Without context and control, words become everything.

Organizations invest heavily in defining their visual brand identity. They create brand guidelines that dictate -in great detail- the expression of the brand in color, font and imagery.

Then the new guy in accounting makes a Twitter post calling the company a “great little shop.”

Which is fine, unless you are trying to position the company as a serious player on bigger projects. Then a “great little shop” is the opposite of the vocabulary you want used to describe the brand.

 You no longer get to communicate the brand in the context of the brand guidelines. You no longer control the channels used to communicate the brand. You no longer get to pick the brand ambassador. Without context and control, words become everything.

Take as much care standardizing brand vocabulary as you spend on the visual representation of the brand. Establish standards for the words and phrases that are preferred when talking about the company, its customers and the products and services offered. Understand that a word like "boutique" means high-touch to some and expensive to others.

Spend as much time on the words as you do on the fonts.