As well as themes and tone, we need to be consistent in the writing conventions we use. This includes spelling and grammar styles.

Grammar & Mechanics

Adhering to certain rules of grammar and mechanics helps us keep our writing clear and consistent. This section will lay out our house style, which applies to all of our content unless otherwise noted in this guide. (We cover a lot of ground in this section—the search feature will help if you're looking for something in particular.)

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The Basics

Write for all readers. Some people will read every word you write. Others will just skim. Help everyone read better by grouping related ideas together and using descriptive headers and subheaders.

Focus your message. Create a hierarchy of information. Lead with the main point or the most important content, in sentences, paragraphs, sections, and pages.

Be concise. Use short words and sentences. Avoid unnecessary modifiers.

Be specific. Avoid vague language. Cut the fluff.

Be consistent. Stick to the copy patterns and style points outlined in this guide.

The McConnell Dowell name

The company name should be written as McConnell Dowell or McConnell Dowell Ltd. Pty for formal documentation.
In informal documents refer to the “the team”, “staff” or other more personal terms wherever possible to keep the tone colloquial.
If it is used numerous times in the piece of writing, then add the abbreviation e.g. McConnell Dowell (MCD) afterward and MCD thereafter.
NEVER use any alternate abbreviations e.g. McCD or MacDow.
McConnell Dowell is treated as a single entity not a group of people e.g., ‘McConnell Dowell is (not are) proud to announce…’, ‘McConnell Dowell has (not have) been awarded…’. Except where in reference to the staff group e.g., ‘McConnell Dowell staff have been very generous with their time.

Capitalisation

Only use capitals at the start of sentences, for proper nouns /names e.g. organisations, countries, companies, days, months and more.
To write the title of articles or job titles capitalise the first word, the last word and nouns in between but not the articles or prepositions e.g. Ministry of Transport, Managing Director of New Zealand and NB. Where ministry or managing director are used as adjectives.
In abbreviations and acronyms. For abbreviations write the full name in the first instance and include the abbreviation in brackets afterwards and any subsequent mentions can be abbreviated e.g. Watercare’s Asset Upgrades and Repair (AUR) project was awarded.
In cases where the abbreviation or acronym is more commonly used that the full title uses the shorter version e.g. IT, IQ, SH25A, GST etc.
At the start of a quote where it forms the start of a complete sentence e.g. John says “The pipeline was completed in May 2023.”

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Need help using our brand voice to create engaging content? This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

To build a strong brand we need to be consistent in what and how we communicate - our Brand Voice.

What is a 'Brand Voice'?

A brand voice is your company personality. It is consistent across all channels, and is built on key themes, topics and a tone that portray your unique brand character to your audiences.

Brand Voice themes and topics

We anchor our communications around some commons topics and themes that are unique to our brand:

Creative Construction - our differentiator and tagline
Stories of our engineering-led innovative ideas and solutions. These can be technical innovations, but also more broadly, with things like sustainability. Using the term 'Creative Construction' in write-ups about our great ideas and innovations is a simple but powerful way of reinforcing our brand.
Providing a Better Life - our Purpose
Stories of the positive impact we and our projects have on the community and our employees. We don't need to use the term "Providing a Better Life" specifically, but we should be linking what we do and the projects we deliver to that purpose. See the examples below.
Creating Better Together - our brand essence
Stories of our collaborative approach to working with our customers, business partners, and the community.
Our 'Employee Promise' - our employee value proposition
Stories of what it’s like to be a member of our team. We use the term 'Employee Promise' as part of these communications. See the example website copy below for how we speak about our 'Employee Promise'.

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Brand Voice Tone

The tone of our communication is shaped by our brand character , which is Creative, Engaging and Accomplished.

To make our communications Engaging, so we use down to earth, simple, conversational language, with short sentences and limited acronyms.

If there's an interesting innovation or achievement we try and emphasis this early on in what we're writing, to engage the reader and emphasis our 'creative construction'

We don't try and be too formal, unless it's a legal document. So we use 'We' or 'Our team', instead of 'McConnell Dowell Constructors (Aust.) Ltd' or similar. And we're not afraid to inject a bit of humour in the right context.

If we're explaining specialist information to subject matter experts, then we get a bit more technical and serious. We keep really detailed technical write-ups for bids and conference papers.

When we’re communicating to engineers, which is often, we add stats and facts to round out the story. Engineers love proofs, so we include them when we can.

For our social media channels we tend to amplify the Creative side of our brand character, using descriptive language that paints a picture in the mind of our audience. Again, humour can play a part, as can emojis.

The last part of our brand character is Accomplished so we tell interesting stories about what we've achieved. But they’re always told through the lens of our purpose of “Providing a better life". We didn't just build a new road, we connected a community and made it a safer, quicker journey.

And finally, because we’re a collaborative bunch and value Working Together, our achievements are always by ‘our team and in partnership with our customers and the community’.

How and where do we use our Brand Voice?

Here's some examples of how our brand voice is used across our social media accounts, website and in our presentations.

Example LinkedIn Post - note the simple but engaging langage with a good mix of numbers and facts for the engineers, along with a little bit of descriptive humour. This post got really good engagement - on topic and told well.

LinkedIn voice example

Example website copy - this is promoting our Employee Promise. The tone is creative and descriptive. The content is anchored on our 'Creating Better Together' theme.

Example PowerPoint slide - Clean, simple, uncluttered design. The main heading is action-oriented and written in a way that brings our purpose to life through our accomplishments. Great picture too! This template is built into our standard PowerPoint pack - so use it.

website voice example

Need help using our brand voice to create engaging content? This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Pullup Banners

Pullup or rollup banners are a great way to spread our brand message and increase brand awareness, they can be used at expos, events and around our sites and offices.

Below are a selection of pre-designed banners, available as print-ready PDFs, suitable to send direct to a local printer for manufacture. For example in Australia we use Officeworks.https://www.officeworks.com.au/print-copy/p/pull-up-banners-pcbspbcp

Pullup banners are all sized at 850mm x 2000mm.

If other sizes or designs of pullups are required please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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Brand Messaging

These banners display our purpose and core brand messaging.

p4 primary 1

As well as themes and tone, we need to be consistent in the writing conventions we use. This includes spelling and grammar styles.

Grammar & Mechanics

The Basics

The McConnell Dowell name

Capitalisation

To build a strong brand we need to be consistent in what and how we communicate - our Brand Voice.

What is a 'Brand Voice'?

Brand Voice themes and topics

Creative Construction - our differentiator and tagline

Providing a Better Life - our Purpose

Creating Better Together - our brand essence

Our 'Employee Promise' - our employee value proposition

Brand Voice Tone

How and where do we use our Brand Voice?

Pullup Banners

Brand Messaging

Australia

New Zealand & Pacific

South East Asia

Careers & Graduates

NEXT: Business Cards

New Starter Kits

Tote bag

Welcome card

Lanyard

'Paper' Pen

Water bottle

Reusable cup

Hi-Vis Vest

Notebook (Australia design)

Ordering - Australian Business Unit only

Welcome Packs form part of the McConnell Dowell Australia onboarding experience and orders are managed centrally.

Ordering - Non-Australian Business Units

Other regions are encouraged to put together and order their own Welcome Packs for new starters.

NEXT: Pullup Banners

Virtual Backgrounds & Social Media

Virtual Backgrounds

Standard Backgrounds

Region/Function Specific Backgrounds

LinkedIn profile banners

NEXT: Overview

Newsroom