Brand Voice & Brand Story – OTENBA

Het is geen gin. Het is geen jenever. Maar het heeft zeker wel een brand voice nodig. Voor OTENBA ontwikkelde ik een merkstem en brand story die ’t net even anders verwoorden dan andere drankenmerken. Geen essays over vaten, jaren of de geschiedenis van de jeneverbes, maar gelijke delen humor, expertise en snedige opmerkingen.

OTENBA

A sorta gin. A kinda genever.

Say what now?!
OTENBA – (OH-TÈN-BÁH) A spirited girl that won’t be held back by anyone.

Brand Voice

What we are
Witty / Smart / Fun / Confident / Female / Rock ‘n roll with a soft heart / Wink / Monique / Independent / The product of bold choices / Knowledgeable / A dash of rebellion / Linking /

What we MOST DEFINITELY aren’t
Strict / The ‘How you’re supposed to do it’ / Soft-spoken / For everyone / Rather curious / Quirky

Main keyword

Monique
All of what we do or say should represent Monique. Her kindness. Her edge. Her knowledge. Her spirit.

Secondary keywords

The product of bold choices
We chose to not blend in. Not in flavours. Not in design. Not in words. Only in a fine drink.

Wink
It’s drinks we’re talking here. Let’s have fun with things.

Knowledgeable
We know our sh*t. Don’t get fooled by our playful spirit, ‘cause before you know it, we’ll explain you everything there is to know on dimethyl trisulphide bonding.

Tone of voice

Otenba. A spirited girl that won’t be held back. One that bends the rules. Or who knows… Breaks them. In this case, we’re changing the rules of what a spirit brand should sound like. ‘Cause you know what, the things that have been done before are pretty boring.

Oh, look at all those brands elaborating extensively on casks, terroir and ageing processes. Yeah… That’s not us. Of course, we could tell you all about our infusions, heritage, and beautiful botanicals. But sole focusing on specs and process of a spirit? Let’s leave that up to others. Our words embody our industry. We want to be energetic but confidently grounded. Knowledgeable with an approachable wit. Rebellious while being an undeniable expert.

Do you know the kind of bartender that loves to pour you a spiffy little bartender cocktail? One with a fermented extract of Scottish raindrops and some obscure root vegetable. Yeah, that kind of. And do you know the kind of bartender that loves to pour such a spiffy little bartender drink while being equally fun as knowledgeable? It’s that bartender that shares expertise organically throughout a fun conversation. By letting you have a taste of a new shrub or syrup. By pouring you a sip of an unexpected concoction. By explaining the craft without pretence. By just being a fun talk.

Otenba is that bartender. Equally down-to-earth and spirit geek. We know our stuff – like no other. And we’re not afraid to let that expertise show. But we also know that going out for cocktails is mostly just about having a good time. With a good drink. And good company. It’s that simple. Should your visit to a bar be a lecture? Nah. So, our text shouldn’t sound like ‘A Short History of Spirits’ either. We keep it short. Sweet. Without pretence. But with an immense likeability. We always add some flair. Nope, we’re not juggling bottles here. We’re just adding something extra to that good ol’ text of ours.

We know the differences of our audiences. So, when we’re talking with our industry, we love to dive into the genever side of our juniper lovechild. But chatting with our average consumer, we tell you all about this gin with a bit of extra depth. Whatever the case may be, how much fun we might have with words, we’ll always make sure we are understandable for as many people as possible. As we want as many people as possible to experience a good spirit, our words are hospitable to both the genever lover as the G&T sipper. Just like that bartender we’re talking about, we know how to engage with all kinds of drinkers, as she has both sitting at her bar.

Oh. Wait. Did you assume the bartender in our description was a man?

But what does it mean?

One part knowledge, one part fun

When we’re sharing technical information, it’s a sprinkle of knowledge within a larger story. We’re never going off into a full lecture.
When explaining something, make sure to use positive, friendly words. Don’t preach; take someone along in the story. Oh, and have fun with it.
Keep it short and sweet. But if there’s a story to tell. Tell it!
Never throw in some fancy words just to sound smart. If you start speaking fancy, it should be part of a story. And we might highlight how ridiculously fancy this word sounds.
Speak and act with some fun flair. Add that pop culture reference. Show some smart wit. Do all the things!
Keep the energy up:
- Use more I and E sounds .
- Pick a full stop over a comma.
- Or – who knows – use an exclamation mark. Note: we’ve got a full set of rules for when you do so.

Be Otenba

Sound like a bit of a rebellious woman. Make up some new words. Go against the grain. Be the ‘We can’t do this. Or can we?’
The ‘he’ point of view is never our default. We assume woman. ‘Cause why shouldn’t we?
We don’t state gender. She is a distiller. She is a bartender. No ‘female’ needed.
Add a dash of Monique. A reference to a song she likes, a nod to Amsterdam, something tattooish.

Know who’s drinking. And use the words to match.

Our mates from the industry

Save some room for the technical spec; they’ll enjoy a bit of geekiness.
A bit of jargon here and there shouldn’t be a problem.
Another gin? Nope. We highlight the genever sight of Otenba.

The average consumer

Tone down on technical hoopla. Educate in a fun and natural manner. We’re not ‘A Short History of Spirits’.
You can’t use jargon without explaining what the hell you’re talking about.
Focus your story on the gin side of things. We don’t want to scare our G&T-fans away by using the G-word too much.

Using exclamation marks – a full lecture
Oh you, exclamation mark. Your tricky little thing. As we love energy, we grant ourselves an exclamation mark here and there. But with great power comes great responsibility.

The general rule: No more than one exclamation mark every 300 words. Wanna use more? You’ve better have a darn good reason to do so, as we’re not sixteen-year-olds complaining about how unfair life is.
The general rule: When using an exclamation mark, read the sentence out loud in a pretty high volume. Sounds weird? Scratch it. Sounds quite okay? You may use your exclamation mark.
On social: AS! SOCIAL! MEDIA! IS! EXCITED! ALL! THE! TIME! You’re allowed to use the whopping amount of one exclamation mark per caption. But remember: don’t become that screaming teenager.