This is the Business English Podcast, Episode 582.
Is this episode on brand?
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Hello Michelle, how are you?
Hi Aubrey, I am doing well.
How are you?
I am great this fine morning.
It's so nice to be recording with you.
Lindsay will still be here on the podcast.
Of course you'll hear her voice as well, but Michelle and I are excited to have a chance to record together as well.
Exactly.
But I have a question for you, Aubrey.
What is one of your favorite clothing companies?
Sanita Athletics, which is an athletic wear company.
Maybe a little bit similar to Lulu, if you've heard of Lulu.
Extremely comfortable.
Great quality clothing. usually pretty affordable.
I love their athletic clothing.
It's just online only.
Everything I order, I love.
So cute.
Fits great.
I mean, what would you say is on brand for them?
Ooh, high quality for sure is on brand.
Stylish colors, keeping up with the trends.
Phone pockets, they were really big.
They were like one of the first to have a phone pocket in your leggings or in a sports bra in the back.
But also, you know what I love about them?
Their marketing is very body positive and...
All types of bodies.
You know modeling clothing, which I love because we have all types of bodies and we all want athletic clothing.
Exactly.
I love it.
Okay, well, I will have to check them out.
So today we're going to answer a listener question about this term that I mentioned.
The term is on-brand clothing.
Yes, this came from YouTube.
Remember, we have a YouTube channel for Allers English episodes.
Be sure to follow Allers English as well.
And often the questions that are left there about other episodes are perfect for this.
The Business English Podcast.
There are a lot of phrases that we use both in daily life and also at work.
So today we're focusing more how we use this in the business world for something to be on brand.
Love it.
So yeah, the question from Elizabeth.
I can't tell if that's an I or an L. Yeah, Itagoras.
Yes.
Sorry, Elizabeth.
It says, Hi, girls.
Awesome.
Awesome episode.
Can the phrase on brand to be a synonym for just par for the course?
A long time you worked on that expression, but I just realized I'm not sure if both of them are interchangeable.
So yeah, a long time ago.
And this is true, right?
We talked about these expressions on the All Ears English podcast, but this is a great question.
Are they interchangeable?
Are they different?
And also, how do we use them at work?
Yeah.
So really good stuff today.
Thank you, Elizabeth.
So yeah, on brand and par for the course are synonyms.
So they can sometimes be interchangeable, but not always.
So today we're going to talk about what each of these phrases mean and how they're similar and different.
And like Aubrey said, how you can use them at work.
Yes.
Be sure to hit follow, as I mentioned, wherever you listen to podcasts of the Business English podcast, also Allers English, so you never miss any of our episodes.
Exactly.
All right.
So what does on-brand mean, Aubrey?
When I asked you, what does that mean?
Yeah, something that fits a company or a person's identity, style, the way they do things.
Mm hmm.
And and I would say that it kind of sounds casual, but it is appropriate in most business situations
Yes, we will hear it in conversations meetings, about marketing, branding startups.
We talk about something being on brand for our own company.
We talk about another, a client.
What do you feel is on brand for them?
Right, we think about this a lot at work.
Let's do a little role play here.
I'll start us.
How do you like the company's new logo?
Oh, it's very elegant and minimalistic, very on brand for them.
So it's kind of like typical, right?
This is how they operate.
Or here's another one.
How did the CEO respond to the criticism?
He was super calm and collected, completely on brand.
So what behavior we would expect from him?
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
And so a lot of things are off brand, right?
A lot of things would not be on brand.
And everyone is trying to create this very cohesive feeling and also a person, right?
Something that is an important value to us.
That would be on brand for our behavior, something that's expected of us.
So it's about people's values, which is why we talk about it so much.
And it's so important.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So now let's talk about par for the course.
So this is, excuse me, what a big throat clear that was.
Something that's typical and expected of a situation.
This one, it can sound neutral.
It could sound a little negative, but it really just depends on the context and tone.
Yeah, that's very true.
We do hear this in side conversations, internal meetings at work, not usually formal presentations.
For example, we might use it after a small setback. or a problem.
We could do a role play here.
I'll start us.
I feel like we're not making much headway with this client.
Unfortunately, this much negotiation is just par for the course with new clients.
Yeah.
And this is slightly negative, right?
You're saying this is expected.
Maybe it's not great.
Maybe we don't love it.
It's the way it is.
Right.
Right.
Exactly.
Or here's another one explaining how things work to someone new.
So for example, are we always expected to stay late?
No, but long hours at the end of the quarter are par for the course.
Probably a very typical conversation.
I'm sure everyone out there has been in that type of job where you're not always staying late.
It's not always long hours.
But sometimes depending if there's a deadline.
If a project is late every now and then, putting in longer hours is just par for the course.
It's just what's expected.
It's what you have to do.
Gotta do it.
All right.
So the listener asked if these can be synonyms.
And yes, they can.
When they're both referring to expected behaviors.
For example, if I had said, the company avoided discussing the scandal entirely.
Hmm.
Yes well, that's on brand for them.
Or I could say well, that's par for the course and that would be pretty much interchangeable.
But are they always interchangeable?
No, definitely not.
Right.
So example, if I say the company's message was very playful and witty, very on brand for them.
That's about their style.
Mm hmm.
Mm hmm.
But if we say we lost a deal to a bigger client, par for the course.
That's expected, but it's a disappointing situation.
Exactly.
And it would be strange to say the company's message was very playful and witty.
That's par for the course.
That sounds strange.
It sounds like I'm saying it's negative and that's not a negative thing.
Yeah.
So let's talk about some similar phrases.
So the first one is in line with.
So this means something is consistent with a plan or a goal or an expectation.
It's, I think, very professional, but it could be neutral or more formal.
Yes, we hear this in meetings, presentations, emails, maybe when talking about company strategy.
For example, the decision is in line with the company's strategy or the timeline is in line with what we discussed last week.
Or was his behavior in line with the company's code of conduct?
Let's hope.
Yeah.
And next, as expected.
This means something happened exactly as people thought it would, exactly as they expected.
Right, exactly.
This one is direct and simple.
I think it's neutral, but it could be a little negative depending on the context.
You might hear it in business reports or meetings or conversations about data or updates.
So a lot of different ways that you could hear it.
How might it sound, Aubrey?
Yeah, you might say the sales numbers are as expected for this time of year, or as expected.
The client requested revisions.
Slightly negative there, right?
It's a little bit of a dig that this client always asks for revisions.
Yeah.
Or engagement dropped slightly over the holidays as expected.
I admit that I do sometimes use this a little bit negative.
I might say like, as expected, she was late to happy hour.
And that's kind of my slightly lighthearted cheeky way of saying she's always late.
Yeah, right, right.
That's funny.
Yeah.
But this is really good here.
Should we do a role play?
Yeah, let's do it.
We work in sales for an AI software company here.
We are talking about a client who isn't sold on our product.
All right.
Start us out.
Ready?
Okay.
The client seems pretty nervous about using AI in customer service.
That sounds par for the course.
This client is much more old fashioned.
True.
And they really care about keeping that human touch.
Yeah, that's very on brand for them.
So why don't we focus on how AI can help their agents, not replace them?
Exactly.
That's in line with how we usually present it.
Great.
Then let's update the demo to make that clear.
Will do.
Awesome.
Yes.
And this is interesting to this first thing that you said, that sounds par for the course.
We have some options with how we collocate this.
We might say that sounds par for the course.
That is par for the course.
That seems to be par for the course, right?
The verbs we surround it with or use before it are a little bit flexible.
Yeah.
So yeah, that sounds par for the course.
And then he said, yeah, that's very on brand for them.
So it's usual.
It's typical.
Mm-hmm.
It matches what we would expect.
This might specifically be about their company brand, but we use it more flexibly.
We use it metaphorically as well, just to mean like, that's typical of what we would expect.
And then you said that's in line with how we usually present it.
So, in slightly more formal great for business context, just to say that is in line with what we expect, in line with and agreeing right, lined up with what we would usually see.
Yes, exactly.
So guys also head on over to episode 578.
That was this episode is courtesy of Lindsay and Michelle.
So we talked about courtesy of in that episode.
So that's a good one takeaway for today.
Oh my gosh, this is.
This is really useful.
A lot of times you need to talk about what is routine or expected or usual.
Yes, this is kind of trendy new slang, sort of right.
To call something on brand or someone's behavior on brand.
You're probably hearing it on podcasts, TV shows, and you definitely can be using it at work.
It's not too informal for work.
We use it more literally to talk about what actually lines up with a company's brand, with their values.
But we also use it much more informally just to say what's on brand, as far as expected for someone's behavior.
Right, right, right, right.
Yeah, very interesting stuff and very useful for work and out of work.
So guys, definitely give this a try.
All right, Aubrey.
Well, I guess that's it for today.
And we will talk to you next time, guys.
Yeah, awesome.
That was a very on-brand ending for you.
Very on-brand.
That was not an on-brand ending because usually I feel like you make a cute little joke using the...
I know.
Not on brand for me.
I didn't make a joke.
Awesome.
Thanks, guys.
We will see you next time.
All right.
Bye.
And I'll see you next time.
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