Stew: [00:00:00] Hit it. Ad Infinitum is the only podcast solely focused on audio ads, advertising the creative who make them and are the latest thinking that informs them how the space is evolving. And my favorite part, a roundup of recent audio ads and analysis by yours truly Ad campaign, Stu Redwine, VP Creative at Oxford Road, and each episode's guest.

Stew: This is season two, episode seven of Ad Infinitum, and this episode's title is Audio Effects, discussing the Power of Audio and Its Effects. FX, how audio makes us feel, remember, and even perceive the unseen through the theater of the mind. And of course, we're going to be rating some top spenders. This time, top spenders in national radio over the last month, according to Vivix.

Stew: Our guest is Craig Kitchen, artist manager to many on air personalities. and strategic advisor to a very select few awesome audio companies, most notably Oxford Road. And I would like to add co chairman of the [00:01:00] Radio Hall of Fame and co founder of Premier Networks. Welcome to the show, Craig. I'm 

Kraig: happy To be here.

Kraig: Thank you, Stew. 

Stew: Thank you so much for coming on. So we just spent a couple of days at the CAO summit. What was your Known 

Kraig: to the world in the future as the chief audio officer summit, right? That's right. CAO. CAO. Audio officer. 

Stew: That's the audience of this show is the chief audio officer. The people that are responsible for deploying and making the dollars work in audio.

Stew: And I think my experience over the last couple of days at the CAO summit was that there is increased awareness of just how specialized audio 

Kraig: is. I saw a room of women and men. True evangelist for the audio medium, for radio, for podcasting, for audio streaming. They represent brands, products and service companies that use the radio medium, the audio mediums to sell their products and [00:02:00] services with great success.

Kraig: And to hear them one after another, just talk about how they found their way to success and built and scaled their companies. It's so motivating to be in their company. And to watch them share their best practices with one another as if they had been lifelong cohorts. It was an amazing experience. I hope more people who listen to your podcast who are in the business of audio and marketing their products and services.

Kraig: Attend a future CAO summit. 

Stew: Absolutely, I hope so too, because I think it's the strength in it that I see is that people are able to come and share their experience and their challenges in such a niche thing so they can use, like, they can just talk about how the rubber actually hits the road with their CTA and it's a 60 and it's a 15 and whatever other, you know, acronyms and my ROI and my ROAS and they all understand each other, they understand each other's, you know, Struggles.

Stew: And I really feel like it was in the creative section that one of the questions that came up was like, it's just so good to hear [00:03:00] before the person asked their question was like, it's just so good to hear. I'm not alone. 

Kraig: Yes. Right. Certainly there was a language spoken amongst them that to the outsider who might not know what a CTA is.

Kraig: That there was a friendliness about it, a secret code, so to speak. Yeah. But at the same time, to hear those words from somebody on that panel yesterday afternoon, I'm just so glad to be in the company of people who know the success that I'm having and understand it and get it. Wonderful to see. 

Stew: Yeah, that's what we want.

Stew: And that's the point of ad infinitum is to help fill in the picture for more chief audio officers. So we're talking about audio affects. We know that audio has such a pronounced impact on our emotions, on our memory, on the theater of the mind, our ability to see something that is unseen. Right. But we fill it out in our minds.

Stew: Let me play the clip that we all experienced together at the CAO event yesterday. I love fishing 

Announcer 1: with you

Character 1: too, son.[00:04:00] 

Character 1: Please 

Announcer 2: help!

Announcer 1: This is where you used to go fishing with Grandpa? 

Character 1: Yeah, it is. He always loved the sound of the cicadas in the [00:05:00] summer. Me 

Announcer 3: too, Daddy.

Kraig: Boy, that just brings a whole string of memories. Just the picture of a father and a son on a rowboat with fishing poles on a lake. Or that sound effect when you go into the movie theater and the trailers are done and your movie's about to start and that THX sound comes across the screen. Or just the quietness and tranquility of the cicadas alone at night, you know, just filling the whole air outside.

Kraig: It shows you how you don't need pictures in front of you to see what you're feeling. You feel it and see it in your mind in a way that is just so totally unique to me. 

Stew: Yeah, that's the power of audio. And we were sharing just before the show that some of the other professionals, you know, in the industry were just talking about the brain science behind all of this.

Kraig: [00:06:00] Yeah, there is. We're going to geek out here for just a minute, so let's pretend to play Doctors on Radio. Okay, that sounds good. Okay, terrific. Here I am. I've got the white coat. Mm hmm. In the brain, there is a part of our brain where when you receive audio, It is the same part of the brain that evokes emotion, evokes empathy, and it's a memory core as a part of that area.

Kraig: I believe, if my memory serves me, that the part of that brain, it is the amygdala in the hippocampus. Right. And that part of the brain, and there is some science to this, but the reason that I think that the radiomedium and the hippocampus Podcasting revolution has been so strong for so many hundreds of Americans for so long has been, that's the portion of the brain that when you're told a story, you paint a picture in your mind of what that story is being shared with you.

Kraig: And you have an emotional reaction to that story. You're either laughing about it, you're crying about it. You're relating to it because it's happened to you, and you remember it [00:07:00] forever. And that is recall. And that's what the radio business is all about. That's why people have tuned in to hear stories first on radio, or news reports, or music, or heartfelt vulnerability.

Kraig: And that's where all the commercials have been placed within. That's to me why I love this medium. And when I heard that part of the brain identified to me, it's so clicked in and made sense. So I'm glad that you have this virtual CAO summit in your podcast to talk about that. Now we can take the white coats off.

Stew: Yeah. Okay. We're taking off our white coats. No, it's just amazing to me. Like, just even in describing that, when you said like, I have on a white coat, like my brain immediately fills in that picture. And I just think it's so powerful. And that's why we demonstrated it and then taking it to the next level.

Stew: Like you're saying in connecting it to memory, the amygdala is where the emotion is processed. The hippocampus is where the memory is processed. Those are receiving signals from the auditory cortex. I think what's really fascinating is that a sound is our quickest sense. If you think about it in the Olympics, what do they use?

Stew: They don't use a visual [00:08:00] stimuli. They use a gun. I touch your hand right now, that's slower than you hearing a noise. The way I look at it is it's the primary sense because it's first, so it colors everything else. Dr. Redwine, you are correct. By the way, the coat is clearly still on. Okay, I'm gonna take it off now and then I'll put down my stethoscope.

Stew: There you go. So that's the power, so then that comes to life in a variety of different ways. You've heard this before as well, but I want to share it with the listeners. This is a montage of a handful of different audio logos. We'll reveal the number after we let it play to demonstrate just one way in which brands leverage that linkage, particularly to 

Kraig: emotion and memory.

Kraig: By the way, back in the day when disc jockeys would play a montage of audio effects, they would challenge the listener. The first one who can tell me the correct number of song snippets wins 99. Is there a chance that that's happening on this podcast or is there no chance? 

Stew: Yeah, there is a, you know what, the first budget, we won't do 99, but we will do a custom signed laminated [00:09:00] audiolytics handout from the CAO summit to anyone that emails me at Stew.

Stew: at auctionroad. com with the correct number of Sonic logos in this montage. Here we go. 

Announcer 2: I'm

Character 1: just so happy. I got more like 

Announcer 2: a good 

Kraig: neighbor,

Kraig: pure audio goodness. 

Stew: Yeah, and I can remember when we played this at the CAO, Chief Audio Officer messaging forum that we had in New York. It was interesting. There was a collective response of sort of definition of terms, which I understand. It's like, well, some of that's Sonic logo, some of that's audio branding, and it's kind of like, I think that can hang us up.

Stew: But it is true. Like, I mean, you have the ring video doorbell sound. Well, that is a functional [00:10:00] sound of the actual doorbell, but it also is what they used in their advertisements. And 

Kraig: became a Sonic doorbell. Brand for exactly like the three chimes of NBC. 

Stew: Precisely. That was a functional sound that becomes the sonic brand.

Stew: And then like having Lucinda from Moink, who we both know, who is incredible. Her saying, Oh, I'm going, I'm just so happy. I got Mike. Here's my thing is that specifically her voice saying it that's like, we'll leave the light on for you. It's also like a sonic logo to me. 

Kraig: And Tom Baudet's 

Announcer 1: We'll leave the light on for you.

Kraig: is every bit as impactful, particularly as you heard it more often on radio. Yes. And that folksy, warm voice. Lucinda's voice, that Missourian accent that she has with the word Moink, which is such a unique word unto itself, right? Yes! It's vintage er, and I think over the course of time, as more people hear Lucinda say the word moink, and the phrase that goes with it, they will come to appreciate and smile out loud when they hear that.

Stew: No question, and I have found, like, the [00:11:00] best shorthand for me explaining what I do. When people, cause being in audio, like we're talking about, it's niche. Mm hmm. Okay. Oh, what do you do? Oh, I'm in audio advertising. Oh, that's cool. Do you listen to SiriusXM? Is what I'll ask somebody most of the time, right?

Stew: And they'll, yes. I go, well, you know, oink oink, I'm just so happy I got moinked. I mean, most of the time, that's foolproof. 8, 9 times out of 10, any SiriusXM listener, they'll go, Oh yeah! Think about that. And you even know her schedule. It's not like she's not ZipRecruiter. 

Kraig: She is not. MoinkMeat is not in the top 10 list of most played radio courses.

Kraig: No, it's not. No, but 

Stew: the outsized impact. Yes. Of that sonic distinctness is what is so cool to me. That is. A calling card of distinction. Yeah, so you've got stuff like that mixed in there with like, you know, the insurance people. 

Kraig: And O'Reilly Auto Parts, and Cars for Kids, I mean, the list goes on and on. Are you going to reveal the number of Sonic logos, Sonic branding examples that are in that montage?

Kraig: Or is that going to be a deep kept secret for years to come? 

Stew: Well, [00:12:00] no, I mean, we've got to award somebody the signed laminated Audiolytics handout from the CAO Summit 2024. So how about I reveal it on the next episode of Ad Infinitum? 

Kraig: I'll tune in and listen again. I will download and listen to the subsequent edition of this so that I learn the true answer and who was the winner.

Kraig: Exactly. 

Stew: Okay. So there's so much that we could talk about. With the power of audio, I think there was a couple things I did want to touch on just because your experience in audio is so vast and precious, I find, particularly as podcasting, which is a big part of what we're involved with. At Oxford Road when it comes to audio is evolving and growing up is like we talk about it's no longer the wild west The streets are being built, you know, maybe it's kind of Wyatt Earp's Dodge City.

Stew: It's a little more developed I like to think 

Kraig: of it as This century's explosion of talk radio. It [00:13:00] truly is. There are a series of conversations on so many different topics, all voiced by individuals who have such disproportionate passion for the subject nature that they're speaking about. 

Stew: So it's interesting, the note I had written down earlier this morning, when I was walking my dog, it said the history of podcasting or the history of radio or the history of, and it's like history of the spoken word, like that's really what we're talking about.

Stew: And I got thinking about it. It's like, you know, the real big change. It's kind of like the drum set. The drum set did not exist 150 years ago, right? That's a modern thing like the electric guitar. Really what we're talking about behind all this, even what I'm doing right now, it's the ability to amplify a human voice.

Stew: That's what changed everything. And then to be able to share 

Kraig: it across great distances and empower. Individuals across this country and now across this world with the idea to be able to pick what they want to listen to and who they want to listen to at the time that's most convenient for them to take that on.

Kraig: And that's what I was thinking. So 

Stew: broadcasting is a farming term. That's where it [00:14:00] comes from. That is its origin. To cast your seed broadly. Yes. Okay. And I was thinking podcasting, like it's endlessly fascinating how that came together and they rhyme and they all this, but I was kind of thinking like, we've gone from planting seeds broadly, like scatter your seeds and see which will grow to like tending a house plant.

Stew: Podcasting to me is like this individual plant that you're caring for. It's one to one on demand. 

Kraig: So you're saying the correlation difference could be a large corn field in Iowa. Yes. Compared to somebody with a terrarium on their desktop. 

Stew: Yeah, I think so. Because what happened yesterday, at one point, we were talking about the definition of a podcast and it was like, in Oxford Dictionary, it was like, the delivery of a radio program.

Stew: And then I kinda got stuck on that because I looked up radio, which I already know, but I'm like, that's a transmission technology. So really we're talking about spoken word. So that's why I said, it's really about people sharing and now having a stage to be able to share, but to link it back to what you're just [00:15:00] saying, linking it back to talk radio, this new boom with podcasting is that it feels like a more one to one sharing.

Kraig: It is. And while there is a group of Americans old enough now to understand that there were great conversations had on AM and FM radio stations for a long time, later joined by satellite radio to add to that. And we think and imagine that those are all live conversations, that there's somebody in a studio someplace talking to you one on one in whether or not you're alone in your car driving or you're on a walk with your dog and you have your headphones on.

Kraig: That was a person having a conversation with you one at a time, even though intellectually, you know that there are tens of thousands, if not millions of people listening simultaneously with you. Podcasting has an even greater number of people in front of a microphone. Also wanting to talk one on one with individuals.

Kraig: Instinctually, they know you're going to listen to that on demand when it's convenient with you. But they still have the [00:16:00] same focus on wanting to connect with you and having a conversation with you. The only difference is that on radio, there's this presumption. I'm going to show up tomorrow at nine o'clock and be on the radio for three hours.

Kraig: And you too are going to make an appointment with me wherever you are to tune in and listen to me. And we're going to make an appointment together to be in a conversation. If you talk to podcasters today, they feel every bit as intent. I'm going to sit down and make an appointment with you every week to talk with you about the crime that I've discovered.

Kraig: Or the opinion I have on sports with the same passion and you too are going to make an appointment with me once a week to download that and listen to it and we're going to stay connected. And as a podcaster, I've made it more convenient for you to stay connected to me. And as a podcast listener, you're making the commitment to download and listen to this and stay in touch with me.

Kraig: And that unique stickiness and combination, I find that podcasters have the same care and passion for their audience that longtime disc jockeys and talk personalities do. [00:17:00] And I love that about the podcast industry. 

Stew: I do too, and that's a lot of what I heard from the talent that we had over the last couple days is that exact like, you know, making something from their heart, from their soul that is good.

Stew: They're honoring their audience. They are. And I think that's what disc jockeys drive time. Like, that spirit is the same. Consumption habits are different. It's more on demand. And I think that, you know, it might be interesting. I don't know how one would do this, but let's say Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway's Pivot.

Stew: You could probably plot and see that Turns out it's basically getting listened to during drive time. Yes. Like it shakes out that way, even though it's not broadcast, but lo and behold, 90 percent of the people are listening to it in that window where they could be listening to Bill Handel. 

Kraig: Yes. They're listening to Scott and Kara.

Kraig: Because what Scott and Kara have to share in the way of information is most relevant to that listener. And that listener happens to be alone in the car without being disturbing or distracting other family members to be able to necessarily consume that [00:18:00] information and have that companionship. Yeah. And I think the only difference is, disc jockeys and talk personalities, because they're alive, have a spontaneity sometimes, and have a craziness sometimes as a result of that spontaneity, and make those memorable moments.

Kraig: that just kind of connect to people's brain. Now, there are certain podcasters that can do that in podcast form. Dana Carvey and David Spade, the co hosts of Fly on the Wall. Those individuals treat each of their podcasts as if it is the morning show that we all grew up with. The crazy, off the wall, But on a level of talent that literally sells hundreds of millions of dollars of movie tickets and carries an audience through more than a decade on Saturday Night Live for sleep deprived mornings on Sunday because you did not want to miss a minute of what Dana Carvey or David Spade or Norm Macdonald or you name it.

Kraig: There was just so many of them. But those two have brought that skillset to that podcast. And we've witnessed it in person. We did. How spontaneity, but how engulfing and encouraging they are as host. And there's a [00:19:00] lot more like them, but those two are a great epitome of the example. It was 

Stew: good to hear from them at their level, with their history, that like, I heard the exact same thing from them.

Stew: And then there was some other hosts we'll just say of different size, but all the way down the line, they had the same. Attitude like they're taking it deadly serious and they're doing their homework and that is I respect that a lot I wanted to say one thing that happened to me this past weekend There was a massive news event.

Stew: So this massive news event happened that I wanted very timely Information and I ran into this limit functionally with podcasts just in my own life All of a sudden that chat all disappeared to me because it's 

Kraig: not live and local that massive news event required to your brain and to your heart to required an immediate input of information.

Kraig: I need more to understand the magnitude of what just happened. And that is obviously when the immediacy of radio comes right back. And on top of it, when you can get it from a trusted voice with the continuing developments and corrections [00:20:00] as more and more information comes out. That is the best. The power of radio in its true connection form.

Stew: And that's why I still want to look at and talk about radio advertisers, because like we discussed over the last couple of days, radio is still massive. 90 percent of Americans use it every week. I can remember in the early days of Oxford Road, you know, a lot of our clients, Craig, as you know, were these startups up in San Francisco, you know, tech bros in their early 20s.

Stew: They've maxed out their budgets on digital and then they came over to podcasts and podcasts was even smaller six You know some years ago and then we're like, you know I mean you could look at radio and I can remember, you know One of the comments was does anybody even listen to radio anymore? And it's like they had this blind spot to the tune of 300 million people 

Kraig: Yeah But because their own growing up experience and a lot of these individuals that you mentioned that started up these companies late 20s early 30s Their experience was not so radio oriented, but was demand oriented, whether or not it was podcast as an example, or whether or not it was early versions of social media and [00:21:00] early versions of YouTube.

Kraig: But for some reason, for a moment in their lives, radio was their mother's radio or their father's radio because they grew up in the backseat of somebody's car, you know, being driven from one place to another, and they didn't have a choice on what to pick and choose until they were of age. And when they were of age to be able to pick their own entertainment mediums, that's when they could decide between things like YouTube or early podcasts that were there.

Kraig: Or, most notably, music that they could pick for themselves, whether or not it was Napster or early versions of Pandora, which is now 20 years old, or Spotify, or whatever iteration, in addition to recorded music that was, you know, by then on CD or whatever that might have been. 

Stew: You just, you're so young and vital, but I'm just letting it sink in that Pandora is 20 years old.

Stew: Somebody needed to break the news to you. This is the right form. Ugh. Okay, I'm gonna sit with that for just a second. Okay, moving on. So, should we have a birthday cake celebration for Pandora? [00:22:00] Everybody join in, we're gonna sing Happy Birthday. Alright, so let's listen to some folks that are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on national radio.

Stew: So, Craig, what we're listening to are, these are four top advertisers, according to Vivix, on national radio. I want to say they've also got, Vivix has a couple views, which is now, A media radar as well, the Vivix Media Radar R1. So they've got a couple of views. There's the national and then there's the local stuff.

Stew: I just split out the national to try to do the most apples to apples. But still in that view over the last month, these are four advertisers that are spending high hundreds of thousands of dollars in radio. What we like to do, what I love about ad infinitum is like, Hey, let's just listen to the folks that are investing the most in this channel.

Stew: So this is an unbiased 

Kraig: pick 

Stew: of four. It's the top. 

Kraig: Right 

Stew: there off 

Kraig: the top. 

Stew: That's it. To me, it's because that's like ever since There's no bias here. These are just number one, two, three, four. And that's like when I used to go My wife loved Latin dancing and all different styles. And it was like, well, I need to figure out how to do this.

Stew: So I would go and I would just watch the [00:23:00] best. Or when I used to snow ski, I would go to the hardest hill and pick out the best person and try to follow them. So that's always been my approach. So in my mind, I'm equating top spin. That's a little different than the best. I'm not necessarily saying that, but in a sense I am in that these are the brands that are investing the absolute most.

Stew: Well, I at least want to see what they're doing. 

Kraig: You're telling me that a guy from Kansas city actually learned to Latin dance and downhill ski from the, some of the toughest, cause the last time I flew over Kansas or visited Kansas city, it's a little flat. I mean, there's a little hill section in Johnson County, but there's no mountain ranges around to learn from.

Stew: It's called compensating and a man will go to great lengths to thank you for admitting it. Okay. Okay. All right. So here we go. So the first one is going to be from Lowe's. Here we go. 

Announcer 2: No one knows the importance of a great assist more than Lowe's and Leo Messi. That's why we've teamed up to give my Lowe's rewards members 10 times the points when Messi makes an assist during CONMEBOL COPA AMERICA USA 2024.[00:24:00] 

Announcer 2: Activate this offer starting June 20th, so when Messi assists, you score. Shop the day after an assist to earn those extra points. Not a Milo's Rewards member? Join for free today. Visit Lowes. com slash Messi for more details. 

Kraig: Could they give a bigger bear hug to the most recent soccer matches that everybody in America wanted to watch?

Kraig: Right. Wow. What do you think of that? I think that was a very timely, relevant commercial. The use of Messi's name, the reference to the soccer competitions, the Copa that was going on, the disproportionate amount of attention, and the fact that if your favorite player, the one whose jersey you're wearing that weekend, and And And You get ten numbers, the points.

Kraig: I would imagine people who never thought about getting a My Lowe's card while shopping at either their store or going to a competitor would think twice or three times about going to Lowe's to get that point. And they certainly [00:25:00] would pay attention and make a mental note while watching the game. That if Messi gets an assist, I get something at Lowe's very timely kudos to them.

Stew: So you're a big fan. So if you were grading it on a scale of one to 10, how would you grade this ad? I would give it a strong nine. 

Kraig: Oh, wow. So we're coming in strong. That's coming in hot on that one. Okay. Highly relevant, good use of the medium. You hear the familiar music. You know, that it's being a conversation about Lowe's, you know, the offer is limited.

Kraig: Exactly 

Stew: and everything that you're saying, we won't belabor the point. The target score for all in-Market Creative with audio lytics is a 90%, and this came in at a 79%. So you gave it a nine out of 10 in a sense. Audio lytics, 79% out of 90, so to speak, right? 'cause. 100 percent is practically impossible.

Stew: So, right there in the same zone, there's little things that this ad could do to improve its score. But, let's move on to the next one. 

Kraig: Who came up with the concept of audiolytics in America? Dan Granger. Really? And who has refined it and popularized [00:26:00] audiolytics for literally hundreds of advertisers who now employ it in the course of their audio creations?

Stew: The team at 

Kraig: Oxford Road, including yours truly, Stew Redwine. So you really are the discriminating, know all, be all, master grader of all things. I'm just a mere novice in this process. Let's go with 79. Let's listen to the second commercial. 

Character 1: All right, here we go. It's summer at the Home Depot, and that means it's It's time to kick off the season of outdoor doing, whether you're planting in ground or in containers.

Character 1: We have your planting season covered with savings on soil and potting mix. Give your plants the nourishment they need with the continuous food release of Miracle Grow 0. 75 cubic foot garden soil on special buy four for 10 and give all your container plants the foundation they need with Miracle Grow 25 quart potting mix on special buy two for 16.

Character 1: Get summer savings happening now at the Home Depot. How doers get more done. 

Stew: I think he was going to say done. There, I'm guessing. Because? Because I've heard it a million times. Thank you. 

Kraig: Yes. [00:27:00] How doers get more done. It's a good commercial. I have to admit they lost me though. I understand there's potting soil.

Kraig: I understand there's ground supplements as a gardener that is going to help me and the Home Depot is ready to help me with that. But if I'm not in the mood or a position this weekend to do that, all of a sudden it's no longer relevant to me. And so there's a single digit percentage of people ready to pick up the shovel or the trowel and necessarily do some gardening work.

Kraig: Could I have been inspired to do some? Yes. Is it good to hear from the Home Depot that they've got things ready for me? Absolutely. Are they reminding me that it's summertime and I should enjoy the outdoors and gardening? Absolutely. But I'm looking for the positives here. Do you have a score for that? 

Stew: It came in at a 74%.

Stew: So we're tracking right along with each other here. You're speaking the very things that Audiolytics would be dinging it for as well. It came in at a lower score. So if you were grading it, I'm guessing would you just grade this one 8 out of 10? 

Kraig: Actually, and I like Home Depot, so I feel horrible even [00:28:00] saying this.

Kraig: I actually would go Okay, 

Stew: so you downgraded it even more. Let's get all four of the scores out there, and then I think we do a summary of all the players. Let's listen to what's next. Okay, so the next one is Babbel. I 

Announcer 1: want to learn how to cook, but I keep ordering takeout. 

Announcer 3: Accomplishing goals is hard, but when your goal is to learn a new language, Babbel makes it easy.

Announcer 3: In just 15 minutes a day, Babbel will help you start having conversations in as little as three weeks. Words and phrases you'll actually use. So when someone asks, How's your French going? You can say, 

Announcer 1: Babbel 

Announcer 3: Now try Babbel for free at Babbel. com. That's B A B B E L. Do you 

Kraig: speak French? Yes. Very little Spanish.

Kraig: Very little French. Yes. That is the limit of my French. But listening to that commercial, it sounds like it would be easy for me to learn. Yes. And for that reason, I score it high. It's reassuring. [00:29:00] It's motivating. It's clear that they've reminded me how to spell Babbel so that I can find my way to the website.

Kraig: And I'm almost inspired to think about spending 15 minutes a day learning. A second language again, so I feel good about that and I would tell you a timeless commercial like that earns a number that would be 8 out of 10 for me. 

Stew: So we're tracking right along. Babbel came in at 81%, so we've got Babbel at 81%, Lowe's at 79%, Home Depot at 74%, largely tracking right along with you.

Stew: Let's go ahead and get the fourth one out there and then we can just talk about all of them as a group. Not 

Announcer 1: to brag, but Progressive's Name Your Price tool is mankind's greatest tool ever. Even better than the wheel. Sure, without the wheel, we wouldn't have modern transportation or funny videos of dogs riding skateboards.

Announcer 1: But without the Name Your Price tool, we wouldn't have easy access to auto insurance options based on our budget. And, well, cars do need wheels. They also need insurance. And insurance never goes flat. Learn more about the greatest tool ever. [00:30:00] Then name your price tool at progressive. com. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates.

Announcer 1: Price and coverage match limited by state law. Not available in all states. 

Kraig: Funny, clever. I look forward to insurance companies running advertising because on the face of it, insurance companies may be the driest form of an advertiser category that there is. There's nothing funny about insurance. It's an awkward purchase to have to make.

Kraig: It's a painful purchase to have to make. Because you really, thankfully, most people never really get a return on their investment for having to buy insurance. So I'm glad that companies like Progressive use absurdity, like, your tires may go flat, but your insurance will never go flat, or words to that effect.

Kraig: I appreciate them keeping me top of mind, and the fact that they're running this many commercials on radio stations, when people are in their cars listening and they're promoting auto insurance. Very, very good. My score, 8 out of 10 if I had to give it. Maybe 7. 5 out of 10. 7. 

Stew: 5 out of 10. Yes. Alright, our number is [00:31:00] 73%.

Stew: So we're hanging right in there together. So basically, Progressive and Home Depot are in the class of 7. 7. 5 out of 10. 73 percent for Progressive, 74 percent for Home Depot. You've given Lowe's 9 out of 10 and Babbel 8 out of 10. Those are inverted just slightly in Audiolytics where Babbel's 81 percent and Lowe's is 79%.

Stew: There was a really clear offer in Babbel and great demonstration. So we're hanging all right there in the same zone. I guess I would ask you at this moment now, having listened to all of them back to back, would you still put Lowe's above 

Kraig: Babbel? I would, because they took advantage of a immediate event and made it relevant to a massive size audience, while also remembering to be very brand specific with an offer that had some urgency.

Kraig: Yes, my final answer. 

Stew: Final answer is Lowe's. Okay, so let's talk about the ones that were not at the same level as Lowe's, what could they 

Kraig: do better? The [00:32:00] Home Depot could think about, in that creative process, broadening the appeal of things to do in summer that you can find at the Home Depot besides potting soil and garden nutrients.

Kraig: There's many other summertime projects going on at somebody's house that you could take advantage of. That's one. Progressive, somewhere along the lines, I need to be reminded, is that insurance going to really cover my tush? Is Progressive Insurance going to be the most reliable people to have my back at a time that it comes in handy?

Kraig: And are they going to be price sensitive and price competitive to me to make it worth my time to be in touch with Progressive to potentially price shop and become a customer? And then what about Babbel? Babbel, clear message. I mean, certainly, like I said, it sounds learning a foreign language is easier than what I thought going into the commercial because of a service like Babbel.

Stew: So my thought on Babbel is, I'm right there with you, and it's [00:33:00] actually the high score here with Audiolytics is, they did a little bit of a trade that Progressive made the full trade on. In my view, pretty much the full trade on, which is progressive is going to entertain us and give us a couple facts about progressive.

Stew: But man, they traded out a lot of opportunity to maybe do some very clear substantiation or positioning with facts and figures to I'm going to entertain you and make you feel good about progressive, which I can understand. And Babel did a little bit less of that. And then I would say Home Depot and Lowe's both are going, I'm coming straight at you with this thing.

Stew: Very true. 

Kraig: And Babel, that wasn't an entertainment in another form. Didn't have to be a laugh out loud moment. But it was when you hear. somebody eloquently speak a foreign language like French, it's an enjoyable experience. 

Stew: We, I will say this about Lowe's just to get into the weeds on audiolytics a little bit because it's such a horse race here with Vavel and Lowe's is that there's 71 subcomponents, as you know, and within substantiation, which is one of the key components, which is why should I trust you, there's several subcomponents.

Stew: We keep that pretty tight to the vest, the definitions and the weight, especially the [00:34:00] weightings based on Performance of these different subcomponents, but I'm saying all this to say there's a nuance and substantiation You really have to be honest about as well known as Messi is there's people that really don't like soccer I've heard that right so you're both Grabbing one audience while shutting off the other shutting off the other so there's nuance And that's where I look at the 79 percent and it's like, man, if there was someone with broader appeal, 

Kraig: Professor Wedwine, I have to say I've been schooled.

Kraig: Well done. Very smart observations. Somehow you took off the white doctor coat and you put on that stuffy elbow covered professor jacket. Yes. And there's like a pipe in there. with you now, too, but hey, good for you, Professor. 

Stew: Thank you. Thank you for coming to Ad Infinitum 101. This didn't feel like a 101.

Stew: This felt like, uh, this is a master's level stuff that we're doing. Heavy 

Kraig: lifting. It is. And I'm glad the audience is along for this. I don't know who gets to sit in this chair next week, but I'm gonna leave the door open for them. [00:35:00] It's gonna be a great episode. And there's going to be a great payoff.

Kraig: There's going to be a number revealed on the number of Sonic branding examples that you played. No, there's no 99, but there's something that's priceless. It is an autographed Audiolytics laminated piece. That goes directly to that chief audio officer that needs it. Fantastic. I can't wait for the next episode.

Stew: Thank you. Based on our conversation about connecting to memory, connecting to emotion, based on your privileged position and your view of audio broadly. from radio into podcasting, and even these examples that we just heard, if you had a couple pieces of advice for the chief audio officers that are 

Kraig: listening, what would that be?

Kraig: Draw into your memory bank first. Think about the times that you have been most swept away by something that you've listened to or experienced. It could be something as simple as your favorite disc jockey playing your favorite song. Or it could be [00:36:00] somebody speaking to you and telling you news about a massive news event of which you're so yearning for information that it comes through.

Kraig: And then imagine the next thing you hear on that radio or that podcast where your brand is being spoken. And in the first five or ten seconds, you tell me why I need to be paying attention to your product or service. It will roll off your tongue. It'll type itself onto your keyboard. It'll immediately come to light.

Kraig: There are tens of millions of people having that shared experience with you. And for the cheapest, most cost efficient form of media, you can make that person your next customer. 

Stew: This has been incredible. And my hat is off to you, Professor Kitchen. Thank you very much for joining Ad Infinitum. My pleasure.

Stew: Thank you for having me, 

Kraig: Professor. 

Stew: And to our listeners, remember, if you like what you've heard today, show us some love with an honest five star review. And if there's an ad you can't get out of your head that you want us to dissect, let me know. It's Stew at OxfordRoad. [00:37:00] com. And again, let me know how many audio logos are in the bit of audio that we played and you will win a custom signed CAO Summit 2024 laminated audiolytics handout.

Stew: And most importantly, until next time, remember to have fun making the ads work.