app/content/marketing/brand-voice-guide.md

title, status, version, last_updated, description

title	status	version	last_updated	description
CartSnitch Brand Voice Guide	draft	1.0	2026-03-18	CartSnitch tone, personality, key phrases, and do/don't examples for all public-facing content.

CartSnitch Brand Voice Guide

Who We Are

CartSnitch is a consumer advocacy tool that tracks grocery prices, detects shrinkflation, and fights price gouging. We exist because the grocery industry has better data about your spending than you do — and we're here to fix that.

Tagline: Your grocery bill shouldn't be a mystery.

Brand Personality

CartSnitch is the sharp, data-savvy friend who actually reads the fine print on your grocery receipt and says, "Did you know you're paying 15% more per ounce for that cereal?" We're not preachy. We're not angry. We're the person at the barbecue who drops a fact that makes everyone pull out their phone to check.

Three words that define us:

1. Informed — We lead with data, not opinions. Every claim is backed by numbers.
2. Direct — We don't hedge or bury the lead. If a brand shrunk its product, we say so.
3. Slightly irreverent — We take the problem seriously, but not ourselves. A little personality goes a long way when talking about toilet paper shrinkage.

Voice Principles

1. Data is the story

Never publish a claim without a number to back it. The data is what makes us credible and shareable. Opinions are cheap — data is what people screenshot and send to their group chat.

Do: "Cheerios went from 15 oz to 13.5 oz. Same box. Same price. That's an 10% hidden price increase." Don't: "Companies are ripping you off with sneaky packaging tricks!"

2. Respect the reader's intelligence

Our audience is smart. They already suspect something's off with their grocery bill — they just don't have the tools to prove it. Don't explain basic concepts. Don't over-simplify. Give them the data and let them draw conclusions.

Do: "The average family spends $14,000/year on groceries. Even a 5% optimization saves $700." Don't: "Did you know groceries are really expensive? It's true! And prices keep going up!"

3. Be specific, not dramatic

Specifics are more powerful than superlatives. "Eggs went up 70% in 2023" hits harder than "egg prices skyrocketed to unprecedented levels." The data speaks for itself — don't add theatrical adjectives.

Do: "This bag of Doritos was 9.25 oz in 2022. It's 9 oz today. Same price." Don't: "In a SHOCKING move, snack companies are SECRETLY shrinking your favorite chips!"

4. Consumer-first, always

Every piece of content should help someone save money or understand what's happening to their grocery bill. If a post doesn't serve the consumer, it doesn't go out.

Do: "Here's what we found when we compared the same 10 items at Walmart, Kroger, and Target." Don't: "CartSnitch uses advanced machine learning to analyze price fluctuations across retail channels."

5. No fear-mongering

We are not a doom-and-gloom brand. The grocery landscape is frustrating, but we're here to give people power, not anxiety. Frame everything around what people can do with the information.

Do: "Knowing when prices drop could save your family $100/month. Here's how to set alerts." Don't: "You're hemorrhaging money every time you walk into a grocery store and you don't even know it."

Tone Spectrum

Context	Tone	Example
Blog posts	Informative, conversational	"You know the feeling. The total pops up and it's... more than you expected. Again."
Social media	Punchy, data-forward	"Same bag. Same price. 2 fewer ounces. Doritos, we see you."
Email	Warm, direct	"Hey there — we tracked your grocery prices this week. Good news: chicken is down 12%."
Press/PR	Professional, data-driven	"CartSnitch analysis of 10,000+ products across 12 retail chains reveals..."
Error/UI messages	Friendly, brief	"We hit a snag connecting to your Meijer account. Let's try again."

Key Phrases We Use

• "Your grocery bill shouldn't be a mystery"
• "The data behind your receipt"
• "Same price, less product"
• "Price transparency for real people"
• "Track. Compare. Save."
• "We do the math so you don't have to"

Phrases We Avoid

• "Big Grocery" or conspiracy framing
• "They don't want you to know" (paranoid tone)
• "Shocking" / "unbelievable" / "jaw-dropping" (clickbait superlatives)
• "Hack" / "trick" / "secret" (we're not a lifehack site)
• Technical jargon: API, ML, algorithm, data pipeline, SKU (in consumer-facing content)
• "Disrupting" / "revolutionizing" (startup clichés)

Grammar and Style

• Numbers: Use numerals for all numbers in data-driven content (e.g., "5 products" not "five products")
• Percentages: Always use % symbol with numeral (e.g., "12%" not "twelve percent")
• Currency: Dollar sign, two decimals for exact prices ($4.89), no decimals for rounded ($14,000/year)
• Brand names: Always capitalize correctly (e.g., "Meijer" not "meijer", "Kroger" not "kroger")
• CartSnitch: Always one word, capital C and S. Never "Cart Snitch" or "Cartsnitch" or "cartsnitch"
• Contractions: Yes. We're conversational. Use "you're," "we're," "don't," "can't."
• Oxford comma: Yes, always.
• Em dashes: Use for emphasis and asides — they add personality.
• Active voice: Always. "We tracked 10,000 products" not "10,000 products were tracked."

Channel-Specific Guidelines

Blog

• 800-1,500 words
• Lead with the most interesting data point
• Include at least 3 specific, sourced data points per post
• End with a clear CTA (signup, share, or read more)
• Conversational but well-structured with clear headers

Twitter/X

• Lead with the data, not the setup
• Use line breaks for readability
• Threads for deep dives, single tweets for spotlights
• Always include the source or a link

Reddit

• Match the subreddit tone — don't sound like a brand
• Lead with value, not promotion
• Never hard-sell. Let the data speak.
• Engage in comments authentically

Email

• Subject lines: specific benefit or data point, under 50 characters
• Keep body scannable — short paragraphs, bullet points
• One primary CTA per email
• Personal tone — write like it's from a person, not a company