Hey, welcome back to the Follow-Up Media podcast. My name is Christian Lee. I'm the CEO of Follow-Up Media. We are a full-ervice production and creative agency. And so, this is really important to me. Brand voice is everything. Okay, let me ask you a question. If I removed your logo from your content, would anybody know it was you? If the answer's no, you don't have a brand voice. You've got formatting. I created this show so where we can help dismantle bad assumptions one episode at a time. And that's what we continue to do on a weekly basis. So, let's talk about the sameness problem. There is a disease spreading across modern marketing and it's not inconsistency. It's not lack of effort. It's not even bad production. Well, sometimes it could be bad production. It's sameness. Everything sounds the same. Every reel might open the same way. And every caption feels the same. Every hook is a recycled version of something trending. Every podcast intro sounds like it came from the same script generator. And when everything sounds the same, let me tell you something. Nothing gets remembered. And let me explain what brand voice actually is. Brand voice is not your font. It's not your logo. It's not your color palette. And it definitely isn't your headsh shot. Brand voice is how you think expressed publicly. Brand voice, let me say that again, is how you think and it's expressed publicly. It's your point of view. It's your tone. It's your rhythm. It's the way you explain things. It's the words you choose to use and the ones you might refuse to use. And most brands, they don't have one. They borrow. When you use your brand voice, it is distinctively yours. No one's going to be you. We don't deliver information the same way. We don't express things the same way. We all don't come from the same walks of life, right? We don't come from the same areas. Our upbringings are different. Our families are different. And that plays in to your brand voice. You shouldn't hide it. you should 100% 1,000% embrace it. And this is why generic feels safe, but it actually kills you. Okay? You don't offend anyone. You don't alienate anyone. You don't take risks. But here is the uncomfortable truth. If you don't stand for something, you blend into everything. You don't want to blend in. Neutral does not build loyalty. Memorable requires friction. don't care what they say about me, just have them spell my name. Right. Right. Muhammad Ali had the same bravado. Muhammad Ali did the same. He's like, "Love me or hate me, they all come to see me fight and they all pay for it." Right? It was a quote something like that. But nonetheless, you get the point. And here's the language problem. Let me show you how generic most brands sound. They use phrases that should immediately make you nervous. We're passionate about helping our clients. We provide innovative solutions. We pride ourselves on excellence. Customer satisfaction is our top priority. We bring value. Every industry says this. Every competitor says this. Every startup says this. And guess what? None of it means a damn thing. Nothing. If your messaging could belong to anyone, it belongs to no one. That is an uncomfortable truth, but it's something you really need to think about. You want to stand out. You want to be different. You want to cut through the noise. Be you. Say what you might be afraid to say. Create friction. Stand for something. Have an opinion and use it publicly. And this is what most memorable brands do differently. Okay, memorable brands do one thing differently. They've got a spine. They have balls. They believe something and they say things clearly. And besides that, they repeat the things they say clearly. Let me clearly repeat that. They repeat the things they say clearly. Repetition is how you beat it into people's brains. They aren't afraid to polarize. And most importantly, they don't try to sound like everybody else. [ __ ] everybody else. Be different. The shirt I'm wearing. I have to give prompts to one of my clients who is a he's a beast. This guy has done a lot and he's continuing to do that much more. The great Ted Jenin. Got to give him a shout out. This shirt was one of his companies, I don't know, merch ideas. And basically, and I saw it this morning in my closet and I was like, you know what? It's perfect for this episode. You know, beware of following the masses because when you do, a lot of the times the M is silent. Beware of following the masses because when you do, a lot of the times the M is silent. I'll let you figure the rest out. And here's three levels of brand voice. One, you've got your informational. safe, polished, professional, forgettable. And then you got your level two, which is opinionated. They got a clear stance, clear personality, and a clear message. And then your level three is distinct. You recognize it without seeing the logo. That is where authority lives. Okay? That is where dominance lives and that is where trust compounds. And why does voice build trust? People don't trust brands, they trust people. They trust clarity. They trust confidence and they trust repetition. When your voice is clear and consistent, something powerful is going to happen. Your audience starts finishing your sentences. That is called brand imprint. And how to develop a brand voice. If you don't know your brand voice, you can start right here. What do you believe that others won't say? That is your true friction point. What frustrates you about your industry? I guarantee every company within any industry has something that bothers them or just straight pisses them off about their industry. Use that friction, right? That is your content fuel. That is what you are going to talk about which is going to separate you almost immediately. And what phrases do you refuse to use? That's going to be your differentiator. What do you say repeatedly in your meetings? That's your thesis. Your brand voice isn't invented. It's extracted. I repeat things sometimes because I want it to sink in. Your brand voice isn't invented. It's extracted from [ __ ] you're already saying, but you're not doing it publicly. And here's where repetition comes in. Most people think repetition is boring. It's a broken record. No, it's branding. This is where most companies sabotage themselves. They say something once and then move on. But the market didn't hear you, the algorithm didn't register you, and the audience didn't remember you. Repetition builds imprint. And if you're tired of saying it, you're finally doing it enough. The thousandth time you've said something is the first time your audience has heard it. Repeat, repeat, and repeat. And voice plus video, this is what is going to equal authority. Your brand voice should not live only in text. It should live on camera in podcast episodes and YouTube and short form and interviews and long form. Voice plus visibility equals authority and authority will eliminate your competition. And Followup Media, this is what we do here. We prioritize voice first. We don't start with cameras. We start with clarity. We help clients find their stance, their message, their rhythm, and their conviction. Because production without voice is decoration. Voice without distribution is just waste. But voice plus system domination. You want to dominate, start executing your brand voice. Start saying what's uncomfortable. The things that you might feel awkward saying. That's probably that little inside voice telling you, "Fuck it. Let it out." Be the voice of your industry and claim it. Claim your voice. Claim your share of voice within your industry. And in closing, I'm going to leave you with one more thing. The uncomfortable truth, your brand voice is either your greatest advantage or the reason nobody remembers you. And if you sound like everyone else, you are everyone else. This is your uncomfortable truths about modern marketing, episode 8. My name is Christian Lee. Please hit subscribe. Please engage with us in the chat. If you think I'm full of [ __ ] let's have a conversation. If you want more information, hit up followupdmedia.com. If you like what you're hearing, hit subscribe, click notify so you're up tod date when we release new content. My goal for creating this company from the onset was to help the small and medium business adopt and find their footprint in this kind of new wild west of a digital landscape. But it all starts with brand voice content. How do you cut through the noise and you do it by being authentically you and your company? What do you stand for? Let it be known. Put it on camera. Nobody likes how they look on camera. Who gives a [ __ ] If you want to compete in the modern media landscape, you're going to have to just suck it up or you might fall behind and your competitors are going to gain traction and you're going to be like, "What the hell happened?" We deal with enterprise level companies and we're happy to onboard more. But we are out to help the small and medium-sized businesses grow and scale their businesses to where that business can support all their employees, all their team members, and the founder in whatever lifestyle in whatever way that they want. Hit up follow-updia.com. Thank you for listening and I'm just happy to be here talking.