Speaker: Peter Wagenaar

Theme: LANGUAGE

Interview for Creative Mornings Utrecht

Who is Peter?

Peter Wagenaar is an online copywriter at health insurance company CZ. Before that he was already a language fan: initially a journalist, later a web editor and always a great copywriter.

What are you up to these days, working with language?

At CZ my mission is to help the brand say what it wants to say and do so effectively in a way that represents what our brand stands for. In my view, all brands have a voice. Copywriters refer to the ‘tone of voice’ of a brand: in other words, the way a brand conveys her message. This has everything to do with language, because brands are not entities of their own, they come to life through communication

So would you say that brands are a bit like people?

Certainly! Brands have a personality and values that they stand for. Those values are transmitted through the way the brand interacts with her clients across a range of situations. For us at CZ this means that as our brand engages with the outside world, it never loses its uniqueness and its core values that make the brand. What changes is the type of situation, and thus the way in which this uniqueness and values are communicated. For instance, it is not the same to thank a client and welcome them to our brand than to give an error message on an online form. The tone with which the brand communicates is different according to what is right for each interaction.

How do you know which language and which style to use in each situation?

We have developed a style guide. This is quite innovative and different, but we felt we needed it because we believe that it is good for our brand to be outspoken and recognizable. This means making choices, as we know by experience that the more candid the brand is the stronger the quality of the interaction and potentially of the relationships we develop. Just like people, brands are loved for being themselves. In order to aid that process across our organization the style guide general clear guidelines aligned with the core values of the brand and specific guidelines which are dependent on the type of interaction. So for example, one of our core values is ‘decisiveness’, this means that our language is very assertive, clear and to the point. Specifically, when we communicate to pregnant women, we will add a layer of joyfulness to the style of our communication. This is because it is a happy moment in women’s lives, and you can be candid and direct while also being positive.

What would you like to share with our creative community?

Well, for us language is the first step. I personally believe that language is a part of design. The further design process for us still has to take shape, I would love the talk to be interactive and to hear back from the crowd, what inspires them about the way we present our brand and what opportunities they see for visual communication, interactive experience and further content management.

Oh yes, one more thing: I will be presenting in Dutch! Speaking in one’s mother tongue is just so much richer, it allows us to bring in the nuances, the emotion and the details into our story. I thought it was appropriate, given the theme, to make a statement!