Jodi Krangle

905 836 5444

Jodi@VoiceoversAndVocals.com

Audio Branding

Interview with Steve Keller – Part 1

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For Steve Keller, audio branding seamlessly blends together the three overarching passions in his life: music, psychology, and marketing. Steve had a passion for music from a young age but never considered it as a career. He became fascinated with and obtained his college degree in psychology. During what some may consider a “gap year” before he had planned to pursue a master’s degree and Ph.D., Steve decided to go in a different direction and ultimately found himself producing music in Nashville, Tenessee. While there, he discovered his passion for marketing and advertising. In 2005, all three passions came together as he began to delve into the world of audio branding. Steve now works for Studio Resonate, Pandora’s in-house consultancy for advertisers.

In the first part of our conversation, we discussed Steve’s three passions and some of the research he has done, as well as:

  • Starting the audio consultancy iV (http://www.ivaudiobranding.com)
  • How Steve and iV began developing the sonic identity for Pandora
  • Measuring KPIs and return on sonic investments
  • The importance of developing the sonic piece of brand recognition at the beginning of the branding process, not at the end
  • Understanding the entire ecosystem of a brand
  • How audio influences buyer behavior
  • Steve’s work with Studio Resonate
  • Cross-modal hacking to influence consumers’ perception of flavor not only with taste but also with sound (this part blew my mind!)
  • How sound affects our body’s release of dopamine and oxytocin
  • How biases influence our decision-making processes

You can find more information about Steve Keller at www.studioresonate.com, or you can follow him on Twitter at @AudioAlchemist_ (that underscore is important). You can also find him on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevekeller1/.

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!

 

Interview With Dave Bricker – Part 2

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Here’s the second part of my interview with storyteller Dave Bricker. We talked about the four elements of a story, the difference between anecdotes and stories, and how to add value to people’s lives through storytelling.

In our conversation, we also covered:

  • Whether people are hardwired to want to hear depressing stories or happy stories
  • The difference between happy endings and transformation and how that affects how stories connect with people
  • A much more effective alternative to scare tactics in advertising
  • Why children love reading storybooks over and over…and over…and over…
  • Where most advertising falls short and how to improve
  • How the most powerful stories speak to our innate drive to seek safety and survival
  • How authentic conflict brings depth to a story
  • How, in advertising, money must serve not as an outcome, but rather as a tool
  • Using audio to prime an audience
  • Different types of coaches and which audiences they’re best suited for

You can find more information on Dave on his website at www.storysailing.com or on any of his social media channels: 

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!

 

Interview With Dave Bricker – Part 1

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Dave Bricker discovered his love for “StorySailing” while spending 15 years living aboard sailboats. In 1983, after his first year of college, David got a job working with the Christo Surrounded Islands project. During that time, he realized something was missing in his life. After finishing college, he headed off to the Bahamas to begin his 15-year sailing adventure, which included a transatlantic sailing trip in 1991. Dave has authored 11 books, and his company, Remarkable Stories, Inc., https://storysailing.com/, teaches the art of business transformation through storytelling. 

In the first part of my conversation with Dave, we explored how story and sound intersect, as well as: 

  • How his idea of storytelling for business started
  • Heading off to the Bahamas with a small sailboat, $30, and a locker full of food and dreams
  • How storytelling ties together music, writing, speaking, graphic design, and code
  • The importance of storytelling about people, outcomes, and value instead of prices, processes, ingredients, and data
  • Speaking techniques to draw people in
  • Girls tied to railroad tracks, dream sequences, the country, and 1940s clubs (yes, you read that right! 😉)
  • Whether our response to music is learned or innate—culture or predisposition
  • Playing music with a Dutch jazz singer in the Azores
  • How improvisation ties into storytelling
  • A big mistake people make when giving professional speeches and how to avoid it
  • How professionals can improve their speaking by getting involved with Toastmasters – http://www.toastmasters.org
  • How we as humans are hunter-gatherers at heart and are always scanning for threats

You can find more information on Dave on his website at www.storysailing.com. 

You can also find him on his social media channels: 

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!

 

Interview With Monte Bowden – Part 2

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Here’s the second part of my interview with Creative Director, Monte Bowden   We talked about his philosophies on directing voice talent and trusting his editors, discovering a brand “voice”, consistency in branding, and his thoughts on creating a deeper connection with those who his clients hope to serve.

We also spoke about things like:

  • How he gives direction to the voice talent he works with, helping them find the “why”
  • Consistency in branding – both in the tone of that brand and in the voice talent used
  • How other ads have used INconsistency to create interest and engagement
  • Authenticity and how it plays a part in advertising and fundraising
  • How movie trailers seem to be getting more compelling
  • His love of work that’s “cinematic”
  • What he’s working on right now
  • How a client of his is helping people to understand transparency in healthcare and leading in that field
  • Working with a children’s hospital and telling their caring stories
  • How social media might play a role in hiring voice talent – and whether or not it should
  • Monte actually interviews ME for a little bit. 😉 (He asks some excellent questions!)

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!

 

Interview With Monte Bowden – Part 1

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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!

 

Interview With John McClain – Part 2

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John McClain knows a thing or two about sound.  For one thing, he’s the owner and lead sound designer/mixer at The Dog and Pony Show in Las Vegas, Nevada (https://www.dogandponystudios.net/).  For another, he won a Grammy for his work with the late, great George Carlin, and an Emmy for his work with HBO on the series 24/7, his work with PBS on the show Outdoor Nevada and his mix of the documentary African Americans: The Las Vegas Experience.   If that’s not enough, he teaches a class in Tech for voice talent through the Voice Actors Studio – https://www.thevoiceactorstudio.com/ – owned by Melissa Moats (https://www.ladyluckvoiceovers.com/ – another fantastic voice talent in Vegas) and another course on Sound for Film at UNLV.

The second part of our discussion covered a bunch more topics like:

  • Voice actors and editors need to pay attention to the tempo of a script
  • How sound that’s inconsistent or simply not good, can make a person turn away without knowing why
  • Information on a book John uses in his course called The Sonic Boom (https://www.amazon.com/Sonic-Boom-Sound-Transforms-Think/dp/0544570162)
  • How sound allows you to time travel
  • When he first became conscious of sound and began to love it
  • How architecture has its own sound
  • Some information on his latest sound design projects
  • More information on his podcast, VO Inertia (https://anchor.fm/voinertia)

Dog and Pony Show can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/DogandPonyStudios/
and on Twitter at @DnPSound

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!