Tag: branding

Creating an empathetic voice for parents in progress

Nick Carson

I collaborated with Manifest on a dramatic shift in brand voice for global baby products brand MAM.

MAM needed to break from category convention. Rather than placing all the focus on baby development, Manifest found strategic white space by recognising that parents are on their own developmental journey – learning, adapting, and growing alongside their child.

Image credit: Manifest

The process began with developing a new tagline that could capture the warmth and reassurance of that shared development. Several favourites emerged, including ‘Let’s grow’, ‘Together in progress’ and ‘Growth in every step’ – after extensive testing in MAM’s core territories, the version that resonated best with their market was:

Together in every step

Working closely with UK strategy lead Emma Caldwell, I helped translate the strategic foundation into a distinctive brand voice – the ‘Empathetic Mentor’ – to bring this insight to life across all touchpoints.

Image credit: Manifest

The brand voice includes four core personality traits:

Reassuring

Our relatable, empathetic tone assuages the anxiety and guilt that many parents experience. We help people feel empowered to find their own path, with no judgement.

Forward-thinking

We speak in an active, purposeful way, with infectious enthusiasm about innovation and the expertise to back it up. We confidently challenge sector tropes and social cliches, to help people feel included.

Real

Our voice is warm and authentic, rooted in lived experience of the trials and tribulations of modern parenting. We help people feel seen, connected, and supported by a global community.

Encouraging

We’re proud of our glass-half-full attitude. We present every challenge as an opportunity for all involved to develop, helping people feel optimistic and prepared to grow. 

I created detailed guidance for each trait, including clear before-and-after examples to demonstrate the dramatic shift in how MAM communicates with its new ‘Empathetic Mentor’ persona.

The new voice transforms functional copy into warm, supportive conversations that help new parents feel seen, connected, and supported.

I’ve supported Manifest on a range of briefs since, including:

  • Creative campaign development for core markets in the UK and France
  • Naming architecture for MAM’s bottle portfolio in the US
  • Evolving product claims for its bottle and soother ranges to emphasise emotive and developmental benefits, in line with the new positioning

“Nick brings a wealth of expertise to every project. He tackles challenges with a deep understanding of brand strategy and creative flair. A true professional, and a creative powerhouse.”

Lauren Kennelly – director, global brand studio, Manifest

Making pediatric care feel like home

Nick Carson

I collaborated with independent creative director Stuart Gough on brand voice and launch copy for Hometown Pediatrics — a new pediatric practice brand built to rescue families from collapsing corporate healthcare.

When Optum abruptly closed nearly 20 New Jersey pediatric practices in late 2025, around 50,000 children were left without a doctor. Hometown acquired two practices in the townships of Wall and Freehold, reopening them under a new brand within weeks.

Image credit: Hometown Pediatrics

The complication: the brand was new, but the doctors weren’t — several had been caring for the same communities for 20-30 years. Some former patients had grown up, and now bring their own kids.

The brief was clear about what Hometown shouldn’t feel like: private equity, corporate healthcare, or venture capital. One reference point was a neighbourhood coffee shop. The measure of success? At launch, the new brand should feel like it’s been there for decades.

Defining the brand voice

Stuart established the strategic positioning — ‘Part of the family’ — and three brand pillars: Medical Authority, Hyper-Local Charm, and Nostalgic Humanity.

I developed these into a brand voice framework built on five character traits:

Warm

We care about your kids (almost) as much as you do, and it shows in our writing. We’re never clinical or detached. Parenting’s tough enough, even tougher when the kids are sick. Our tone puts you at ease.

Assured

We’ve been doing this a long time, and it shows. Not because we boast or flash our credentials, but because we exude the quiet professional confidence that puts parents at ease. We’ve seen it before, and you’re in safe hands.

Sincere

We don’t oversell. Empty superlatives like “world-class care” and “exceptional service” are out. Warm words from local families speak for themselves–no buzzwords or corporate speak.

Quirky

We don’t goof around–belly laughs aren’t in our wheelhouse. But we keep it relatable, and sometimes find a little humour in the messy reality of family life. We don’t try to be clever, and we’re not self-conscious: we’re the fun aunt, on the floor with the kids rather than talking over their heads.

Imaginative

We talk to kids the way you’d talk to kids–we don’t change our personality, just change gear a little. This is where storytelling, wonder, and gentle magic come in. We create moments of delight: framing a door as a gateway to adventure; sparking curiosity in hidden details; helping the scary feel a little safer.

Image credit: Hometown Pediatrics

Bringing it to life

Craig Jackson (Combination Studio) led UX design for the launch site, with Stuart developing the visual identity. I put Hometown’s new voice into action across key touchpoints, from the homepage and service descriptions to individual provider pages built from doctor Q&As.

Browse the website at hometownkids.com.

I also developed patient communication campaigns across four audience segments, and curated provider quotes into usable soundbites while preserving each doctor’s authentic voice.

Image credit: Hometown Pediatrics

The editorial north star was ‘show don’t tell’. As a British writer crafting copy for a small-town New Jersey practice, crafting local colour based on research wouldn’t cut it — the more confident approach was knowing when to step back.

Rather than putting words in their mouths, I let the pediatricians’ voices carry the brand: capturing and curating their stories, then letting their authentic relationships with the community speak for themselves. The doctors are the brand — Hometown as a corporate entity stays nearly invisible.

Image credit: Hometown Pediatrics

The client’s instinct was not to over-craft the warmth, and this was particularly true on the homepage. Parents landing on a pediatric practice website don’t want to read through paragraphs of reassurance — they want calm, supportive, and to-the-point.

The homepage headline began as a friendly introduction: ‘Welcome to your kid’s doctor.’ Next it evolved to employ some subtle wordplay: ‘Pediatric care that’s close to home’. The final version — ‘Pediatric care for your family’ — is more descriptive, but with just enough warmth baked in.

Image credit: Hometown Pediatrics

Having tried various warm and quirky supporting lines, I concluded that less was more at this first point of contact, and more personality could come through later. ‘How can we help?’ gets straight to the point for a parent in need, with just the right balance of support, reassurance and urgency to frame the two clear CTAs underneath. Every word works hard.

“Nick was brilliant to work with. He handled the content with common sense and flexibility, while really pushing the brand narrative forward. A great person to have on your side.”

Stuart Gough – independent creative director

Bringing a 200-year-old university into a new era

Nick Carson

I collaborated with Johnson Banks to give University College London (UCL) a new brand voice, translating strategic traits into detailed, practical writing guidance.

As a Top 10 global university, UCL needed to stand out in an increasingly crowded higher education landscape. Johnson Banks had identified four core personality traits – Grounded, Optimistic, Global, and Open – that captured what makes UCL different.

Image credit: Johnson Banks

My role was to unpack each trait into actionable writing principles that demonstrate how to capture that personality across UCL’s broad range of touchpoints and audiences.

The challenge was nuanced: how do you show intelligence without alienating? How do you demonstrate optimism without sounding naive? How do you write for an international audience while keeping London’s identity?

Read more about the UCL rebrand in Johnson Banks’ case study.

Defining the brand voice

For each trait, I developed detailed guidance to address these tensions directly.

Image credit: Johnson Banks

Grounded

  1. Discuss big ideas in terms of human impact
  2. Admit when we don’t have the answer
  3. Use wit (where appropriate) to be more relatable
  4. Use clear, straightforward language

Optimistic

  1. Frame challenges as opportunities
  2. Lead with possibilities, acknowledge constraints
  3. Use forward-momentum language
  4. Show the pathway, not just the destination

Global

  1. Make rich references accessible
  2. Build context before diving in
  3. Lead with the universal, then get specific
  4. Use ‘here’ as a bridge, not a barrier

Open

  1. Provoke new ways of thinking
  2. Be approachable, not authoritative
  3. Be transparent about difficult topics

Brand voice in action

I developed comprehensive before-and-after examples across 11 different touchpoints – from UCL’s strategic plan and prospectus copy to social media posts and alumni storytelling.

Each example demonstrated how these principles work in practice, with detailed annotations showing which of the four brand personality traits were being applied, how, and why.

Before/after guidance for an all-staff newsletter. Image credit: Johnson Banks
Before/after guidance for UCL’s strategic plan. Image credit: Johnson Banks

The guidelines give writers concrete tools to apply UCL’s voice consistently across contexts, balancing credibility with accessibility, ambition with honesty, and global reach with local identity.

“I’d recommend Nick to anyone looking for a thoughtful, insightful writer who truly understands brand voice.”

Katherine Heaton – account director, Johnson Banks

Outthinking, outsmarting, and outlasting rivals

Nick Carson

I collaborated with Territory Studio to give cutting-edge cybersecurity firm Binary Defense a brand voice packed with both attitude and warmth.

Most cybersecurity brands trade on fear and impenetrable technical jargon. Binary Defense needed to stand out by balancing expertise with genuine human connection.

OOH concept. Image credit: Territory Studio

Territory developed a clear brand positioning – ‘Agile, human-first cyber security’ – that informed four new brand values:

• Expert
• Maverick
• Adaptable
• Human

My role was to translate this foundational thinking into a verbal identity that the client could run with.

Read more about the rebrand in Territory’s case study.

Brand personality

The breakthrough was defining Binary Defense as the ‘Tactical Wingman’ – a brand personality that bridged military precision with social camaraderie. Together, these two words strike the balance between the tactical expertise needed to outsmart cyber threats, and a trusted wingman who’s got your back and helps you sleep at night.

Image credit: Territory Studio

I translated each brand value into an actionable personality trait:

Expert > Insightful

We show our expertise through smart tactical thinking, and don’t just tell people about our technical prowess. We bring people along on the journey, sharing practical, actionable insights as we go.

Maverick > Unconventional

We rebel against the status quo, and fly in the face of mediocrity. Our voice feels fresh in the sector, flipping the script with unexpected turns of phrase that emphasize the people involved, as well as our outside-the-box tactics.

Adaptable > Dynamic

We speak with drive and energy, flexing our tone to capture the audience’s attention (and keep it). We constantly adapt to the latest threats, and think on our feet with language too – discussing tactics with precision, while using analogies to make complex scenarios instantly.

Human > Straight-talking

You need a trusted ally in your corner who has your back. Our tone cuts through without the jargon: We’re the good guys, here to take down the bad guys. We tell it like it is – our language is carefully crafted. Every word counts.

Website homepage copy. Image credit: Territory Studio

Campaign tagline

I also developed an attitude-packed tagline that could capture the essence of the new brand personality:

Outthink. Outsmart. Outlast.

This became Binary Defense’s battle cry – a rhythmic, memorable encapsulation of their competitive edge. Confident and dynamic without being overly aggressive or threatening, it positions Binary Defense as playing a smarter, longer game than its rivals.

Social post examples. Image credit: Territory Studio
LinkedIn origin story. Image credit: Territory Studio

The brand guidelines include carefully chosen before/after examples – from website homepage copy to Insta posts, digital banner ads to a LinkedIn origin story – demonstrate how to maintain the ‘Tactical Wingman’ voice in a way that balances professional credibility with human authenticity.

Dejumbling insurance with mischievous wordplay

Nick Carson

I collaborated with Taxi Studio to develop the brand voice for fintech challenger Yoloh.

Most insurance brands trade on fear and confusion. Yoloh set out to flip that script – helping people spend more time living, not form-filling.

Working closely with Taxi’s brand and strategy teams, I helped develop ‘Insurance dejumbled’ – a powerful brand platform that untangles complexity at every touchpoint.

Video credit: Taxi Studio

At the heart of the brand expression is four-fingered digital assistant ‘Andi’. When you first fire up the app, the phrase ‘Andi censured jumble’ is nimbly rearranged into the tagline ‘Insurance dejumbled’ – demonstrating the brand’s unique offer in a playful, memorable way.

Read more about the Yoloh strategy in Taxi’s case study.

Yoloh’s ambigram brand mark is identical when flipped upside down, inspiring the supporting line: “Making life easier, whichever way you look at it.”

Video credit: Taxi Studio

We then took the creative concept of ‘dejumbling’ to the next level, transforming the many different varieties of insurance into memorable, contextually relevant anagrams.

  • “Any incidents ruin me” became “indemnity insurance”
  • “Canal in dentures” became “dental insurance”
  • “Mourns a Citroën” became “motor insurance”

These weren’t just wordplay – they symbolised how even the most tangled concepts could be unscrambled into something human and approachable.

I developed Yoloh’s brand voice, starting with a top-level brand personality: ‘Attentive Guide’. Built around three core principles – Accessible, Attentive and Proactive – the voice turns tedious policy wording into friendly, human conversations, with a touch of warmth and wit.

“The breadth and depth of Nick’s knowledge is such a rich foundation for his copywriting. He gets under a new brand’s skin quickly and with all the smarts in all the right places. He provides so much more to creative outcomes than words.”

Emma Hopton – creative strategist, Taxi Studio

Press coverage

Taxi Studio balances trust and play in Yoloh rebrand
Design Week

Taxi reveals new brand for insurtech platform Yoloh
Creative Boom

How a fun rebrand and a new mascot boosted this brand’s reputation tenfold
Creative Bloq

Overplaying their hand
Brand New (subscription needed)

Awards for Yoloh
Bronze Award – Brand Impact Awards 2025

Championing a cleaning brand’s sustainable vision

Nick CarsonLeave a Comment on Championing a cleaning brand’s sustainable vision

I helped Superunion tell the brand story of eco-friendly cleaning company Delphis Eco.

Following a joint briefing with the creative team and the client, I conducted an in-depth interview with Delphis Eco’s passionate, self-confessedly belligerent founder Mark Jankovich.

The first section, below, captures the story’s unlikely origins in the world of cut-throat finance – where Jankovich had the epiphany that drove him to drop everything and radically change his career direction.

“I woke up one day and thought, ‘Enough’s enough.'” – Mark Jankovich

Mark’s story

It was 2007, the year before the finance sector went into meltdown.

Mark had been working on a more joined-up approach to RBS Group’s corporate social responsibility. He argued that the banking giant needed to consider its impact on the world.

But profit was king, and Mark’s holistic plan was laughed out of the room. He quit the next day, with a burning desire to make a meaningful difference in whatever way he could. His goal was simple: build a business, any business, that could have a net-positive impact. After scouring the globe for candidates, he discovered a Liverpool-based chemist making professional-standard cleaning products from eco-friendly natural ingredients.

Delphis Eco leads by example when it comes to sustainability

The business had been struggling, and had racked up significant debts. But despite having no experience in the sector, Mark saw huge potential for social and environmental impact.

Shortly after the birth of his second child, and with no salary as a safety net, he threw everything he had into the venture, adopting a one-star roadside hotel as a rudimentary base near the warehouse in Bootle while he worked to turn the business around.

The brand story is set firmly in the context of the global climate emergency

Mark was prepared to roll up his sleeves and get his hands dirty. To win one of Delphis Eco’s first major contracts, he spent seven months getting up at 4am to scrub Iceland stores, demonstrating to the supermarket why it should switch.

He also knew he had to get the products into the right hands, so cut out the middleman. Knowing the Prince of Wales to be an ardent eco-campaigner, he cold-called Clarence House and challenged the Prince’s staff to test the products. The risk paid off, ultimately leading to Delphis Eco receiving two Royal Warrants.

At the heart of Delphis Eco’s success story is Mark’s refusal to accept something is impossible, and the passion, belligerence and drive to prove it can be done.

Mark has lobbied the UK government to promote sector-wide change

The story goes on to explore how Delphis Eco has responded to the bigger-picture context of the climate emergency, and reveals the brand’s many sector-leading green innovations and related campaigns – including lobbying for meaningful change at the highest level.

Why we’ve extended the BIA deadline by a month

Nick Carson

Submit your best branding by 26 June 2020.

Awards season has unsurprisingly looked a bit different this year. Every major scheme has adapted in its own way to cope with the industry-wide challenges posed by COVID-19.

The Brand Impact Awards is no different: we are officially extending the entry period by four full weeks to 26 June.

Enter the Brand Impact Awards now 

2020-06-26T11:31:00

  days

  hours  minutes  seconds

until

2020 entry deadline

It’s no secret that agencies across the board are under pressure. Everyone needs time to settle into their ‘new normal’ – whatever that means – and ensure both cashflow and workflow recovers.

You may still have team members furloughed, or be pulling out the stops to get a key project over the line. By extending the entry period by another month, we hope to give you an extra buffer to do your submissions justice.

Why spend money on awards right now?

At times like these, celebrating the best work is important to keep your team motivated – but also to demonstrate to prospective clients that your agency creates world-class output that breaks category constraints.

You need sufficient rigour to ensure the best work rises to the surface. The BIAs’ narrow-but-deep focus on branding – and its market-sector categories, which consider work in the context for which it was designed – means brave work in conservative sectors has a better chance to get noticed.

It also means you won’t always see the usual suspects in the shortlist, and great work that other awards schemes have passed over could win.

Group debates are a crucial part of the BIA judging process: they enable us to take advantage of the variety of different perspectives and specialist expertise on our world-class panel.

Like every other design award scheme this year, we must shift to remote judging in order to protect the health and safety of all involved, but we will ensure that stimulating group debate remains at the heart of the process.

Plus: three all-new craft categories

Strong, original and client-appropriate ideas sit at the heart of every winning project at the BIAs. But without the craft to bring them to life in a spectacular, engaging way, they might stay just that: ideas.

Craft is crucial to great branding. To recognise the fruitful collaborations that are often at the heart of award-winning projects, this year three all-new categories will reward the very best examples of how copywriting, illustration and typography can help define and communicate brand values.

Each of these three categories has its own world-class jury – a first for the BIAs. So if you submit the same project in a craft category as well as the appropriate market-sector category, that aspect of the work will be independently scrutinised by specialists in that particular field.

All entries must be received by 26 June 2020 at the very latest: there will be no further extensions. Good luck!

Enter the Brand Impact Awards now

Celebrating 50 years of the Virgin brand

Nick Carson

I am the author of Virgin By Design, a premium ‘coffee-table’ book celebrating 50 years of the Virgin brand.

Collaborating closely with the Virgin Group brand team and the book’s publisher Thames & Hudson, I helped develop a content strategy to appeal to brand designers, creative marketeers and ambitious entrepreneurs.

Cover and selected spreads. Image credit: Virgin

Rather than a chronological retrospective, we agreed it would be more compelling to tell the story thematically, exploring the unique characteristics that make the Virgin brand special.

Buy a copy of Virgin By Design on Amazon

The process involved over 120 interviews with CEOs, CMOs and other influential individuals responsible for shaping the past, present and future of the Virgin brand – from the early days of Virgin Records and Virgin Atlantic in the ’70s and ’80s, through to present-day innovations from the likes of Virgin Galactic and Virgin Voyages.

Drawing on hundreds of thousands of words of transcript, I crafted the many diverse stories into 10 distinct chapters. These explored areas such as Virgin’s ‘cheeky start-up’ mentality, the importance of taking risks and innovating, the ‘feel-good experiences’ and ‘magic moments’ at the heart of the brand, and how Virgin can stay relevant for the next 50 years.

With multiple senior stakeholders involved – including Virgin Group’s chief brand officer and global CEO, as well as Richard Branson himself – my copywriting brief was to capture Virgin’s brand values, while remaining engaging and entertaining for an external audience.

Nick helped us shape a cohesive narrative from multiple voices. He was quick to understand Virgin’s brand principles and history, and convey it seamlessly throughout the book. Nick’s skill in finding compelling stories translates to a joyful yet comprehensive read. He was a joy to work with.

Charlotte Bufton – brand manager and project lead, Virgin
Virgin By Design’s 10 thematic chapters. Image credit: Virgin

Fascinating archive photography, striking campaign visuals and playful commissioned illustration bring the featured stories to life.

The design, by Pete Rossi at RM&CO, encourages different levels of engagement. Readers can flick through for visual inspiration, or deep-dive into each chapter’s theme.

Content formats vary from bite-size captions to long thematic reads, bound-in as inserts amongst full-bleed images to maximise visual impact. Gatefolds expand the canvas at key points to do milestone campaigns justice.

“Nick’s deep understanding of how branding and design work within a business, and his industry knowledge and contacts, make him an invaluable member of a creative team.”

Andrew Sanigar – commissioning editor, Thames & Hudson

Virgin By Design was published by Thames & Hudson in March 2020.

Awards for Virgin By Design
Silver Award – Graphis Design Annual 2021
Highly Commended – Drum Design Awards 2020
People’s Choice – Creativepool Annual 2020

Asking provocative questions of top brands

Nick Carson1 Comment on Asking provocative questions of top brands
Cover of Wild Thinking. Image credit: The Clearing

I helped The Clearing produce a series of videos to promote the studio’s new book, Wild Thinking.

Wild Thinking features 25 unconventional solutions to business challenges, from pioneering thinkers at global brands. I developed a content strategy to draw out particularly engaging themes from the book, and conducted piece-to-camera interviews with key contributors.

Read more about Wild Thinking on Kogan Page’s website…

Working closely with publisher Kogan Page, I then scripted a series of short-form videos. This included exclusive cuts for LinkedIn and Twitter, posing bonus questions from The Clearing’s ‘Wild Cards’ – the pack of 100 provocative questions that inspired the book.

Selection of cards from the Wild Cards pack. Image credit: The Clearing

Read more about Wild Cards on The Clearing’s website…

Here are three of the videos:

How mediocrity can be a great motivator

CMO John Allert discusses McLaren’s unapologetically uncompromising culture, and why a fear of mediocrity keeps the team sharp.

Why leading from the top is outdated

Former Dropbox PR chief Nick Morris shares his tried-and-trusted collaborative approach for engaging and inspiring a team.

What ‘brand purpose’ looks like in practice

CCO Juliet Slot explains how Ascot Race Course translates abstract brand values into meaningful everyday actions for its employees.

Nick has a unique offer – he’s a writer, a thinker, an interviewer and a burst of energy. He immediately became part of our team when we launched our Wild Thinking book, driving content and building relationships for our short films. It was fun, and it delivered great results.

Jules Griffith, marketing director, The Clearing

Rolling out tone of voice for a European bank

Nick CarsonLeave a Comment on Rolling out tone of voice for a European bank
HROD logo showing four quadrants. Image credit: 31% Wool
  • Client: 31% Wool / EBRD
  • Disciplines: Copywriting, tone of voice
  • Duration: 9 days

I helped 31% Wool make EBRD’s HR department more engaging and approachable.

31% Wool’s verbal narrative for the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development’s newly formed ‘HR and Organisational Department’ (HROD) is based on four ‘quadrants’ that play on banking terminology.

All communications are framed in terms of assets, liabilities, risks and returns. HROD might describe people as its “greatest asset”, for instance, or discuss “unlocking returns” for its staff.

My brief was to translate this conceptual approach across a range of materials – from landing pages to onboarding packs – while balancing the need to be punchy and direct, but also warm and welcoming.

Read more on 31% Wool’s website…

Landing pages from HROD website. Image credit: 31% Wool

I also wrote guidelines to help HROD staff maintain this tone of voice across other day-to-day applications.

Tone of voice booklet for HROD. Image credit: 31% Wool

“Nick quickly grasped the intricacies and breadth of the client’s verbal comms, and brought to life some previously quite generic pieces with our new verbal language and a consistent tone of voice. He was happy to turn around some tight client deadlines, and I hope we’ll be working on more projects together in the future.”

Julia Woollams, creative director, 31% Wool

+44(0) 7859 014905 nick@nickcarson.agency