Toolkit

Voice and tone

Anaplan’s voice characteristics and tone profiles build on our brand principles to ensure we deliver the right content, to the right person, at the right time, and in the right channel.

Just as we use our visual design to shape what Anaplan looks like, we use our voice and tone to shape what Anaplan sounds like.

Separating voice and tone means we can be empathetic to our users, and empathy is often what makes the difference between simply meeting customers’ needs and really engaging them.

How we define voice and tone

Voice

  • Represents our brand’s personality
  • Embodies the traits that personify our brand identity
  • Remains consistent across channels, devices, and content formats

Tone

  • Conveys the emotional inflection we apply to our brand’s voice characteristics
  • Flexes according to context
  • Aligns with a customer’s information priorities

Think of voice this way: if Anaplan were a person, they'd be experts in their field and they'd always show up as passionate and genuine. But they'd constantly flex their tone to match to their context - more conversational when having dinner with friends, more formal when presenting to a group of senior stakeholders.

Brand voice characteristics

Our voice is...That means...We aim to...And we don't...
ExpertWe understand what matters to our clients, and we empower them to solve their real-world problems. We're pragmatic and back up our claims with facts and data. We show rather than tell and can always substantiate our expertise.
  • Focus on the solution, not the problem
  • Get to the point and use short, concise sentences
  • Overpromise or oversell
  • Use jargon, clichés, or unnecessary internal language
GenuineOur customers, partners, and our people come first. We treat others with respect, authenticity, and empathy. We're truly invested in our customers’ success and our actions speak as loudly as our words.
  • Keep it conversational
  • Use accessible, inclusive language
  • Sound formal, insincere, or condescending
  • Add complexity for the sake of it
PassionateWe care deeply about our customers, and our passion for their success knows no bounds. We show up with enthusiasm at every touchpoint. We're action-oriented but always mindful of the customer's context. 
  • Use the ‘active' voice
  • Use strong, imperative verbs
  • Use personal pronouns (you, we)and contractions (we’re, it’s)
  • Use the ‘passive’ voice
  • Overuse gerunds or the past tense
  • Talk about Anaplan in the first person (it's "At Anaplan, we believe..." not "Anaplan believes)

Tone framework

Tone puts the emphasis on our customers rather than on our brand. 

While the framework below is still in its early stages, we hope the high-level examples it contains will illustrate how you might vary tone depending on the situation, audience, or content type. 


Cooler toneNeutral toneWarmer tone
Marketing email

Enthusiastic, relevant, personable
Error messageSpecific (precise), clear, helpful

Technical documentation
Knowledgeable, helpful, practical
Legal documentTransparent, serious, straightforward

Blog post

Vibrant, optimistic, inspirational

If you'd like to discuss how we can develop appropriate tone guidance for your content, please contact us. 

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