Case Study
Wonder
Designing a scalable brand voice
Context
Wonder is a food-tech startup that’s reimagining the in-home dining experience.
When I came in to consult a few months after launch, they had already been through the exercise of developing voice guidelines 4-5 times. But the work had never satisfied key stakeholders in marketing, creative, hospitality, and partnerships — and given their hugely ambitious plans to scale, nailing a voice that could be implemented consistently was key. My goal was to create a systematic framework for copywriting that anyone on the team could use, no matter what context they were writing in.
Process
I started by collaborating with Wonder’s brilliant in-house copywriter to develop a brand persona called “the off-duty chef”: an embodiment of the brand’s warm, generous spirit. The idea was that, by defining who was speaking through a rich, resonant narrative, we’d be giving anyone who had to write copy strong directional guidance. Would the off-duty chef say this, or not?
My next step was to break down each voice attribute — passionate, welcoming, and fresh — into a set of clearly defined components. Brand voice is often difficult to reproduce, so instead of just describing what the Wonder voice should sound like, I laid out the specific types of writing that would make it come to life. (For example: “passionate” was made up of vibrant descriptions, food-world expertise, and a celebratory tone.)
The final guidelines included examples of how to mix and match voice components for different use cases, plus clearly illustrated do’s and don’ts. I was careful to consider a wide variety of contexts, from marketing copy to customer service emails and in-app messaging.
The brand persona was written to anchor the voice in a shared sense of what Wonder was all about.
To make the brand voice easy to reproduce, I documented the types of writing it was made of.
The guidelines included clear instructions for copywriting, with plenty of rich examples.
Outcome
Everyone on the team bought into the guidelines enthusiastically, and we quickly applied them across key channels (including a redesigned homepage and a key OOH campaign). The voice I designed is still helping guide creative work at Wonder today.
“Working with Ray was nothing short of exceptional. He went above and beyond by engaging with almost everyone in the company, fostering a collaborative environment that allowed for a unified brand message. What truly stood out was his dedication to ensuring that the voice framework he was developing could be leveraged across various departments, including marketing, product, and customer service.”
Raina Enand
Senior Director of Marketing, Wonder
