SECTION 2.3
communication style guide
Guide of how to speak and write in The Gray Line Brand language. This includes tone, vocabulary and grammar rules.
OUR COMMUNICATION STYLE
Our voice is...
Trusted, yet fun
We are a 110-year-old, storied sightseeing organization, but we never grew old or tired. We use our veteran credibility and warm, inclusive invitation to reach the consumer.
Succinct, yet useful
We communicate thoughtfully, quickly and meaningfully with people.
Editorial, yet factual
We understand sightseeing, for many, is a dream come true. We understand the line between inspiration and education.
Sharing, and listening
We understand the consumer because we don’t just share, we listen, too. That’s good because today’s consumer wants to be heard.
Symbiosis-oriented, and demanding high quality
We are the experts in our field, but our travelers are the decision makers. Gray Line Worldwide and licensee partners collaborate to raise the Gray Line bar globally.
Our voice is not...
Academic
Obtuse
Carefree
Egotistical
Inaccurate
Pushy
Rigid
Robotic
Salesy
Snappy
Technical
Trusted, yet fun
We are a 110-year-old, storied sightseeing organization, but we never grew old or tired. We use our veteran credibility and warm, inclusive invitation to reach the consumer.
Succinct, yet useful
We communicate thoughtfully, quickly and meaningfully with people.
Editorial, yet factual
We understand sightseeing, for many, is a dream come true. We understand the line between inspiration and education.
Sharing, and listening
We understand the consumer because we don’t just share, we listen, too. That’s good because today’s consumer wants to be heard.
Symbiosis-oriented, and demanding high quality
We are the experts in our field, but our travelers are the decision makers. Gray Line Worldwide and licensee partners collaborate to raise the Gray Line bar globally.
Our voice is not...
Academic
Obtuse
Carefree
Egotistical
Inaccurate
Pushy
Rigid
Robotic
Salesy
Snappy
Technical
Company thesaurus
Below, you’ll find a helpful list of words to use when writing about Gray Line that effectively communicate our company brand. This list is by no means all-inclusive, it is meant to be provide you with examples so that you may better understand how to position the work you’re doing in a cohesive, consistent way.
Words we use:
Adjectives
Active Compelling Deep Agile Clean Effective Balanced Clear Efficient Beautiful Crisp Energizing Collaborative Customized Enhancing Essential Flexible Holistic Innovative Integrated Intuitive Optimal Personalized Thoughtful Versatile
Verbs
Accomplish Collaborate Enable Achieve Communicate Energize Activate Connect Engage Advance Create Enhance Build Cultivate Exceed Challenge Design Focus Change Empower Fuel Go Improve Innovative Launch Maintain Maximize Move Optimize Plan Research Simplify Solve Study Transform
Nouns
Access Customer Function Action Drive Ingenuity Community Environment Interaction Knowledge Opportunity People Possibility Power Purpose
Words We Don’t Use:
Cute Fantastic Provocative Cool Glamorous Radical Disruptive Hip Sexy Exclusive Luxe Sleek Slick Stylish Sweet Trendy Whimsical
Grammar and punctuation FOR EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION
Abbreviations
Do not abbreviate:
Days or months (i.e. Tuesday not Tues, February not Feb)
State names
Acronyms
Spell out acronyms when using them for the first time, then you are free to abbreviate.
Example: “When measuring the Return on Investment (ROI) for a client, you must consider several factors. [...] Generating high ROI can be achieved in several ways.”
Ampersands
Do not use ampersands (“&”) unless an ampersand is part of a title.
Do: “Let’s review the report on Johnson & Johnson.”
Don’t: Messaging & rollout.
Don’t: “I do not like green eggs & ham.”
Capitalization
Use sentence case, only capitalizing proper nouns.
Types of Capitalization
Sentence case is where only the first letter of the sentence is capitalized.
Title Case is Where Each Principle Word is Capitalized.
ALL CAPS (use sparingly)
Do: Messaging and rollout
Don’t: Messaging and Rollout
Composition tiles
Italics: Books, magazines, movies, works of art
“Quotation Marks”: Articles, chapters, specific TV episodes
Currency
Use numerals and the $ sign for U.S. dollars, EUR for Euro amounts, etc.
For amounts of more than $1 million, use up to two decimal places. Do not link the numerals and the word with a hyphen. (i.e. “He is worth $4.35 million.” “He proposed a $300 billion budget.”)
Dates
Dates should be formatted as follows:
June 2016
June 17, 2016
Inclusive language
When appropriate, use “we” and “you.” At times, “Gray Line is....” is the best option, but consider whether “we are” fits the situation.
Numbers
Spell out numbers one through nine; use digits for 10 and above
Use digits for percentages (i.e. 50%)
Spell out fractions (i.e. one-half)
For sequences, use first, second, third, etc., and then digits for 10 and above
Use “more than” or “less than” for comparisons (not “over” or “under”)
Punctation
Oxford Commas (also known as Serial Commas, or the “comma and”)
We use ‘em!
Do: “They went to Oregon with Betty, a nurse, and a cook.”
Don’t: “They went to Oregon with Betty, a nurse and a cook.”
Spacing
Only use one space after a period.
Times
Times should be formatted as follows:
6:00 a.m., noon, midnight
Range (in a sentence): 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Note: Exceptions will be made for media materials that need to strictly follow AP Stylebook.
Below, you’ll find a helpful list of words to use when writing about Gray Line that effectively communicate our company brand. This list is by no means all-inclusive, it is meant to be provide you with examples so that you may better understand how to position the work you’re doing in a cohesive, consistent way.
Words we use:
Adjectives
Active Compelling Deep Agile Clean Effective Balanced Clear Efficient Beautiful Crisp Energizing Collaborative Customized Enhancing Essential Flexible Holistic Innovative Integrated Intuitive Optimal Personalized Thoughtful Versatile
Verbs
Accomplish Collaborate Enable Achieve Communicate Energize Activate Connect Engage Advance Create Enhance Build Cultivate Exceed Challenge Design Focus Change Empower Fuel Go Improve Innovative Launch Maintain Maximize Move Optimize Plan Research Simplify Solve Study Transform
Nouns
Access Customer Function Action Drive Ingenuity Community Environment Interaction Knowledge Opportunity People Possibility Power Purpose
Words We Don’t Use:
Cute Fantastic Provocative Cool Glamorous Radical Disruptive Hip Sexy Exclusive Luxe Sleek Slick Stylish Sweet Trendy Whimsical
Grammar and punctuation FOR EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION
Abbreviations
Do not abbreviate:
Days or months (i.e. Tuesday not Tues, February not Feb)
State names
Acronyms
Spell out acronyms when using them for the first time, then you are free to abbreviate.
Example: “When measuring the Return on Investment (ROI) for a client, you must consider several factors. [...] Generating high ROI can be achieved in several ways.”
Ampersands
Do not use ampersands (“&”) unless an ampersand is part of a title.
Do: “Let’s review the report on Johnson & Johnson.”
Don’t: Messaging & rollout.
Don’t: “I do not like green eggs & ham.”
Capitalization
Use sentence case, only capitalizing proper nouns.
Types of Capitalization
Sentence case is where only the first letter of the sentence is capitalized.
Title Case is Where Each Principle Word is Capitalized.
ALL CAPS (use sparingly)
Do: Messaging and rollout
Don’t: Messaging and Rollout
Composition tiles
Italics: Books, magazines, movies, works of art
“Quotation Marks”: Articles, chapters, specific TV episodes
Currency
Use numerals and the $ sign for U.S. dollars, EUR for Euro amounts, etc.
For amounts of more than $1 million, use up to two decimal places. Do not link the numerals and the word with a hyphen. (i.e. “He is worth $4.35 million.” “He proposed a $300 billion budget.”)
Dates
Dates should be formatted as follows:
June 2016
June 17, 2016
Inclusive language
When appropriate, use “we” and “you.” At times, “Gray Line is....” is the best option, but consider whether “we are” fits the situation.
Numbers
Spell out numbers one through nine; use digits for 10 and above
Use digits for percentages (i.e. 50%)
Spell out fractions (i.e. one-half)
For sequences, use first, second, third, etc., and then digits for 10 and above
Use “more than” or “less than” for comparisons (not “over” or “under”)
Punctation
Oxford Commas (also known as Serial Commas, or the “comma and”)
We use ‘em!
Do: “They went to Oregon with Betty, a nurse, and a cook.”
Don’t: “They went to Oregon with Betty, a nurse and a cook.”
Spacing
Only use one space after a period.
Times
Times should be formatted as follows:
6:00 a.m., noon, midnight
Range (in a sentence): 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Note: Exceptions will be made for media materials that need to strictly follow AP Stylebook.
How to Talk about Gray Line in Conversation
As a general rule, use “Gray Line" in conversation and in writing.
Discussing Gray Line with a new acquaintance? Here’s is a sample conversation:
###
Acquaintance: Hi, nice to meet you. What do you do?
Gray Line: <<CUSTOM>> at Gray Line <<LOCATION>>.
Acquaintance: What’s that?
Gray Line: Gray Line is a global sightseeing network -- we provide sightseeing tours pretty much everywhere.
Acquaintance: Oh, so, like the Eiffel Tower?
Gray Line: Yes, the Eiffel Tower, and thousands of other sightseeing tours in 600 locations.
Acquaintance: What kinds of tours?
Gray Line: It depends on the location, but generally, Gray Line offers hop-on, hop-off tours, daytrips and all sorts of attraction-specific sightseeing.
Acquaintance: How do people book tours?
Gray Line: Most often, people book tours on Grayline.com, but they can also walk up to a ticket window once in the destination.
Acquaintance: Are the tours expensive?
Gray Line: Gray Line sightseeing tours are the best way to see a destination - and prices range based on budget and interest.
Acquaintance: Who takes Gray Line tours?
Gray Line: The great thing about Gray Line is that, after founding modern-day sightseeing 110 years ago, there really isn’t an age group or regionality for customers. We find our guests are most similar when it comes to their behavior and mindset -- they have a love for travel, for understanding, for adventure.
Acquaintance: Do you like working there?
Gray Line: <<CUSTOM>>. Check us out next time you’re in <<HOMETOWN>>.
WHAT WE DO
Sightseeing
Local-market experience
Data strategy
Platform Development
Licensee Network
“Impacts we create”
Improving Gray Line recognition globally
Elevating experiences through shared guidelines
Creating one online experience for loyal and future customers
Syndicating sightseeing inventory through partnerships
Reducing licensee technology costs
Boosting revenue through simplified on-boarding system (VOUCH)
As a general rule, use “Gray Line" in conversation and in writing.
Discussing Gray Line with a new acquaintance? Here’s is a sample conversation:
###
Acquaintance: Hi, nice to meet you. What do you do?
Gray Line: <<CUSTOM>> at Gray Line <<LOCATION>>.
Acquaintance: What’s that?
Gray Line: Gray Line is a global sightseeing network -- we provide sightseeing tours pretty much everywhere.
Acquaintance: Oh, so, like the Eiffel Tower?
Gray Line: Yes, the Eiffel Tower, and thousands of other sightseeing tours in 600 locations.
Acquaintance: What kinds of tours?
Gray Line: It depends on the location, but generally, Gray Line offers hop-on, hop-off tours, daytrips and all sorts of attraction-specific sightseeing.
Acquaintance: How do people book tours?
Gray Line: Most often, people book tours on Grayline.com, but they can also walk up to a ticket window once in the destination.
Acquaintance: Are the tours expensive?
Gray Line: Gray Line sightseeing tours are the best way to see a destination - and prices range based on budget and interest.
Acquaintance: Who takes Gray Line tours?
Gray Line: The great thing about Gray Line is that, after founding modern-day sightseeing 110 years ago, there really isn’t an age group or regionality for customers. We find our guests are most similar when it comes to their behavior and mindset -- they have a love for travel, for understanding, for adventure.
Acquaintance: Do you like working there?
Gray Line: <<CUSTOM>>. Check us out next time you’re in <<HOMETOWN>>.
WHAT WE DO
Sightseeing
Local-market experience
Data strategy
Platform Development
Licensee Network
“Impacts we create”
Improving Gray Line recognition globally
Elevating experiences through shared guidelines
Creating one online experience for loyal and future customers
Syndicating sightseeing inventory through partnerships
Reducing licensee technology costs
Boosting revenue through simplified on-boarding system (VOUCH)