Human to Human : H2H by Bryan Kramer is like a shot of comms realism.

Human to Human : H2H by Bryan Kramer is like a shot of comms realism.

When creating Bound to Prosper, one of our aims is to help brands be more human and we came across this book that takes a totally real and human view of how brands communicate. For anyone wanting to reassess their brand voice and what it actually sounds like to customers - this is a must read. 

H2H is a book you can read in a day. Although written in 2014 when the age of social media was gathering pace, the know-how and advice that Bryan Kramer shares is just as relevant to comms now and gives a marvellous basis for brands to check how they are doing with their tone of voice and ways they communicate with people.

Bryan urges brands to hero the human side of comms, ‘in all its imperfection, empathy and simplicity’ - something most brands in the last few years of the pandemic have had to adopt, adapt and embrace to stay relevant to their customers. 

Through the book there are valuable case studies of brands doing well (and not doing so well) when developing their human tone of voice and I particularly enjoyed the part that talked through the ‘four secrets to making crowd-worthy ideas’. 

The number one secret is ‘use a universally simple human concept - make a wish come true, delight your customers or prove a point’. Simple yet effective advice to mould an approach - I'll leave you to grab a copy of the book to find out secrets 2-4. 

One of my favourite pieces of advice in the book is the one about 'context' - we often forget as comms professionals about the context that someone is in when they consume our content, whether that is social, digital PR or digital marketing - if that person isn’t in the right context to listen or watch, what we share won’t work for them. So it’s not just about the message, it’s also about what that person is experiencing at that time. 

This book is really a manifesto to how businesses can be more human and is priceless in helping brands consider how they build brand love - it's well worth the read!  

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