Every headline, article, post, response and conversation contributes to the impression people have of our brand. This guidance shows how we use tone of voice to make Henkel communication feel substantial, welcoming and progressive, across topics, audiences and touchpoints.
A clear tone creates consistency, without making every message sound the same.
Henkel communicates across many businesses, markets, channels and contexts. Our tone of voice enables a consistent communication style while leaving room for the right expression in each situation.
Today, this matters more than ever as the number of touchpoints, topics, and messages grows. Our tone of voice turns the Henkel Brand Experience into language and helps every interaction to feel clear, relevant, and unmistakably Henkel.
Our brand experience defines our tone of voice
Our tone of voice is directly derived from the Henkel Brand Experience. It brings its three facets, Substantial, Welcoming and Progressive, into language and helps us adapt our communication to different topics, audiences and touchpoints, while keeping every message clear, relevant and unmistakably Henkel.
Our three tone of voice facets in detail:
- Substantial
- Welcoming
- Progressive
Context defines how we use our tone of voice.
Henkel’s tone of voice is flexible, but never random. Depending on the topic, audience, channel and intention, the facets Substantial, Welcoming and Progressive can be dialed up or down. What guides the choice is what we want each interaction to achieve: build trust and confidence, inspire people or contribute to improving lives.
We always start with the intention.
Before choosing the tone, clarify what the interaction should achieve. Do we need to build trust and confidence, inspire people or show how Henkel contributes to improving lives? This intention defines which tone of voice facet leads and how the full range is balanced.
Example use case: Talking about sustainability
One topic. Three intentions. Three tone of voice executions.
- #1 Build trust and confidence
- #2 Inspire people
- #3 Contribute to improving lives
- Overview