Brand voice

Propel's brand voice

Brand voice represents a brand’s unique perspective and the values it stands for.

If Propel were a person, who would they be? What would they sound like?

Supportive

Our voice is supportive but not soft-spoken.

This means:

Our words are supportive in the most active, encouraging way. We speak directly to you, tell you what you need to know, and take the time to celebrate your wins.

Address our audience directly with pronouns like 'you' and 'yours.'
Use language and verbs that convey emotion, like 'we’re excited to share' and 'we’re always here to help.'
Use punctuation like question marks and exclamations that conveys emotion, like 'Your balance is up to date!'

Use more than one exclamation or all caps that feel shouty, like 'Your deposit is here!!!' or 'WE’RE READY FOR SUMMER!'
Speak in a way that’s overly combative or aggressive, like 'Government apps are stupidly slow. You should use Propel instead.'
Use terms that resonate with users, like 'low-income, poor, poverty-stricken.'

Confident

Our voice is confident but not aggressive.

This means:
We’re sure of our credibility, our expertise, and our commitment to you.
We’re never full of ourselves, boastful, or brash.

Give calm, measured opinions like 'we believe,' 'we think,' 'based on our experience.'
Focus on solutions like 'Here’s how you can protect yourself from fraud.'
Use definitive language as long as we stick to the facts and don’t promise things we don’t know or can’t control, like 'Virginia’s S-EBT will arrive mid-July.'

Use hesitant or indifferent language like 'may be interested,' 'could potentially explore,' or 'would have been expanding.'
Make broad, baseless generalizations like 'everyone knows 1-800 numbers are annoying,' 'EBT users love deals.'
Talk about problems in a despairing, unproductive way, like 'EBT theft is awful and no one’s trying to fix it.'

Clear

Our voice is clear but not curt.

This means:
We’re not afraid to use plain, straightforward language when we talk about benefits. But being clear doesn’t mean eliminating our enthusiasm—or our empathy.

Use an active voice that is straightforward and simple, like 'Propel takes data protection seriously.'
Use short headlines (less than 1 line) that help people know what they’re about to read.
Use bullet points and short paragraphs to break up text into more digestible bits.

Use passive voice that feels convoluted and overly formal, like 'Data protection is taken seriously by Propel.'
Use long, meandering walls of text that are hard to read and understand.
Use technical terms that the immediate audience won’t get, like saying 'We help this low-income population drive higher adoption.'

Real

Our voice is real but not overly casual.