Direct-to-consumer Brands' Unique Language Approach: BarkBox, Starface, StrangeLove Examples
In the bustling world of Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) businesses, standing out from the crowd is crucial. Three Australian brands – BarkBox, Starface, and StrangeLove – have mastered this art by developing distinctive brand voices that resonate deeply with their audiences.
BarkBox, a dog toy and treats brand, stands out with a voice that is cheeky, cute, and doggish. By building a community centred on dog lovers, BarkBox uses humor, relatable dog-owner inside jokes, and approachable, cheeky messaging to make customers feel like they're part of a fun, exclusive “dog people” club. This emotional connection extends beyond the product, cultivating belonging and identity among urban dog owners. BarkBox's voice is not just limited to marketing; it permeates product design, packaging, and even reflects values through donations supporting animal shelters.
Starface, a skincare brand, has a voice that can be described as txt-spk-y, spacey, and frolicsome. Starface uses bright colors, whimsical designs, old-skool text-based emoticons, acronyms, and abbreviations, and leans into a space theme. This playful, emotive communication turns an ordinary product – acne patches – into a self-expression statement and communal movement, particularly appealing to Gen Z consumers.
StrangeLove, an Australian soda brand, similarly employs a distinctive, bold, and adventurous brand voice. StrangeLove breaks conventions by embodying an unapologetically queer and alternative ethos that resonates strongly with their audience. Using edgy humor, pop culture references, and vibrant aesthetics, StrangeLove's voice feels like a lifestyle and identity rather than just a product. A prime example is the 'Booze Book Volume 1', a play on Kahneman and Tversky's classic text.
The success of these brands lies in their unique, playful tone that reflects their core audience’s identity and culture, the use of humor and storytelling to create emotional bonds and a sense of community, extending brand personality consistently across all touchpoints, and embedding values and purpose into their voice to deepen customer connection.
In the competitive D2C landscape, a distinctive brand voice is a powerful lever for young and ambitious brands to stand out. As Chris West, author of Strong Language, argues, voice is an expression of a worldview. Brand voice, as defined by Lauren Pope, is a combination of personality, tone, rhythm, and vocabulary. However, using 'human' as a brand voice principle is not effective.
In recent years, advertising costs for D2C companies have been rising annually, increasing customer-acquisition costs. In this context, a distinctive brand voice becomes even more crucial to attract and retain customers. The benefits for brands using words in strategically weird ways will become more obvious as AI-written sludge makes brand language more beige.
With the number of D2C brands in the US increasing from around 400 in 2016 to more than 22,000 in 2021, the importance of a distinctive brand voice is clear. Infinite linguistic palettes are available for brands to use to stand out, as demonstrated by the brands featured in this article. From the fun and approachable BarkBox to the quirky and idiosyncratic StrangeLove, and the playful and inclusive Starface, these brands have found their unique voices and are reaping the rewards.
[1] BarkBox: https://www.barkbox.com/ [2] Starface: https://www.starface.com/ [3] StrangeLove: https://strangelove.co/ [4] About Page of StrangeLove: https://strangelove.co/about [5] Infrequently Asked Questions of StrangeLove: https://strangelove.co/faqs
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