How to Create On-Brand Content While Still Sounding Like Yourself

Brand voice, when employed as a strategic business and marketing tool, should enhance your brand’s reputation and build loyalty with your current and prospective customers. Here at Aster Brands, we like to think we know a thing or two about brand voice. After all, we support seven unique brands, each with its own distinct personality and audience. What’s less widely known, though, is how Aster Brands producers weave Aster Brands precast solutions into their own brand voice in ways that genuinely connect with their markets. To explore how that happens, we sat down with a precast marketing expert who truly understands the art of listening to customers and responding with a voice that feels authentic, relevant, and uniquely her own.

Diana Picavet, the Marketing and Communications Director with Gagne & Son Concrete Products, a producer of Rosetta Hardscapes in Maine, creates funny, sarcastic, and clever content–all still strategically aligned to represent Gagne’s brand voice and advertise their precast solutions. But she doesn’t start with the products themselves when creating content, she starts with the company–its people, and its culture.

In this exclusive Q&A, we’ll help you understand how to maintain a unique brand voice while advertising another branded suite of solutions. We’ll also cover marketing and branding resources available to Aster Brands producers for content and brand building, so stick around.

Where On-Brand Content Begins: Brand Voice

Q: Diana, how important is developing and maintaining a brand voice for your content marketing strategies?

A: Hugely important. My background is in broadcast journalism, so I’ve always looked at content through the lens of: “Would I actually stop scrolling for this?” People are curious. People want to laugh. And honestly, people are exhausted by overly corporate content. I try to make our brand voice feel casual, relatable, and human first. If we can make someone smile while still getting the message across? That’s the sweet spot.

Q: You really take a more playful and funny approach to some of your posts. Where do you get your inspiration?

A: Honestly? Real life. Our contractors are funny. Our staff is hilarious. The weather in Maine is ridiculous. Jobsite culture is chaotic in the best way. There’s inspiration everywhere if you’re paying attention. A lot of my content starts as a joke I’d actually make in conversation. I’m willing to poke fun at myself, the industry, and even marketing itself sometimes. That authenticity is what makes people connect with it.

Q: How has this playful and funny approach to content building paid off? Do your followers respond well to and engage with your content?

A: Every marketer wants more engagement numbers and data — of course. But honestly, some of the best feedback happens offline. Contractors mention posts to me in the yard. Staff members bring them up in meetings. Friends screenshot things. Customers reference jokes weeks later. That’s when I know the content is sticking. Social media isn’t always about chasing viral moments. Sometimes it’s just about becoming memorable. But of course, I won’t be mad if you like or comment either.

Q: What recommendations do you have for Aster Brands producers who might need a little help with molding their content as smoothly as they do their precast solutions? You see what I did, there, right, Diana?

A: It has to feel real. You can’t force a brand voice that doesn’t match your company culture or the people behind it. I’m naturally outgoing, sarcastic, curious, and a little sassy — and thankfully, Gagne lets me lean into that instead of trying to sound overly polished all the time. Find the personality of your company first. Then empower people who can naturally bring it to life. People connect with people long before they connect with products.

How to Define a Brand Voice While Still Sounding Original

Q: It can be hard for Aster Brands producers to bring on a new line of solutions that requires separate marketing from their typical products. How did you do this when your team brought on Rosetta?

A: Rosetta has honestly been easy to market because the product speaks for itself. It’s beautiful, recognizable, and contractors already know the name. One thing I’m intentional about is always pairing the Rosetta name with Gagne in our marketing. I want customers to naturally associate the two together. The goal is that when someone hears “Rosetta,” they immediately think of both the product and where to get it.

Q: What are some of the challenges you’ve faced while marketing for Gagne and Rosetta?

A: Honestly, the biggest challenge isn’t marketing Rosetta specifically — it’s balancing attention across all of our product lines. Back to my journalism days - "Am I giving all the candidates equal airtime?" Rosetta has strong brand recognition and contractors actively ask for it, which definitely helps. But we also represent a lot of other great products and divisions, so making sure everything gets visibility is always part of the strategy.

Q: Do you utilize any Aster Brands and or Rosetta marketing resources to help you in your content development?

A: I always try to get to Aster Brands webinars or Rosetta in-person events in our market, and use the producer's secure site weekly, if not more. The Rosetta project support consultants are helpful when we need them, and the Aster Brands marketing team has been easy to work with, answering questions quickly.

Q: Do you try to repurpose and repost Rosetta Hardscape's content to your own channels? How difficult is it to repurpose Rosetta content into something that works for your brand?

A: I try to keep our content feeling as organic as possible. We’ve worked really hard to build a distinct social personality at Gagne, so not every repost naturally fits our voice or aligns with our brand — and that’s okay. Sometimes I’ll adapt or rework content instead of reposting it directly so it feels more authentic to our audience.

Q: What social media platforms do you use? Do you use the same post across platforms, or tailor the content to each channel?

A: We primarily use Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn — but I don’t believe in copying and pasting the exact same post everywhere. The topic might stay the same, but the delivery changes depending on the target audience. LinkedIn gets a more polished version. Instagram might get more humor or sass. Facebook tends to be more community-driven and conversational. People notice when content feels tailored instead of automated.

Q: Do you document your content processes and guidelines? How do you get your team — other marketing personnel, sales folks, etc. — to stick to those processes and guidelines?

A: I think the biggest thing is that our team genuinely understands what marketing is trying to accomplish. They’ve seen the response our content gets, and now they actively want to participate — whether that’s appearing in videos, sending me project photos, reposting content, or helping generate ideas. Once people feel included in the process, marketing stops feeling like “just social media” and starts feeling like part of the company culture.

Q: If you had to pick 2-3 adjectives to describe Gagne & Son marketing, what would they be?

A: I would say: sassy, relatable, memorable. Corporate might say: chaotic… but effective.

Q: If you had to pick 2-3 adjectives to describe your marketing personality, what would they be? Personally, I’d be inquisitive (hah, shocker, right?), concise, and flexible.

A: Relatable, observant, and unapologetically sassy. I pay attention to how real people actually talk — especially contractors and jobsite crews — and I try to make our marketing sound human instead of robotic.

Making on-brand content that truly connects with people takes effort, creativity, and a desire to keep learning. In the precast industry, it’s easy to rely on polished or repetitive messages, but the Aster Brands producers who stand out are those who take the time to understand their audience, try new things with their brand voice, and create content that feels real for both their company and the brands they support.

Diana and the whole Gagne team show what can happen when personality, consistency, and strategy come together. By staying creative and true to their brand voice, they’ve built marketing that people remember and connect with. We appreciate Diana for sharing her insights–a conversation that truly felt more like a happy hour than work for us–and for showing our industry what thoughtful, on-brand marketing looks like in practice.

Content and Branding Resources Available to Aster Brands and Rosetta Hardscapes Producers

As an Aster Brands and specifically Rosetta Hardscapes producer, you have a wealth of marketing information at your fingertips.

• Producer Secure Site: Find marketing plans, branding and graphics guides, photo galleries, web and social tools, literature, and more for the precast brands you produce.
• Rosetta Knowledge Hub: Explore topics, projects, guides, and more that can be repurposed and shared with your audiences via your social channels or on your website.
• Aster Brands Knowledge Hub: For precast marketing, look here for the latest topics.
• Rosetta Social Channels: Catch up with the latest Rosetta posts on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook to get inspiration for your content.
• Aster Brands Marketing Team: Comprised of marketing experts in areas of graphic design, website design, and content marketing, there is always someone happy to answer your questions. Email us at marketing@asterbrands.com.