Number 4 Hair had a highly distinctive personality: playful, glamorous, irreverent, and deliberately over-the-top, with a strong sense of fun.
My role was to understand what made that voice work, then apply it consistently across different subjects. As the work expanded, I also briefed another writer to produce some of the content, translating my understanding of the brand into practical guidance they could use.
The result is a useful test of voice consistency: two pieces below are written by me, while the third was written by a writer I briefed. All three sit naturally within the same established brand voice.
Finding the formula
The voice needed to feel like a fabulously enthusiastic best friend: glamour-obsessed and a little dramatic, but always approachable and in on the joke.
I leaned into exaggerated enthusiasm, knowing asides, playful French touches, and direct conversation with the reader to create the feeling of being let in on a secret. The challenge was to make the voice distinctive without letting it become inaccessible or feel like a caricature.
The voice wasn’t simply a collection of adjectives. I had to identify the characteristics that made it recognisable, then turn that understanding into guidance another writer could actually follow.
Selected work
Written by me
The Hottest Hair Style Trends for Autumn 2022
A fashion-led piece that leans into the brand’s glamorous, excitable personality while keeping the advice accessible and practical.
A sustainability-focused piece that applies the same playful voice to a very different subject, using humour, enthusiasm, and conversational asides without losing the substance of the advice.
Written by a writer I briefed
5 Christmas Hairstyles & Holiday Hair to Try in 2022
A useful test of whether the voice could travel beyond my own writing. I briefed another writer using my understanding of the brand’s personality, and the finished piece sits naturally alongside my own work.
The result
The articles were published without bylines, so the ultimate test was whether the writing felt native to the brand rather than identifiable as an individual writer’s style.
For me, that’s the real measure of successful voice work: understanding a distinctive voice well enough to inhabit it — and, when needed, explain it to someone else.
What this demonstrates
Voice immersion
Getting inside an established brand personality without imposing my own default writing style.
Consistency
Recognising the characteristics that make a distinctive voice work, and applying them across different subjects.
Voice direction
Turning an intuitive understanding of tone into practical guidance another writer can use.