LANGUAGE
Manto
Brand Guidelines
Language
Introduction
Personality
Traits & Tone
Our Beliefs
Our Behaviors
Using the Voice
Glossary
Writing 101
Guidelines
Our brand voice isn’t just a set of rules. It’s the way we bring our personality to life.
A helpful way to think about our voice is to imagine the commissioner. They’re an individual with their own personality that comes through whenever they speak, write, or text, and it’s that personality that inspires their community to participate in the game.
That’s how the Manto voice works, too. We’re a community figure, and our choice of words is the foundation of how we create relationships with our users.
Personality
With a hat tip to Carl Jung, the Swiss psychologist who developed a handy set of personality archetypes, Manto is the everyperson — salt of the earth, motivated by connection and belonging.
Think of this person as a small-town dad who coaches a local rec league, manning the grill at the post-game barbecue. He’s satisfied by simple things like togetherness and team spirit. People know they can depend on him to show up for them when they need it, and just for a good old hang, so they’re never afraid to call to see what he’s up to.
When you’re using the brand voice, become this person. Think about how they would interact with their friends and family, with guests, with their heroes. That’s your filter when you speak as Manto.
Traits & Tone
Like any complete character, Manto has clear and recognizable personality traits.
Spirited
We’re enthused at baseline, and competition gets us going. Stoke the stoke!
Encouraging
Everyone deserves the joy we get from a good game, and we’re happy to do whatever we can to bring people in.
Upstanding
A love of rules extendeds from our love of games. For us, it’s not a real win without principle.
STRAIGHTFORWARD
We like to make sure everyone’s on the same page and no one is excluded, so we stay simple and communicate what we mean.
CASUAL
If we have a happy place, it’s in the backyard. Our tone with users should feel like we’re kicking back with a beer in hand.
Our Beliefs
These principles stem from our personality traits to guide everything we do as a company.
Play creates common ground
Everyone belongs
Community is easier to build with the right tools
Accountability builds trust
Professionalism enables play
Our Behaviors
Our principles inform our actions. Here’s how our beliefs come to life.
We put play in the hands of groups, not the house
We invite everyone to participate on their own terms
We give organizers the tools they need to engage their communities around games
We protect users’ safety by properly handling their information and their money
We make sure everyone on Manto knows and plays by the rules, including us
Using the Voice
Here’s how to put our personality into practice through our voice.
walk in their shoes
Before you speak, put yourself in the commissioner’s shoes. What has their day been like? Their last five minutes? Why are they here at this moment? When you understand where the user is coming from, you can meet them where they are — and that’s what keeps them coming back
OUR USERS ARE OUR FRIENDS
Feel free to be chummy, say “you,” and make references to yourself and your sports/teams of choice. Puns are encouraged, and playful ribbing is in the spirit of the game.
NOSTALGIA IS A POWERFUL TOOL
Most sports fans appreciate the occasional deep-cut reference to a player or team. Feel free to sprinkle those in — if you know, you know.
ALL PLAY IS CREATED EQUAL
Don’t diss rugby because it’s not football, or women’s basketball because it’s not men’s. Come one, come all.
NO ONE SHOULD KNOW HOW WE VOTED
We’ve got loud opinions on picks, not politics. Keep it casual, and focused on the service we provide.
Glossary
Here’s how to put our personality into practice through our voice
Make a Manto
Overarching CTA to use Manto. We also use this ourselves in reference to changing the game of sports betting.
Diving board
Dashboard
jump in
Overarching term CTA language for all Manto community members to get active by hosting or joining a meet.
jump in
Overarching term CTA language for all Manto community members to get active by hosting or joining a meet.
Contest
Pool*
*Legally, we can’t say “pool” — in some states, a pool is considered a game of skill, and in others, it’s considered gambling. We use “contest” to stay clear of these mixed regulations.
Manto INC.
Manto, Inc. is the name of our parent company that owns Manto, Run Your Pool, and Office Football Pool. Never refer to the parent company as “Manto Sports.”
Manto Sports
is our platform where communities play for real money. When speaking about Manto Sports, use the full name on the first go around when additional context is needed, with subsequent usage shortened to Manto for brevity. Just never refer to the platform as “Manto, Inc.”
Writing 101
KEEP IT SIMPLE
Keep all copy between a 6th- and 9th-grade reading level (the Hemingway App can tell you what that is). Easy word choices over technical jargon, always.
CHECK FOR REPEATS
It’s easy to fall into a repetitive pattern when you’re in the zone. ⌘+F yourself. If you see multiple highlights in the same paragraph, bring it down to one.
BE POSITIVE
More could, should, would, and less couldn’t, shouldn’t, wouldn’t. Say what you mean.
READ IT ALOUD
This is a great way to both catch typos and see if your clever alliteration pairing causes you to stumble.
SKIP THE ADVERBS
Seriously.
READ IT AGAIN
Still like it? Ship it.
USE ACTIVE VOICE
We’re active folks! Think, “we kicked off the contest,” not “the contest was kicked off.
Guidelines
AP STYLE
Use it!
Abbreviations
If the abbreviation or acronym is universally known to our audience, like NCAA, go ahead and use it. Otherwise, spell it out the first time you use it. Subsequent mentions should use the abbreviation.
Example
First use: National Junior College Athletic Association
Second use: NJCAA
Capitalization
We want our copy to feel conversational, so use sentence casing across the board, including headlines. Always capitalize our full brand names and their abbreviated versions.
Example
Manto
Keep email addresses and URLs lower-case.
Example
hello@mantosports.com
CONTRACTIONS
Contractions keep it casual, so we’re into them. Just don’t over-use.
EMOJIS
We let our words do the talking. Emojis can be used sparingly on informal platforms like social and email. Don’t string more than three in a row, and only use them where they’re necessary to add hype. Please keep it tasteful (no innuendos, peach, eggplant, etc.).
Swearing
Don’t.*
*Damn and hell are okay, but use sparingly. And a good “heck” goes a long way.
MONEY
Use the dollar sign before any amount, and skip the change (if you can).
Example
You won The Open — login and collect that $3,000!
NUMBERS
Spell out numbers one through nine, and use numerals for numbers 10 and up. Numbers over three digits get commas. When you have limited space, you can approximate and abbreviate.
Example
Manto users have won a total of over $500mm since we launched.
PRONOUNS
We use they / them as our default when referring to other people, even if we’re talking about just one person. If we know our subject’s preferred pronouns (eg: she / her / hers), we use them.
PUNCTUATION
We punctuate our headlines, avoid semicolons, and use the Oxford comma (sentences and lists should include a final comma before the “and” — just like in this sentence). Include punctuation marks in quotes that end a sentence, but keep them out of parentheticals. Use punctuation to keep messaging easy to understand.
For bulleted lists, we include a period for each listed item.
Example
- Item one.
- Item two.
- Item three.
EXCLAMATION POINT
We use exclamation points sparingly, and usually to generate excitement. Did something exceed expectations (e.g., a huge win)? Then be excited! But keep it to one or two exclamation points per page.
Schools
Treat these like we treat abbreviations. Use the full name on first mention, then defaulting to the abbreviation on subsequent use.
TIME
Use numerals and am or pm, without space between them. Use noon over 12pm.
Example
11am
12:30pm
11am – 12:30pm
Time zones can be abbreviated to two letters, taking daylight and standard out of the equation.
Example
Eastern time: ET
Central time: CT
Mountain time: MT
Pacific time: PT
URLS
Skip the http:// and the www — mantosports.com is just fine. URLs should always be all lowercase unless they begin a sentence (try to avoid that).
Don’ts
DON’T USE POOL
Legally, we can’t say “pool” — in some states, it’s considered a game of skill, and in others, it’s considered gambling. We use “contest” to stay clear of these mixed regulations.
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LOGO
For any questions about using these guidelines, please contact:
ASSET LIBRARY
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