Your team is divided on the brand message tone. How do you find common ground and move forward effectively?

Finding common ground on brand tone isn’t just about workshops and mood boards—it’s about capturing the vibe. You can’t force alignment; you create it. Get everyone together, but don’t just discuss—immerse them. Play the sounds, show the visuals, and bring the brand’s energy to life. Let the team feel the tone rather than just talk about it. Then, test it in the real world. Forget sterile focus groups—drop it where your community actually lives and see how it lands. Your brand's tone isn’t about pleasing everyone; it's about staying true to your DNA and owning your place in culture. A divided team isn’t a setback—it shows there’s passion. Channel that energy to craft something not just aligned, but unapologetically authentic.✍🏾

Quando a equipe está dividida sobre o tom da mensagem da marca, a tecnologia pode ser um grande aliado para alinhar a visão. Ferramentas de colaboração digital e brainstorming, como o Miro ou o Trello, ajudam a capturar e visualizar diferentes perspectivas em um quadro coeso, cabendo ao condutor fazer uma boa gestão dos fóruns. Além disso, soluções de análise de sentimento, alimentadas por IA, podem testar rapidamente a recepção do público para diferentes variações de tom, MVP’s simples baseando decisões em dados reais. Workshops ou reuniões colaborativas com equipes multidisciplinares, guiados por esses insights, promovem uma convergência mais natural, mantendo a autenticidade da marca enquanto abraçam a inovação e engajam o time.

The worst thing you can do is compromise on the brand’s fundamentals. The primary goal is to develop a brand that is concise and clear in its messaging. I find it helpful to set a framework that narrows down the number of core values to three. It’s equally important to integrate the product’s benefits early in the brand development process and to identify the market segment where your brand positions itself as an expert. These anchor points inherently limit options and create a well-defined, manageable framework. However, if consensus can’t be reached after several workshops, a dedicated decision-maker needs to step in and move forward for the sake of the brand.

Your ICP (ideal customer profile) and the problem you solve for them should determine tone, vibe, and brand messaging. Everything else risks becoming an ego play.

Bring the team together for an open discussion. Identify shared goals and key audience insights. Encourage everyone to share their views, then find overlap in tone preferences. Test a few blended options, using data or customer feedback to guide the final decision. This way, the message stays aligned with the brand while respecting diverse perspectives.

Here’s a step-by-step strategy to find common ground and move forward effectively: 1. Return to the Brand’s Core Values and Mission Solution: Revisit the brand’s purpose, vision, and values as the foundation for your tone. Ask, “Does this tone reflect who we are and what we stand for?” Why it Works: This ensures the conversation stays focused on what’s most important: staying true to the brand identity. 2. Clarify the Target Audience and Their Preferences Solution: Use audience personas or recent insights (surveys, reviews, or social listening) to guide the tone. Ask, “What kind of tone will resonate most with our audience?” Why it Works: Knowing who you’re speaking to helps ground creative debates in customer-centric thinking.

Discuss the differences in opinions. Give all involved a chance to defend their designs. Narrow down common ground on each. Back to the drawing board for one last round. Final presentation for discussion and critique. I make the final selection. Game over!

This is bound to happen during any sort of brainstorming session. Be it for a full-fledged campaign or even a random chitchat. One solution that has always helped me, which was suggested by my first boss in advertising - always have three approaches to setting the brand tone. 1. What the brand wants 2. What the client wants 3. What you think is right Channel the discussions towards these three approaches and there will always be one common ground. That's the sweet spot we should be aiming for.

To find common ground on brand message tone within a divided team, start by organizing a structured workshop where team members can openly share their perspectives and the reasons behind their preferred tones. Foster a culture of active listening and use exercises like brainstorming sessions or tone spectrum mapping to visualize how different tones align with the brand’s values and audience. After gathering insights, facilitate a discussion to identify common themes and key messages that resonate with everyone. This collaborative input can be synthesized into a unified brand tone that reflects diverse insights while maintaining consistency. Regular check-ins post-implementation will help ensure the tone evolves with the brand.