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Marketing Academy · Field Work●Brand Strategy
All projects·From: Building a Brand Book
CoreBuild the Asset· 50 minutes

Building the Verbal Identity Layer of a Brand Book from Scratch

Nubank (Nu Holdings)

Objective: Write a complete, usable Layer 2 (Verbal Identity) section for a real company, including a tone description, a vocabulary list, and two before-and-after rewrite pairs.

You're a freelance brand consultant hired by Nubank's regional marketing team to draft the verbal identity section their in-house brand book is missing.

Produce a one-page Layer 2 section a copywriter could use immediately, not a mood board.

Before you start

What you'll need

Free path (everything below is enough to finish)

Google Docs
FreeDraft and format the verbal identity section

Free, shareable, comment-friendly for stakeholder review

Paid upgrades (optional, faster/deeper)

Canva(optional)
FreemiumLay the finished section out as a shareable one-pager

Turns the draft into a distributable, on-brand-looking document

The process

2 steps

Step 01 of 02

Layer 2: Verbal Identity

Layer 2 needs a named tone (formal vs casual, warm vs authoritative), a vocabulary list of words to use and avoid, and grammar preferences.

Nubank positions itself as simplifying banking for people locked out of traditional banks. What tone words and vocabulary choices reflect that, and which words undercut it?

Google Docs— Draft the tone and vocabulary block in a new Google Doc, referencing Nubank's public positioning as a plain-language digital bank.

Procedure

  1. Write a 2-3 word tone description (e.g. 'warm, direct, never condescending')
  2. List 6 words the brand should use ('clear', 'yours', 'simple')
  3. List 6 words the brand should avoid ('leverage', 'synergy', 'utilize', jargon that implies the reader needs a finance degree)
  4. Write one sentence explaining why the avoid-list words undercut the positioning
Sample output
TONE: Warm, direct, never condescending

USE: clear, yours, simple, together, real, straightforward
AVOID: leverage, utilize, synergy, robust, ecosystem, bespoke

WHY: A bank positioned as 'banking without the bank jargon' loses credibility the moment it uses the jargon it claims to remove.

Healthy

A vocabulary list a copywriter can literally check sentences against before publishing.

Unhealthy

A tone description like 'friendly and professional' with no word-level guidance, which every brand book already claims and no one can act on.

What this means

Tone words alone are not a rule; the vocabulary list is what actually gets enforced.

So what do I do about it?

SymptomActionEffort
Copy across channels uses inconsistent jargon levelsRequire every published piece to be checked against the avoid-list before it ships5 min
YouYou can do this yourself, no engineering access required.

Step 02 of 02

Layer 4: Usage Rules

Layer 4 shows correct and incorrect applications side by side; for verbal identity, that means before-and-after sentence rewrites, not abstract description.

Given the off-brand sentence 'Our platform leverages a robust ecosystem of financial tools to optimize your banking experience,' how would you rewrite it on-brand?

Google Docs— Add a before/after table to the same draft document, directly under the vocabulary list.

Procedure

  1. Copy the off-brand sentence into the 'before' column
  2. Rewrite it using only words from the approved vocabulary list
  3. Write a second before/after pair using a different example (a fee-disclosure sentence)
  4. Label both pairs clearly as 'Before (off-brand)' and 'After (on-brand)'
Sample output
BEFORE (off-brand): 'Our platform leverages a robust ecosystem of financial tools to optimize your banking experience.'
AFTER (on-brand): 'Everything you need to manage your money, in one simple app.'

BEFORE: 'Utilize our fee-free transactional infrastructure.'
AFTER: 'No hidden fees. Ever.'

Healthy

Two rewrite pairs a copywriter can hold next to their own draft and immediately see the difference.

Unhealthy

A single vague instruction like 'write more simply' with no worked example, which restates the tone description without adding anything usable.

What this means

Before/after pairs are what makes Layer 2's abstract tone rule concrete enough for daily use, matching Layer 4's usage-rules pattern.

So what do I do about it?

SymptomActionEffort
Writers keep asking 'what does on-brand actually sound like'Add 2 more before/after pairs per quarter drawn from real published copy30 min
YouYou can do this yourself, no engineering access required.

Final deliverable

A one-page Layer 2 Verbal Identity section: tone description, 6-word use list, 6-word avoid list, and two before/after rewrite pairs.

See a reference example
Sample output
Wise, Verbal Identity excerpt

TONE: Plain, confident, no bank-speak
USE: transparent, real rate, yours, simple
AVOID: competitive rates, world-class, seamless, best-in-class

BEFORE: 'Enjoy seamless, best-in-class currency conversion.'
AFTER: 'See the real exchange rate. No markup.'

Success criteria

You're done when you can:

  • Vocabulary list has at least 6 use words and 6 avoid words specific to the brand's positioning, not generic
  • Both before/after pairs use only approved vocabulary in the 'after' version
  • The deliverable fits on one page