Verbal identity

Member lesson

Long form brand writing

Lesson 7 of 10 in Verbal identity.

Lesson

Long form is the only place a brand can make an argument. Everything else is a claim, and a claim can be copied by a competitor in an afternoon, whereas a well-made argument has reasoning in it that a competitor would have to actually have.

voicewho the brand isthe sameeverywheretonehow it sounds in each momenta welcomean errora receiptbad newsseriousplayfulthe tone changes with the moment. the voice never does
A brand's voice stays the same everywhere, while its tone changes with the moment: playful for a welcome, serious for bad news.
On the left a photocopier churns out copies of a blank placard for grabbing hands, and on the right a well-built stone arch stands beside a loosely copied arch that is collapsing.
A single claim gets photocopied by rivals in seconds, while a copied stone arch falls apart without the reasoning that holds it up. Long writing is where a brand builds the arch.
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  1. Question 1, locked

    Which of these words means this? “Anything a reader has chosen to spend minutes on. Essays, manifestos, reports, letters.”

    • Native
    • Tone dimensions
    • Endline
    • Long form
  2. Question 2, locked

    Which of these words means this? “A statement of position. Genuinely useful internally, frequently embarrassing externally.”

    • Alphanumeric
    • Manifesto
    • Community management
    • Lexicon

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