thes all over the floor. A discarded vape pod. I left as soon as I could. Now, this isn’t really about Kmart. But it did get me thinking that most fitting rooms I’ve been in, no matter the retailer, feel exactly the same. A sort of brand-free zone. A personality vacuum, if you will. A place where your carefully crafted tone of voice tries absolutely nothing on. You’ve spent how much on brand voice, and then when it really matters… silence? Retailers pour serious time and money into creating distinctive brand voices. Then they put them to work all over the website, their email newsletters, those little clothing tags, the window signage, their socials, even the receipts. But when a customer who has been seduced by all of these nice words walks into the fitting room, the brand voice goes poooooof and disappears. That is weird to me. Surely a fitting room is the most high-stakes moment in the entire clothes-buying journey? A place where the customer is closest to ‘yes’ and also to ‘no’. So, it’s kind of baffling that brand voice isn’t right there with them, making a positive sales-focused impact. Two brands that get it Urban Outfitters is the most interesting example I’ve come across, and the brand hasn’t really even done anything. Urban Outfitters essentially provide a canvas, and the people who shop there do the rest. Notes. Tags. Drawings. Scraps of handwriting. Body-positive messages. Inspirational quotes. “Call 555-55-555 for a good time”. Reactions to the clothes. Offhand social commentary. It’s messy. It’s raw. It’s unpolished. But it’s also an example of a truly authentic brand voice moment – one you probably couldn’t ever write yourself. Why? Because the brand isn’t talking at its customers. The customers are talking to each other. And to the brand’s credit, Urban Outfitters just rolls with it. To be honest, it’d be daft not to. Reformation takes a different approach. Their fitting rooms are super high-tech. They let you control the entire experience through the touch of a button. You can choose the clothes from an interactive menu, have different sizes delivered, even play your own tunes. It’s pretty amazing. Not very brand voice related, though, I hear you say, but then you read the lighting menu by the door. “Find your light. Plug in your music, and let your mirror face run wild.” The choices of lighting? “Cool”, “Golden”, “Sexy time”. That right there tells you everything you need to know about the brand and the vibe they’re trying to bring. I am absolutely here for it. So, what’s the point? Well. What both of these examples have in common is that they’re a brilliant reflection of the character these brands have worked so hard to build, and the places they choose to let it shine. They’re original. They’re different. They’re memorable. They add a little something extra to the experience. And, hopefully, they prove my point that a good brand voice shouldn’t take a break when the customer walks off the shop floor. In fact, unlike your sales staff, it should actually follow them everywhere. Go check your fitting rooms Seriously. Get in there. Check the walls. The door. The mirror. Then ask yourself one question. Does this room sound like us? If the silence is deafening, it might be time to get writing. Nicholas Ryan is an associate director at brand language agency XXVI, part of the Principals Group. Further reading: How merchandising and marketing led Urban Outfitters to a successful Q3