LV=

Far too many brands in financial services ignore the importance of tone of voice in the customer communications. At LV= we’re trying to ensure our people and our material adopt a tone based upon a ‘conversation between equals’, not the usual condescending mumbo jumbo, or patronising insincerity some churn out. The Lorries have helped us enormously along this journey.

David Radford, group marketing director, LV=

The background

After over 160 years as Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society, the Bournemouth-based insurance and investments outfit emerged in 2007 with a vibrant new brand identity and a new name: LV=. A makeover of their visual brand was followed by a busy year getting everyone on board with the new brand values and behaviours. But there was still a final (and crucial) piece of the jigsaw puzzle missing: the tone of their communications.

The brief

In late 2008 they asked us to create an LV= tone of voice and helped them roll it out across their business. Our challenge was to get every piece of LV= communication, wherever it sat along the customer or employee journey, to sound like LV=.

The work

We created an LV= tone of voice that reflects their distinctive LV= brand ethos of sharp with a heart.

Working closely with LV= stakeholders, we developed three core characteristics and a related set of guidelines, each of which brings out a particular aspect of the LV= brand. The three work together as a whole to reflect the LV= identity, although they can be ‘flexed’ to fit different purposes and contexts.

Many brand language projects stop just there but we fleshed out the principles with a solid set of guidelines containing real-life examples of what the new tone did and didn’t look like and practical tips on bringing them to life.

Next came face-to-face workshops for over 200 writers across the business. We’ve followed these up with one-to-one clinics – a chance for each writer at LV= to get feedback on their work with the new tone so far and ask questions. And we’re ‘on call’ on a dedicated LV= tone helpline to field questions and give support to writers across the company.

Finally, we’ve helped LV= choose and train individuals from each team who will act as tone ‘champions’ to help support their colleagues and make sure the LV= tone of voice stays strong. And to keep up momentum, we’re helping LV= spot examples to place in an intranet ‘hall of fame’ to showcase good tone of voice work.