Ethos is one of the three primary elements of brand rhetoric, and without it people might not build respect or appreciation for the authority of your brand. For some brands, especially new companies capitalizing on an emotional or logical appeal, Ethos may not be fully necessary. But long-established companies, or those with a strong track record of success can and do benefit from presenting a healthy level of Ethos in branding.
The Issue with Obnoxious Ethos
Through Ethos, you will convey a sense of authority or power to gain respect for your company’s inherent merits. It’s a good strategy to build trust and loyalty from your customer base, but if you ratchet up the strength of the language too high, you could come off sounding cocky. Some brands, such as ThinkGeek or Axe products, take advantage of a certain level of cockiness to build an authoritative connection—but that’s an unconventional strategy, and won’t work for most brands. If you’re trying to straightforwardly build Ethos through presenting your history, capabilities, and successes, you run the risk of sounding too self-congratulatory, and your audience may wonder why it takes so much effort to establish how successful you really are.
The Subtle Route
So how can a company present a strong Ethos without overdoing it? One of the best keys is to present your company’s authority with subtlety. Don’t make your accomplishments and qualities the focal point of your content, even on a sentence level. Instead, make your commanding presence known from the sidelines. While it may seem like a less powerful presentation at first, it will read with a greater sincerity because you aren’t making it obvious that you’re trying to make yourself look good.
Examine the differences between these two sentences:
1.      ImagiTouch, Inc. has a long, quality history, with a proven track record of producing only the highest caliber touch screen products for over 10 years.
2.      Our touch screen products are our specialty, backed by ImagiTouch, Inc.’s 10 year history.
Even though they’re both conveying ImagiTouch’s company history, sentence one seems a little cocky and oversold, right? With a degree of subtlety, your Ethos-building efforts will eventually be stronger and more successful. If you’re interested in learning more strategies or want to start a brand rhetoric campaign of your own, contact us today!
