What is 'Brand' in HeyGen?
Wondering what HeyGen Brand is? Let’s break it down. Brand consists of three main parts:
Brand System – your visual assets, including logos, colors, fonts, and media.
Brand Glossary – your pronunciation and translation rules.
Brand Templates – pre-designed video layouts that help you get started quickly without building videos from scratch.
Together, they help you and your team create videos that look and sound consistently on-brand—no matter who's making them or what language they're in. This guide focuses on Brand Glossary (your pronunciation and translation rules). For managing consistent pronunciation and translations, visit our Brand System guide.
What is Brand Glossary?
Brand Glossary is a feature that allows you to control how specific words and phrases are pronounced or translated, so your messaging stays accurate and aligned, even across multiple languages. This is particularly useful for brand names, product names, or technical terms that you want to remain consistent across all your videos and translations.
The Brand Glossary is organized by term. Each term is one entry, and it can hold its own pronunciation and its own translation rule for every language. Videos made with your Brand Glossary automatically use the right rule for the language of the video.
Organized by term. An A to Z list with search and filters for rule type and language, so you can find any term quickly.
Pronunciations you can hear. Type a pronunciation, or record it with your microphone, then select Hear it in a phrase to listen with a HeyGen voice and engine before you save.
Translations in one place. Set "Don't translate" or a specific translation for each language, right next to the term.
Spreadsheet import and export. Bring a glossary in or out as CSV or Excel. The whole file is checked first, and any row with a problem is clearly marked.
🛎️ Developers: you can create and update Brand Glossaries through the API, for example to give each of your own customers their own vocabulary. A glossary can be applied to avatar, image, batch and Video Agent videos, and its translation rules (do not translate, forced translations) apply to video translations. See the Brand Glossary docs.
How to Set Up Brand Glossary
To set up a Brand Glossary, click Brand in the left navigation panel. Then select the Brand Glossary tab.
Click Create Brand Glossary. Then add your terms one at a time, or import them from a spreadsheet.
Add a term and its pronunciation
Select New term, enter the word or name your brand cares about, and select Add term.
On the Pronunciations tab, select New pronunciation. Type how the word sounds, or select Record pronunciation and say the word out loud.
Preview the word, or select Hear it in a phrase to listen to the word inside a sentence. You can change the voice and engine used for the preview. The preview is only a sample, so your video uses the voice you set in Studio or in your project.
Select Save rule.
We recommend previewing the word with different spellings to find the pronunciation that sounds best. Each pronunciation applies to one language, or to All languages.
Add a translation rule
Open the term and select the Translations tab, then select New translation. Choose the target language (or All languages) and enter the wording to use, then select Save rule. To keep a term exactly as written, choose Don't translate instead.
Import and export a glossary
To add many terms at once, select Import, download the CSV or Excel template, fill it in with one row per rule, and choose your file. The Language column accepts a language name, a language code such as en, or All languages. Leave the rule fields empty for a word without rules.
HeyGen checks the whole file before importing. If a row has a problem, it is marked with the row number and Import stays unavailable until you fix it. A file can have one sheet, up to 1,000 rows and 5 MB.
Importing adds new words and any missing rules. Existing words and rules are kept, including rules with the same type and language. When the import finishes, you see a summary of the words and rules added and the existing rules skipped.
To take a glossary out, select Export and choose Export CSV or Export Excel (.xlsx).
How to Use Brand Glossary in the AI Studio
Once your Brand Glossary is set up, it’s easy to apply it directly while editing your video.
When you're creating a video in AI Studio, click the Brand button in the top lefthand corner to access both your Brand System and Brand Glossary.
You can switch between different Brand Glossaries, and choose whether to apply or remove pronunciation and translation rules directly to your script. When applied, words with pronunciation rules will appear in italicized purple, so you can clearly see what’s active.
You can also add new pronunciation rules as you go by typing them directly into the script. Any new entries are automatically reflected in the Brand Glossary you currently have selected.
Translation rules are managed outside of AI Studio. To update your translation rules, open the term in Brand Glossary, select the Translations tab, and set a specific translation or Don't translate for each language.
How to use Brand Glossary for Translation
Translating videos helps you reach global audiences at scale, and Brand Glossary is an essential piece of ensuring smooth and consistent translations. Because each term can hold a translation rule for every language, one Brand Glossary can cover all of the languages you translate to.
Translation Rules consist of the two following functions:
Force Translate: This allows you to to define specific translations for specific terms. For example, you may want technical terms like “artificial intelligence” to always be translated into the acronym “AI” in every language.
Don't Translate: This allows you to mark words that should always stay the same. Common examples include product names or brand names.
Applying your Brand Glossary for Translation
Follow these steps to apply your Brand Glossary when translating a video. The rules for the target language of your video are applied automatically.
From the HeyGen homepage, click Translate in the left side menu. Upload your video file or paste in a URL from YouTube or Google Drive. Next, click the Advanced tab and select your Brand Glossary of choice.
Summary
By setting up your Brand Glossary, you’re making sure your translations reflect the exact terms and tone your brand is known for. It’s a simple step that goes a long way in keeping your message clear and consistent—no matter the language.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
The pronunciation doesn't sound right. What should I do?
Try a few different phonetic spellings in Brand Glossary and preview each one. It often takes a bit of experimentation to find the pronunciation that sounds best.
Why does the Brand Glossary preview sound different from my video?
The preview in Brand Glossary uses the voice and engine you pick in the preview, while your video uses the voice set in Studio or in your project. To hear the same result, pick that voice in the preview. For the most accurate result, always preview your text in AI Studio before rendering your final video.
What happened to my existing glossary?
Your existing pronunciation and translation rules are kept. Rules that were not tied to a language appear as All languages, marked Legacy.
A term still sounds wrong in one language. Why?
A pronunciation set to All languages is used for any language that has no pronunciation of its own, so it can still apply in a language you did not intend. Add a pronunciation for that specific language to override it. Marking a term Don't translate keeps the spelling as written but does not change how it sounds.
Any tips for finding the right phonetic spelling?
You can use an LLM, such as ChatGPT or Claude, to generate and test different phonetic spellings until you find the pronunciation you're looking for.