# Brand Settings
URL: /brand-settings
Type: reference
Description: Configure the voice, tone, language, and guidelines Stylo applies to every AI-generated response.
Keywords: brand, voice, tone, guidelines, banned phrases, response language, multi-brand
Brand Settings control how Stylo's AI communicates on your behalf. Every response generated by [Assist](/assist), [Response Workflows](/response-workflows), and background automation is shaped by these settings. The page is split into three tabs — **Voice & tone**, **Instructions**, and **Language** — and each field is documented below with its type, default, and effect.

<Callout type="info">
  Only members who can manage brand settings can change these values. Changes
  take effect on the next response Stylo generates.
</Callout>

Voice & tone [#voice--tone]

| Field               | Type          | Default    | Effect when set                                                                                            |
| ------------------- | ------------- | ---------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Company name**    | text          | empty      | Names the company Stylo represents in the response instructions.                                           |
| **Industry**        | text          | empty      | Adds the company's industry to the context to steer domain wording.                                        |
| **Greeting**        | text          | empty      | Suggested opener. Applied contextually, not as a fixed template — Stylo adapts it to the conversation.     |
| **Sign-off**        | text          | empty      | Suggested closer, applied contextually like the greeting.                                                  |
| **Tone of voice**   | enum          | `Balanced` | Sets the register of every response. See the options below.                                                |
| **Response length** | enum          | `Balanced` | Sets how long responses run. See the options below.                                                        |
| **Emoji**           | toggle        | Off        | When on, Stylo "may use emoji where appropriate." When off, responses contain no emoji.                    |
| **Comment author**  | Zendesk agent | empty      | The Zendesk agent Stylo posts comments as for this brand. Leave empty to inherit the organization default. |
| **Banned phrases**  | list          | empty      | Words or phrases Stylo is instructed never to use in a response.                                           |

Tone of voice options [#tone-of-voice-options]

| Value                              | Behavior                                                      |
| ---------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Friendly**                       | Warm, approachable, encouraging; conversational style.        |
| **Balanced*&#x2A; &#x2A;(default)* | Helpful and clear; balances warmth and professionalism.       |
| **Professional**                   | Polished, confident, businesslike; formal register.           |
| **Matter-of-fact**                 | Direct, plainspoken, concise; focused on facts and solutions. |

Response length options [#response-length-options]

| Value                              | Behavior                                                   |
| ---------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Concise**                        | Brief and focused; short paragraphs, gets to the point.    |
| **Balanced*&#x2A; &#x2A;(default)* | Thorough but not verbose; covers the key points.           |
| **Detailed**                       | Comprehensive; includes context, examples, and next steps. |

<Callout type="info">
  **Banned phrases** are enforced by instruction, not a hard post-filter. Stylo
  is told never to use the listed phrases; treat it as strong guidance rather
  than a guarantee. Good candidates are competitor names, internal jargon, and
  legal terms you want to avoid ("guarantee", "promise").
</Callout>

Instructions [#instructions]

| Field                   | Type      | Default | Effect when set                                                                                                                                                            |
| ----------------------- | --------- | ------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Custom instructions** | list      | empty   | Individual rules applied to every response, listed as bullets in the instructions. Each entry has a soft 120-character limit — longer rules belong in Response guidelines. |
| **Response guidelines** | long text | empty   | Free-form guidance for nuanced or detailed rules that don't fit as short bullet rules.                                                                                     |

Use **custom instructions** for short, discrete rules ("Always offer a next step"). Use **response guidelines** for longer, narrative guidance. Both are injected into the instructions Stylo follows when drafting.

Language [#language]

| Field                                | Type     | Default                        | Effect when set                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
| ------------------------------------ | -------- | ------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Response language**                | enum     | `Auto-detect (match customer)` | `Auto` detects the customer's language and replies in it. Any specific language forces every reply into that language regardless of the customer's.                                                                                                                                                          |
| **Summary & internal note language** | enum     | `Same as response language`    | Language for internally generated notes and summaries. Defaults to whatever the response language resolves to.                                                                                                                                                                                               |
| **Background translation**           | toggle   | Off                            | Intended to automatically translate incoming customer messages before processing. {/* TODO(docs): the translation pipeline that consumes this flag was not located in the brand-settings instruction path — confirm where backgroundTranslationEnabled is enforced before describing the runtime effect. */} |
| **Translation glossary**             | glossary | empty                          | A shared glossary assigned to this brand to keep term translations consistent. Glossaries are created once and shared across brands. {/* TODO(docs): glossary enforcement during translation was not located in code — confirm before documenting the runtime effect. */}                                    |

**Response language** offers auto-detect plus a fixed set of languages, including English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Russian, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Polish, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, Thai, Arabic, Japanese, Chinese, and Korean.

Multi-brand support [#multi-brand-support]

If your organization operates multiple brands (common with Zendesk multi-brand), each brand can have its own brand settings.

<Mermaid
  chart="flowchart TD
  T[Incoming ticket] --> R{Ticket brand matches<br/>a brand-specific row?}
  R -->|Yes| B[Use the brand row,<br/>inheriting any unset field<br/>from the global default]
  R -->|No| G[Use the global default row]"
/>

How brand resolution works:

* Stylo keeps one **global default** row plus an optional row per brand.
* For a ticket, Stylo resolves the brand from the Zendesk brand and uses that brand's row, &#x2A;*falling back to the global default for any field the brand row leaves unset.**
* Text and number fields inherit from the global default when the brand row is empty; a **Response language** of `Auto` on a brand row also means "inherit the global setting."
* Toggle fields (emoji, background translation) always use the brand row's own value.

Limits and failure modes [#limits-and-failure-modes]

* Greeting and sign-off are applied **contextually**, not as fixed strings — Stylo may adapt or omit them when they don't fit the conversation.
* Banned phrases are instruction-level guidance, not a guaranteed block.
* A brand-specific row only overrides the global default for the fields you set on it; everything else inherits.

Related [#related]

* [Assist](/assist)
* [Voice Intelligence](/voice-intelligence)
* [Context Engine Settings](/context-engine-settings)