Businesses told to focus on brand voice as consumers reject regional accents such as ‘Scouse’ and ‘Brummie’

New study shows growing importance of voice branding for business sales and customer service

• How your brand ‘sounds’ is now as important as how your brand ‘looks’, research reveals
• 56% of Britons will listen to a special offer or promotion if they find a voice appealing
• Consumers find Queen’s English and Scottish accents most pleasing to the ear
• Geordie accent is third most popular accent; attributed to ‘Cheryl Cole factor’
• Only 8% of women believe female voices inspire confidence when calling a company with a complaint

London, 24th November 2009 - Nuance Communications, Inc. a leading provider of speech solutions, today announced that the way a brand or business ‘sounds’ could be as important as how it ‘looks’, according to new research into voice branding. With 56% of Britons stating that they are more inclined to listen to a special offer or promotion if it came from a voice that they find appealing, businesses cannot afford to ignore the growing importance of voice within promotion and customer service.

The research, conducted by YouGov, reveals that over 50% of British consumers find a ‘Queen’s English’ accent to be appealing when speaking with someone in a call centre. A Scottish accent remains popular, coming in as the second most pleasing accent to listen to, (with 34% of consumers finding it appealing), whilst a North East, ‘Geordie’ accent is third most popular with 26% of consumers finding it appealing. The least popular regional accents are from Liverpool, ‘Scouse’, and Birmingham, ‘Brummie’.

Leading brand expert, James Hammond, believes this may be explained by the power of celebrity. “With personalities such as Cheryl Cole and Ant and Dec dominating the media, it’s no surprise consumers have become familiar with the Geordie accent and currently favour it above more traditionally perceived call centre accents.”

Ian Turner, Northern European General Manager at Nuance Communications, said: “It is human nature to react differently to varying types of voices, based on accent, gender and tone. What this survey highlights is exactly how important it is for businesses to recognise the impact that brand has at every customer touch point. Some of the world’s biggest companies invest millions of pounds each year ensuring that the way their brands ‘look’ and ‘feel’ reflect the values and beliefs of the brand. Yet very few organisations actually think about how their brand ‘speaks’, despite the fact that the vast majority of customer service communication and advertising is based on listening.”

Whilst many organisations continue to pursue a strategy of off-shoring customer call centres in the belief that this approach is most cost effective, today’s research reveals that around two-thirds (65%) of Britons find non-British accents hard to understand. Amongst those over 55 years of age, this figure rises further, to 70% of people. In addition, although consumers are on the whole still favourable towards the Scottish accent, 31% of people find it the most difficult accent to understand after non-UK accents. Illustrating the potential direct impact of voice branding on sales, over half of respondents (56%) would be inclined to listen to a special offer or promotion if it came from a voice they found appealing.

Sara Mendes da Costa, the current voice of the BT Speaking Clock, understands the power of a recognisable voice. “The way a brand sounds really has the power to impact upon how the public perceives a business and its offering. Not only must the sound of the brand be consistent with the image which the customer may already have bought into, it must offer the appeal to encourage customers to engage with it. This survey provides a fascinating insight into consumer preferences when it comes to voice and certainly opens up areas for consideration for businesses finding the right voice for their brand.”

When deciding how a brand will sound, there are many factors for consideration. For example, gender is vitally important. The survey shows that only 8% of women believe a female voice inspires confidence when calling customer service with a complaint. In fact, men have more confidence in women’s voices than women themselves (15%).

Top Accents for Business Voice Branding

1. Queen's English (52% of consumers rated this accent within their 5 favourites)
2. Scottish (34%)
3. North East - 'Geordie' (26%)
4. Yorkshire (24%)
5. Welsh (19%)

Least Favourable Accents for Business Voice Branding

1. Liverpool/ Scouse (9%)
2. Birmingham/ Midlands (9%)
3. West Country (10%)
4. Cockney (10%)
5. North West/ Manchester (15%)

“In addition to offering an interesting insight into consumer reactions to different voices and accents, this research highlights a real business opportunity to those savvy enough to realize the importance of voice in portraying a brand in a call centre”, explains Ian Turner. “Businesses cannot afford to let the sound of their brand fall by the wayside as this can impact hugely on the public perception of a business. CEOs must take this factor into consideration if they are to successfully integrate the sense of their brand across their customer facing offerings.”

Turner continues, “Speech technology has now reached a level of sophistication where it can deliver massive improvements in customer service satisfaction and associated benefits in terms of brand reputation and loyalty.”

Nuance helps businesses such as British Airways, BT, Virgin, Vodafone, Orange, Premier Inn and Lloyds find the right voice for their business, for call centre and customer service purposes; a voice which supports their core brand values and beliefs. Nuance has the world’s largest speech data library and speech technology in more 50 languages and dialects.”

About Nuance Communications, Inc.

Nuance is a leading provider of speech, imaging and customer interaction solutions for businesses and consumers around the world. Its technologies, applications and services make the user experience more compelling by transforming the way people interact with information and how they create, share and use documents. Every day, millions of users and thousands of businesses experience Nuance's proven applications. For more information, please visit www.nuance.com.

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