Tone of voice

Sounding like Octopus Investments

What we say and how we say it.

Before we say anything, we take great care to understand the situation before deciding how to apply these guidelines.
We’re all responsible for tone of voice at Octopus. Getting it consistently right helps us stand out and connect with our customers.
Think of these as guidelines, rather than rules. They’re here to help us communicate effectively.
This tone of voice guide is for everyone to use. It doesn’t matter what your role is, what you’re talking about, or who you’re communicating with – you should find them helpful. Just be mindful of the type of content you’re creating and your audience. We shouldn’t expect, for example, the exact same tone in a technical document for an institutional investor as in a marketing email to retail investors.

We should always sound like us

When you speak, you sound like you.

Sometimes you might need to be more formal, other times more informal. There are situations where you’ll be playful and use humour, and situations where it makes sense to be serious. It all depends on who you’re talking to, the context of your conversation, and where that conversation is taking place.

But you always sound like you.

In the same way, Octopus should always sound like Octopus. All our communications should strive to be recognisable as Octopus and our brand values and personality should shine through.

But how does Octopus sound, exactly?

Think before we communicate

What we say must be rooted in the truth and draw on a deep understanding of our audience. When we have a good understanding of our audience, their challenges, and their needs, it becomes much easier to resonate with them and inspire them. We ask what does our audience already know, and how might what we intend to say make them think or feel?

Direct

Keep it simple and straightforward.

Express ideas as simply as possible. Be transparent and say what you mean. If you can use fewer words, use fewer words.

There’s nothing wrong with being practical and matter of fact, so long as you remain polite. It’s no coincidence one of our company values is “straightforward”.

This doesn’t mean you can’t use industry terminology or that you should avoid complex ideas. Instead, frame and explain necessary industry terms in a clear way, especially if your audience could be unfamiliar with them. And engage with complicated topics using clear and powerful language, so they are easier to understand.

Human

Be friendly and genuine.

We’re professional and expert, but we’re still human. We use friendly, familiar language that customers can relate to. Always start by thinking about how your reader or listener feels and what matters to them. Read your writing aloud. Does it sound like something a person would say? Favour everyday words over complex ones. Use contractions, like “we’ve” rather than “we have”, or “can’t” instead of “cannot”.

We’re human and sometimes we get things wrong. When we do, get to the point and take responsibility. Instead of “it has been decided” or “we’d like to apologise”, we say “we’ve decided” or “we’re sorry”. Or better yet, “I’m sorry”.

Inspiring

Bring it to life and connect emotionally.

We strive to inspire and make emotional connections. We want to excite customers and make heroes of the people, ideas, and businesses we back. We don’t shy away from talking about challenges, but we’re optimistic and look ahead to the future. Tomorrow will be better than today. For every problem there is a solution, even if it’s not available right away. Think about how our slogan seeks to inspire: “A brighter way.”

Remember, while we want to inspire, it’s important we stick to the truth and don’t sensationalise. We don’t catastrophise or scaremonger either. We want to inspire by being informed and thought provoking.

The granny and granddad test

Every communication should pass the “granny and granddad test” and be simple enough for anyone to understand, even if they’re not experts. That isn’t to say you need to dumb things down, just find the clearest way possible to get your point across.

Using the three pillars

Not every situation is the same, so we dial the principles up or down as appropriate.

For example, if we were dealing with an elderly retail customer or dealing with a mistake, we’d use sympathetic, everyday language and be clear and direct.

But perhaps if we were talking to MPs about our commitment to net zero, we might decide to adopt a more inspiring tone.

If we wanted to encourage institutional investors to explore the opportunity in care home investing, we’d choose how to go about this carefully. Care is a sensitive topic, and although we wouldn’t shy away from the human story, we’d avoid sensationalising the topic. Instead, we’d offer an informed view on the sector.

Equally, if we were producing a report about university spin outs for the Ventures audience, we’d be positive and inspiring about the future, but we’d build this upon an informed position about the difficulties the audience is facing today.

Small changes can make a big difference

Look at these sentences and think about how using the three pillars can bring our brand to life.

Indirect, corporate, unexciting	Sensational, inauthentic, uninformed	Direct, human, inspiring
Leaving an excess of accumulated wealth to your beneficiaries is potentially a challenging life event. However, with adequate planning, a net positive outcome can be achieved.	Without planning, millions of families with suffer at the hands of HMRC.	Estate planning can be complicated. But it doesn’t have to be.
We apologise for the mistake in our most recent communication.	BREAKING NEWS: We wholeheartedly apologise for our recent mistake. Rest assured we’ve deployed some of the finest minds in the UK to fix the issue.	Sorry, we made a mistake in our last email. We’re working on the issue.
As a business, we want to direct capital into meaningful sectors that are capable of having a targeted and meaningful impact on society.	The world is on course to implode in a big way. We’re going to stop that happening.	We’re on a mission to invest in the people, ideas, and industries that will change the world.

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