Brand Archetypes
Twelve universal character models drawn from Jungian psychology. Hero, Sage, Explorer, and so on. A framework for giving brands human personality.
Category
Brand Voice
Added
Feb 25, 2026
Tags
The practice of defining how a brand's voice adapts across different contexts while maintaining recognizable identity.
Tone Mapping is the systematic documentation of how a brand's voice shifts across different communication contexts. from social media to legal documents, from celebration to crisis.
Voice is constant. It's who you are. Tone is variable. It's how you adapt to the moment. A person's voice doesn't change, but their tone shifts when talking to a child versus presenting to a board.
For each communication context, define:
Energy level. restrained to enthusiastic Formality. casual to institutional Warmth. distant to intimate Confidence. tentative to authoritative
Rules say "never use exclamation marks." Maps say "exclamation marks sit at the enthusiastic end of our energy spectrum. appropriate for product launches and team celebrations, not for investor updates or error messages."
Maps give writers judgment. Rules give them anxiety.