Tone of Voice
Tone of Voice
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Global trade is the lifeblood of modern society, shaping economies, connecting cultures, and delivering what people need to live and thrive. Behind every movement is a system built by people, with purpose and care.
Why Tone of Voice Matters
Why Tone of Voice Matters
The tone of voice defines how values are expressed and connections with people are made. It ensures consistency across all communications and strengthens the perception of Hanseatic Global Terminals as a reliable, thoughtful, and forward-thinking brand. A consistent voice helps people recognize and trust the brand. That trust builds stronger relationships with customers, employees, partners, and stakeholders.
Just like the visual identity, the way Hanseatic Global Terminals speaks shapes how people perceive the brand. Clear and consistent language creates familiarity and trust. It helps to stand out in a competitive industry and reinforces the brand promise. That’s why the brand always uses the full name — Hanseatic Global Terminals — in external communication.
The brand identity should not only shape the visual brand experience. To make the brand truly impactful, it must be reflected in everything it does: in the behavior, the services, and the communication. Language is a powerful tool to shape perception. That is why a clear corporate language is defined: to ensure every message is aligned with the brand, consistently reinforcing its presence and reputation in the market.
Every text, especially for external communications, should therefore follow a few basic rules, which derive directly from the brand identity and our role as "safe harbor".
The Brand Identity as Basis for Our Communication Style
The Brand Identity as Basis for Our Communication Style
Key Principles
Key Principles
The communication supports the business goals.
These are the three strategic principles that guide how the brand speaks:
· Build: We aim for excellence and want to be recognized for our high standards.
· Improve: We grow through collaboration and shared success.
· Develop: We seize opportunities and bring ideas to life.
The brand-shaping key word / one word equity: safe
· We use “safe” as part of and outside our claim.
· We use the semantic field around “safe”
The communication tone: intelligently inspiring
· We show our expertise without hard-selling it.
· We inspire and create an optimistic atmosphere.
Brand Values
Brand Values
By communication style, the stylistic devices that the brand communication typically uses are meant. The communication style thus answers the question:
"We care. We move. We deliver." These are – as for the parent company Hapag-Lloyd – the corporate values. They not only guide in delivering services or in behavior with clients and other stakeholders, but they also navigate the communication style.
The brand values shape behavior and voice. They are the foundation of communication:
We care: We listen, understand and put people first.
"We care" expresses the fact that we don't always just talk about ourselves in our communications, but always emphasize the benefits for our respective counterpart: colleague, employee, customer, representative of the authorities, etc. and take the perspective of our partner.
We move: We act with purpose and deliver results.
"We move" expresses our active and results-oriented basic attitude: what is it that our customer expects, what message can we use to express that their benefit, their expectation of Hanseatic Global Terminals is our ultimate focus.
We deliver: We keep our promises and focus on reliability.
"We deliver" stands for the fact that we keep our promises, that we do not over-promise and that we are always reliable partners – to be the safe harbor for all.
The values build on each other. No single value is more important than another; each value supports the next. Together, they help stay focused on the people served and the commitments made. The communication style is characterized by clarity and a dialogue-oriented approach. Clarity makes texts convenient to read, while a touch of creativity adds an element of entertainment.
One Word Equity: “Safe”
One Word Equity: “Safe”
The brand is built around the idea of being a safe harbor. The word “safe” is central to describing services and the role in global trade. It is used in three ways:
Use of "safe" in our claim: The claim “Safe Harbor for All.” is regularly used in communications.
Use of "safe" outside of the claim: The word “safe” is actively used, and the metaphor “safe harbor” may also be selectively employed in communications.
Use of the semantic field around "safe": In addition to the explicit use of the word "safe", semantically related terms and synonyms that implicitly or explicitly convey the idea of "safety" are also used (see illustrative word cloud for inspiration).
Nota bene: The word "safe" is used frequently but also consciously, i.e., only where it truly makes sense or adds value, ensuring it does not ridicule or devalue the brand-shaping keyword.
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