The Post — Brand Tone of Voice Framework

Role: Brand Strategy & Verbal Identity Development
Deliverable: Tone of Voice Framework (Internal Brand System)

Overview

For The Post, I developed a comprehensive brand tone of voice framework designed to guide how the organization communicates across audiences, platforms, and touchpoints.

The objective was to establish a clear, consistent verbal identity that differentiates the brand, aligns internal teams, and supports long-term growth — without sacrificing personality or clarity.

The Challenge

As organizations grow, inconsistent communication becomes a liability. The challenge was to create a tone of voice system that could:

• Scale across teams and contributors

• Support multiple audiences (members, partners, leadership, public)

• Remain flexible while maintaining consistency

Strategic Approach

Rather than prescribing rigid language rules, the framework focused on principles and decision-making guidance.

Core Components Included:

• Brand personality definition

• Tone-of-voice pillars

• Audience considerations

• Clear do’s and don’ts for written communication

• Alignment between brand values and language choices

The goal was not to dictate what to say — but to define how the brand should sound and feel.

Framework Highlights

(Select visuals shown below)

• Brand archetype alignment

• Tone-of-voice dimensions

• High-level writing principles

• Internal vs external communication considerations

Outcome

The resulting framework:

• Provided teams with a shared language and reference point

• Improved consistency across communications

• Enabled faster, more confident content creation

Most importantly, it gave the brand a recognizable, repeatable voice — even as contributors and platforms evolved.

work highlights