Suri Cruise and the Secrets to Establishing Voice

Picture from Suri’s Burn Book

One of the most essential copywriting tasks is establishing voice. Voice is the personality and style of a body of writing. If you’re creating a brand from scratch, it’s important to establish a voice that feels authentic. For example, copy for a conservative law firm probably shouldn’t use Valley Girl slang, just as copy for a nail salon shouldn’t use words like “synergy” and “best practices.”

If you’re working on a new project for an existing brand, it’s just as important to stay consistent with the brand voice that’s already been created. This requires reading through past brochures, websites and other marketing material to get a feel for the brand’s personality and how to best bring it to life.

Instead of making you look at a law firm’s website to illustrate the concept of voice, I thought I’d give a fun, slightly silly example instead: the blog Suri’s Burn Book. Suri’s Burn Book is a blog curated by “Suri Cruise” and catalogs her disappointments with other celebrity children and her embarrassing parents.

This blog captures exactly what I’d imagine the smart, spoiled, worldly offspring of Tom Cruise and Joey from Dawson’s Creek to sound like. Go read a few entries, and you’ll see what I mean. When Suri chides the poor Affleck children for their unbrushed hair and unimaginative outfits, it doesn’t sound like a twenty-something woman is writing about the kids (though that’s probably close to the truth.) It sounds like a four-going-on-fabulous fashionista who just can’t understand why you’d wear socks with flats.

When you create a voice for your brand, your goal should be capture your brand as well as Suri’s Burn Book encapsulates the snobby sophistication of Miss Suri. And just as Suri insists on matching attire, you then need to be true to that voice in every communication.