Arm Brand
Voice and Tone
Brand voice is important because it establishes consistency and reinforces brand positioning at every touch point—advertising, PR, sales materials, online content, internal newsletters, and more.
We are modern, innovative, and bold, yet earnest. We are also anchored in roots that propelled the mobile computing revolution a quarter of a century ago with Arm-based chips, and positioned to become the AI compute platform for everyone going forward.
Now,300 billion chips later, Arm technology is everywhere, defining the future of computing. A future built by the greatest technology ecosystem in the world. A future built on Arm.
Voice communicates company personality and values. It’s who your customers "hear" when they interact with Arm across various communication channels and should consistently represent the organization as a whole.
The Arm voice is based on these four values:
Intellect
Collaboration
Leadership
Trustworthiness
The Arm voice should always reflect these key traits and characteristics:
Brand Characteristic
Description
Do
Don’t
Thoughtful/human centered
We show careful consideration and attention in all we do, and design with human beings in mind.
Be authentic, honest, and direct.
Use an active voice.
Be mindful of progressive terminology.
Be vague or express uncertainty.
Speak passively.
Fail to respond.
Sound like a robot.
Committed
We are committed to providing solutions that help our partners be successful.
Use strong, clear verbs.
Offer assistance.
Sound interested and connect with the audience.
Present information without examples.
Sound disinterested or indifferent.
Confident/bold
We are the leaders in our field and our people are the brightest and best at what they do.
Speak authoritatively.
Challenge the status quo.
Introduce new concepts.
Show how Arm delivers value.
Use the passive voice.
Use marketing jargon.
Focused
We know what we are here to do and are executing perfectly to plan
Show how Arm differentiates from its competitors.
Make sure your copy is meaningful to the audience.
Stick to simple, straightforward sentence structure.
Waffle or use vague language.
Cram your copy with too many concepts.
Don’t try to sound smarter than the audience.
Waste audience time with long-winded sentences.
Future looking/visionary/innovative
We have a deep understanding of what the future of computing needs to be, and we have a vast industry ecosystem that can execute and turn any idea into reality. Arm technology is defining the future of computing.
Use simple, clear language to present new ideas and concepts.
Find use cases to illustrate thoughts and ideas.
Show thought leadership.
Inspire others to join us.
Sound overly grandiose or use hyperbole.
Make claims unsupported by data.
Make future or forward-looking business statements that break IPO rules (i.e. regarding future revenues or profits. It is OK to discuss industry trends or roadmap products)
Approachable and collaborative
We respect our partners and enjoy engaging with them with professional, educational, and technical content that invites further communication and collaboration.
Try to create a rapport with your audience.
Be friendly yet informative.
Use positivity, inclusivity, and simplicity in the language.
Show we’re there to help.
Sound too distant or aloof.
Use too much jargon, sales talk or fluffy language.
Do Don’t
Pioneering/inspirational
We are leaders in our field. We fueled the smartphone revolution, and we’re now leading every technology revolution moving forward.
Show you understand the audiences pain points/challenges.
Present new ideas and concepts clearly and describe their benefits.
Use easy-to-understand language and strong verbs.
Use active language.
Give examples.
Use hyperbole.
Waffle.
Use fluffy marketing words.
Forget a strong call to action.
Smart/intelligence
Our people are experts in their discipline and the brightest and best at what they do. We offer our partners guidance and support to help them be successful.
Present ideas and concepts in clear, easy-to-understand language.
Use progressive terminology.
Show expertise in the area without talking down to the audience.
Try to sound overly clever yet don’t dumb it down either.
Use fluffy marketing jargon.
Use passive voice.
Sound robotic.
Tone communicates Arm’s attitude toward the audience and subject matter of the specific piece. While Arm’s voice remains consistent, its tone can vary depending on the type of content, the audience, and the channel. Tone is expressed in the words we choose, the styles we follow, and even our punctuation choices and should always match the situation—for instance, enthusiastic, serious, informational.
Intellectual
We are intellectual. Our engineering DNA enables us to approach challenges rationally, using data—not emotions—to craft solutions with our partners. We are curious, seeking alternate windows to success where others see closed doors. We anticipate the advances of tomorrow, confident our technology will enable our partners’ success.
We express this value by backing all claims with concrete facts, not hearsay or hunches. We provide reasoned explanations for opinions and ideas, and we celebrate intellectual breakthroughs and achievements. Note that "intellectual" does not mean condescending or superior—we use our knowledge to educate, enlighten, and inform our audience.
As connected technologies scale, we must reset our thinking. In fast time-to-market segments, success is built on design, ship, analyze, and pivot—learning fast and iterating.
We are collaborative. We work with our partners so that together we can realize an empowered, connected future. Our technology is informed by our partners’ needs, fueled by our creative spirit, and achieved by our collective drive.
We recognize that Arm is a "foundational" brand, so we express this value by our use of "we" and "us." We highlight the collective rather than the individual, and we celebrate collaboration in all its forms. We reference our partners when appropriate and highlight our role in their success—and their role in ours.
Combining a vibrant ecosystem with more than 1,000 partners delivering silicon, development tools, and software, our technology is at the heart of a computing and connectivity revolution that is transforming the way people live and businesses operate.
We are trusted. Our commitment to quality and reliability has helped us forge long-term relationships with partners, suppliers, and customers. They depend on Arm to produce innovative, imaginative technology that brings their ideas to life.
We demonstrate this value by creating credible, relevant content. We deliver on the promise or claim made in the headline, we proofread content to eliminate mistakes, we don’t exaggerate statistics, and we provide third-party validation when appropriate.
With more than 95 percent of wearables running on Arm technology, we are the architecture of choice for innovators bringing the coolest devices to market.
We are human-centered. Always remember that our technology is meant to be used by humans. Our technology is both practical and aspirational, enabling smarter homes, smarter communities, and smarter cities both now and in the future. We create and innovate so that our technology empowers people to fulfill their purpose and achieve their potential.
We express this value by connecting Arm technology to both real-life examples and goals. For example:
The data that wearables collect is highly personal. Arm’s TrustZone is the basis for securing your wearable data.
To express our brand, we use voice and tone.
Voice communicates company personality. It’s who your customers "hear" when they interact with Arm across various communication channels. Voice is based on what Arm is trying to accomplish and its attitude toward its audience.
Tone communicates Arm’s attitude toward the audience and subject matter. While Arm’s voice remains consistent, its tone can vary depending on the type of content, the audience, and the channel. Tone is expressed in the words we choose, the styles we follow, and even our punctuation choices.
Perhaps the easiest way to understand voice and tone is to pay attention to how you communicate with those around you. If you want a family member to view something on your screen, you might say, "Come look at this!" If you want your supervisor to view something, however, you might say, "Do you have a minute to come and look at my screen?" You’re the same person, and you’re asking for the same action in both cases, but you use different words, different intonations, and varying levels of formality.
Because our brand has been refreshed, our voice and tone should reflect our new updated qualities, traits, and characteristics. Following are examples of Arm voice and tone:
Socially Responsible Web copy:
Arm-based processors are the intelligence transforming the 21st century—from supercomputers to smartphones and cars to coffee makers. They are used in networks monitoring everything from power grids and traffic flows to the erosion levels in shellfish beds and the water levels in farmers’ fields.
As we look ahead to a trillion connected devices being deployed over the next 20 years, we must stand shoulder to shoulder in our commitment to protect cyberspace. Staying ahead of threats is a constant battle, and the pledge the industry makes today will continue to strengthen security and help to ensure that the benefits of a data-driven world are fully realized for all.
At Arm, we have a vision to make technology so seamless that it empowers the best in life. A trillion devices built on one foundation, making life better, happier for everyone.
Meet the byte-sized piece of technology on a path to improve the lives of millions, setting the pace for how we use data to help treat illnesses today and beyond. All made possible on Arm.
Our voice is a reflection of our intellect, collaboration, leadership, and trustworthiness, while our tone conveys our bold yet earnest attitude towards our audience and the future of computing.
