GRAY LINE BRAND
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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 
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. ​

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) 

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  • How-To
  • REQUIREMENTS
    • Vehicles
    • Health & Safety
    • The Logo
    • The Tagline
    • The Color
    • The Font
  • COVID-19 Messaging
  • Best Practices
    • COVID-19 Health & Safety
    • Gray Line Examples >
      • Vehicles
      • Diamond Design Layer
      • Business Cards
      • Brochures
      • Staff Uniforms
    • Co-Branded Examples >
      • Business Cards
      • Vehicles
    • SOCIAL MEDIA
  • Vehicle Examples