We join many others in proclaiming this the “second golden age of audio.” And with good reasons.
At Podcast Movement Evolutions here in Los Angeles, Edison Research’s Tom Webster demonstrated why brands need to find their voice now:
- 176 million Americans consume audio online and it continues to expand
- 94 million own smart speakers and it also continues growing
- 80 million listen to podcasts weekly, up 17% from 2020
And just as the ‘on demand’ world has enhanced video consumption, so too has it done the same for audio. Consumers have come to expect what they want, when they want it and where they want it. The smartphone and the connected car dashboard have played major roles in this expectation.
And while viewing requires a singular focus, audio consumption is a multi-tasking phenomenon. Americans ‘listen’ while they work; exercise, drive or do just about anything. Thus today, audio is almost always on and almost everywhere you find a human.
So it should be fairly obvious that if your brand has not developed its audio voice, it’s flat out missing substantial opportunities to engage its customers.
Brands with effective audio place just as much strategy and resources into developing that as they do the look of their logo or their video. From wordsmithing to tone and style, smart brands build their “sound.” Geico; McDonald’s; Allstate any many others are uniquely recognizable.
Many brands have developed outstanding audio signatures; THX; Netflix; Intel; Xbox, T Mobile and the MGM Lion to name just a few. These brands are instantly recognizable from their audio logos. Veritonic’s Scott Simonelli researches the emotional impact of those logos. It is measurable.
Finally, brands with an effective audio voice employ wide distribution; not just audio ads but audio across social media platforms and podcasts.
Every brand has a story to tell. Step 1 in storytelling is finding the proper voice — the tone, the personality, the mood — with which to tell it.
