Monte Bowden knows a thing or two about advertising and marketing. He studied Communications in college and then worked in a TV News station for years, rising in the ranks from intern to news director. He also served as an adjunct professor in communications at his alma-mater. Monte joined AMPERAGE as a communications strategist, leading PR efforts for agency clients. And with his well-rounded background in storytelling, video production and management, Monte has worked in a variety of roles there. He currently serves as a Creative Director – and is someone I’ve had the absolute pleasure of working with for many years now.
In the first part of our conversation, we spoke about a lot of different things, such as:
- How he developed his love of sound, starting with radio – and how it influenced the college he chose
- How radio led to working at a TV news station, learning a lot about video, writing, producing and managing
- How he started working with Amperage (hint: it had to do with a chance meeting in a grocery store!)
- The differences and similarities between working in TV News and working at an Ad Agency
- The use of wireless mics in the newsroom – and how that transformed the storytelling
- How storytelling factors in to his work now
- Emotional decision making
- How sound might best be used in fundraising and in advertising to draw someone in
- How everything works together – sound effects, good scripts and SILENCE
- Where music fits in (and how it should be thought of early in the process rather than later!)
- A case study about how he and his team came up with an ad for a hospital
- How technology would change the development of a commercial like this
- The story behind the NBC three note “audio branded” tone
- How sound can be described in writing – and how much more effective that can make it
- Designing sound for advertising
You can find more information on Monte and Amperage on their website at https://www.amperagemarketing.com and on Facebook at https://facebook.com/AmperageMarketing.
This episode was very skillfully made to sound beautiful by the talented Humberto Franco (http://www.humbertofranco.com/).
Would you consider reviewing the Audio Branding Podcast? If so, here’s the Apple Podcast link: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/audio-branding/id1489042453 And if you like what you hear (and read!) – please do share it with anyone you think might be interested. Thanks so much!