texas. (You still can’t mention that name in polite company in Seattle, FYI.)
Since 2020, Seattle fans have demanded to know where the goofy ads have gone. (Talk about breaking trust with your audience!)
So, what happened?
I did some digging and discovered the infamous ads disappeared when the lead collaborator at Copacino + Fujikado retired.
That was the ad agency behind the wildly popular campaign… Until one guy retired and it all came crashing down.
What’s this got to do with you?
Well, if you’re a business owner who hires agencies, writers, or freelancers…
Have you ever thought about who “owns” the Voice of your brand? Does it basically boil down to "whoever is writing for us at the time" or "whatever the agency says will work"?
And if so, what happens if/when you part ways?
I’ve seen this happen time and again to businesses big and small.
Situations where there’s one writer who embodies the voice of the brand...
And when they leave, the brand voice goes with them. Chaos ensues. Not to mention the damage it does to that fragile bond you’ve worked so hard to create with your audience.
How can you be sure this doesn’t happen to you?
One way is to have a Voice Guide. A “user manual” for your brand voice to document the what, when, where, why, who…
And most importantly: the HOW.
I call it a writer’s best friend because it’s designed with them in mind… you can hand the Voice Guide to any writer you hire and they’ll be able to “get” it. They’ll know how to write in your voice.
No jarring change when writers come and go. No endless revisions and rewrites. No angry mob of tee’d off fans demanding to know where their favorite commercials went!!!!! ;)
Interested in getting a voice guide for your business? I can help!
And, if you want to see some of the legendary Mariner’s commercials for yourself, start with the Jamie Moyer bangers, and the classic “I can handle pain. I’m a Mariners fan” on YouTube.
P.S. A happy ending to this story is in the works: the Mariner’s in-house marketing team has revived the quirky ad format for the 2025 season. They’ve still got their work cut out for them, but it’s a start. Now, if they could also cook up a playoff appearance…
Whenever you’re ready, here are some ways we can work together:
I offer Voice Finder and Brand Builder Sessions for personality-driven entrepreneurs who want to define or strengthen their Voice (and put some boundaries in place.)
I also create Brand V.O.I.C.E. Guides for you & your team – an evergreen asset to help writers “get” your voice, without endless re-writes and revisions.
Plus, I work with a select number of clients each quarter as a ghostwriter.
If you're interested in learning more, reply to this email or complete this form: Work With Jill
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