Brand Tone of Voice:

20 brand tone of voiceCustomers are given practical action verbs (material processes), which appearto convey that they can get on with what they have a phone for. The followingmaterial processes (underlined) all have customer as doer:you can access the information you want via text messaging..if you’re planning a last minute weekend away…you can keep up with what’s going on…you can access Orange WAP services…Customers are not apparently expected to interact much with Orange (thereis only one verbal process – respond – which links the customer to Orange).Customers’ mental processes are mostly couched in terms of things Orange istrying to prevent: many of the processes are negatives, such as ‘you won’t needto’. All the negatives in Table 4 (e.g. You won’t have to worry about… representOrange, or one of its services, preventing things that the customer would notwant, such as With the Orange Answerphone service, you won’t have to…).Negative processes are marked in Table 4 with asterisks.The processes that the Orange texts ascribe to the brand itself are summarisedin Table 5. As I noted above, the Orange brand does not appear as doer of manymaterial processes: it is doer in only four of the clauses looked at. Neither isthe brand a big thinker: only two examples of mental processes were found ina long brochure: We believe that no other UK digital mobile network can matchus on service… and Orange knows the major cities of the world inside out. TheOrange brand is mainly associated with processes that state its relationship toits customers, and imply for it a helpful disposition. This means that, grammatically,Orange is a subject (doer) in a few clauses, but most often appearsin a subordinate clause or phrase and with the customer as the subject of themain clause. Orange is therefore backgrounded as a doer, while the customeris the active party. The company, instead, is providing services that are at thecustomer’s elbow for them to use to do what they want to, and while appearingto have an overseeing, caring role.ProcesstypeMaterial:action verbsMental:thinkingverbsVerbal:sayingverbsRelational: beingand connectingverbsBehavioural:having somedispositionOrangelose (your call)*creditgivetextbelieveknowofferkeep (youconnected)coverbe heretake care ofkeep ourpromiseswaiting to helpTable 5: Processes ascribed to the Orange brand