Ad Infinitum

Congruent Cues

Stew Redwine Season 2 Episode 10

In Ad Infinitum Season 2, Episode 10 - "Congruent Cues," Stew sits down with Chelsea Campbell, Group Creative Director at Studio Resonate, to explore the science of persuasive audio advertising.

Together, they dissect the alchemy of sound, diving into psychoacoustics, sonic branding, and how congruence in audio drives listener engagement through analysis of top spenders like Progressive, T-Mobile, and The Home Depot.

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Ad Infinitum is Presented by Oxford Road, Produced by Caitlyn Spring & Ezra Fox, mixed & sound designed by Zach Hahn, and written & hosted by Stew Redwine.

Stew Redwine (00:00):
Hit it. Ad Infinitum is the only podcast solely focused on audio ads,

Announcer 1 (00:04):
Advertising

Stew Redwine (00:05):
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. This is season two, episode 10, titled Congruent Cues Exploring the Alchemy of Audio and its particularly potent powers when all the sounds, voices and music of a brand are congruent. And how Audio captivates listeners and drives engagement in an increasingly multi-sensory world. And there's really significant piece of research by sentient decision science that shows there's an 86% correlation between our subconscious emotional response to a sound and our conscious desire to engage with or avoid an experience. That's why it's so important to show up congruently and audio so that people are having the type of emotional response that we want.

(01:00):
We wanna design that and then that that's consistent anytime they hear the sound of our brand. And of course a study we talk about a lot on ad infinitum from Ipsos showing that Sonic brand cues deliver seven times better brand recall, then visual cues, really all other brand cues if you think about it. And that also makes the case that it's so critical that you're consistent, that you're congruent in the way that you show up in audio. And that's why our guest today is Chelsea Campbell, group Creative director at Studio Resonate. Sirius xms in-House Audio Agency. Chelsea is a creative powerhouse in experiential audio driving projects that bring brands to life through innovative soundscapes. Her work spans everything from sonic branding to immersive storytelling, and today we'll unpack her approach to audio as a key branding tool. Chelsea, welcome to Add Infinitum.

Chelsea Campbell (01:54):
Thank you Stu. Thank you for having me. Very happy to be here.

Stew Redwine (01:57):
I'm so happy to have you here today. We're diving into a topic that is invisible but powerful like electricity. I always think of that. You can't see it, but it can kill you. In this case you can't see it, but it can make all the diff, I guess it can kill the performance of your campaign. Like if you don't do it right,

Chelsea Campbell (02:12):
It can kill or make a brand. Yeah.

Stew Redwine (02:15):
Yes, exactly. Let's go positive congruence in audio congruent cues. And this really came up as part of the audio is magic presentation that you put together and our head of accounts and myself attended at SiriusXM Studios in Hollywood earlier this year. Can you give listeners a brief summary of the audio? Is magic presentation, like what is it and then how did you come up with it?

Chelsea Campbell (02:39):
Absolutely. So audio is magic is a live immersive, multisensory experience. So those words are a bit overused, but they genuinely apply to this experience. And in it we reveal the secrets behind the magic of audio and audio marketing. Our audiences, they leave the experience, they leave the room with a better understanding of how audio can help achieve marketing objectives and we try to arm them with fresh thinking to invigorate their brand's audio presence. We do this all in 30 minutes, as I mentioned before. It's live, it's in person within the experience. We break down audio marketing into five categories of sonic id, music, sound design, technology and voice. And within each of those categories we reveal some audio marketing tips and tricks. We explore audio illusions, there's some in-Room magic. And we learn about brands that are really doing audio marketing well. And we do this all without any screens. We've been told that it's a very informative and entertaining experience. But the best part of it is hearing people at the end feel inspired with fresh ideas and there's lots of spontaneous brainstorms that happen in the room, which always feel very natural. And that's exactly the desired outcome.

Stew Redwine (03:53):
Well that's absolutely what I experienced for sure. And I think it is super cool. It's nice that you highlighted yes it's in person, which is awesome. And two, it didn't really dawn on me until you just said it, that there's no screens.

Chelsea Campbell (04:06):
Yeah,

Stew Redwine (04:06):
Like that's interesting. It was completely auditory. Like it was like you had some props, which was cool. I don't wanna give away too much, but there was some cool, like if you get a chance to attend to any chief audio officers and I believe that there's one coming up in New York in October, if you are able to attend it, it's absolutely worth going to experience it yourself.

Chelsea Campbell (04:26):
Yeah, it's intentionally designed to be something a bit different from the marketing presentations that these chief audio officers, CMOs and other senior folks are subject to. I'll say <laugh>, it's been designed to speak to our most senior clients at Temple Industry events. Events like CES Can Lion. And part of our thinking was, well what is missing from these events and where can audio provide that These events are sometimes overly sensorial that they're a bit intense to say the least. And we do a different audio immersive experience every year and we always try to provide something that is at once refreshing and revitalizing while also being, you know, infotainment if you will.

Stew Redwine (05:12):
Oh, for sure. And I think it's experiential because a lot of times in these presentations like I'm very inclined for the practical to like, tell me how does this work boots on the ground. Like I've gotta go back to work on Monday, how do I make this work? And that's what I liked about audio is magic, is it? It's like it's not, let me give you a factor figure on a screen and tell you how something worked on some campaign that I may or may not reveal who the client was. It's like, oh, let me play you this piece of audio and explain to you Sonic Id sound design, voice, music, technology with real world examples. And then like you said, it was a natural lively discussion at the end with the group that I was with. And I think it was like us and then it was like a dozen people from a single brand or a single that's working with a single brand that was at the one that I was at.

(05:59):
And I mean I've been a lot of those situations where, well, does anybody have any questions or anybody want to, anything wanna come up? And it's just, you know, crickets. And this was a lot more, you know, engaging because you just experienced. So what we wanted to do and what I'd talked to you about and I'm grateful that you're willing to do is share a couple of the elements from the audio is magic presentation here on ad infinitum. So I wanna explore that with you and the couple that we talked about, of course we're talking primarily on this episode about congruence. So we're gonna get into that with the ads that we grade about how some massive advertisers are showing up in audio and are they being congruent or are they being incongruent? But on our journey there, I wanted to talk about a couple other elements that do come out in audio is magic as well. And those are psychoacoustics and priming. So why don't we start with Psychoacoustics. Tell me about Psychoacoustics, Chelsea Psychoacoustics

Chelsea Campbell (06:51):
Psychoacoustics, it's, it's as interesting as it sounds

Stew Redwine (06:56):
<laugh>. Yes, exactly.

Chelsea Campbell (06:58):
It's fascinating. Yeah, it's how we can use sound and sound design to mess with people's minds. We can use theater of the mind to paint pictures in people's minds to transport listeners to far away places to make them feel like they are participating in your ad experience through a first person audio lens. But we are also objects of psychoacoustics every single day as we move through the world and we hear sounds around us. So you know, it really is how sound design impacts our perception of the world. And as sound designers we can use psychoacoustics to impact our listeners' perception of their environment and their world.

Stew Redwine (07:40):
Well like it sounds like I'm hearing the pitter-patter of rain. That's such a lovely sound in the show prep. You were telling me, Chelsea, that you are someone who has a positive reaction. Was it to nature sounds in general or is it specifically like terrain sounds?

Chelsea Campbell (07:54):
Well you know, I love nature but rain is what really gets me. I'm a puleo file. I love the sound of rain. It calms me. Yeah, it relaxes me. I love the smell of rain.

Stew Redwine (08:05):
Well what's weird is this rain smells like bacon. Why is that? Why does this rain smell like bacon?

Chelsea Campbell (08:10):
Because it is bacon stew. This is the sound of bacon frying. Psychoacoustics is the key to our intrinsic perception of the world. Psychoacoustics is how we interpret the sounds around us and it impacts everything from, you know, how we feel to our spatial awareness, to our comfort levels.

Stew Redwine (08:32):
It's so much about perception, isn't it? I, I mean it was wild to me that when I'm listening to the rain and thinking it's rain, I'm seeing rain and it sounds a lot like rain. And then as soon as I have that new piece of information, this is bacon. Like I could see bacon. It's just wild how that all works. Boom. Psychoacoustics. So it's trickery. It's using the theater of the mind to, I love that because it's like when you're watching a show and you know if anyone who's had any experience watching behind the scenes or being on sets even it's like just outside the frame is this whole other world. Like it's not what you're seeing happening isn't happening

Chelsea Campbell (09:06):
<laugh>. Oh yeah, the Foley design.

Stew Redwine (09:08):
Yeah. And you, but you experience it so it's so cool that like you can, for instance, this sound of rain is actually the sound of bacon frying. It strikes the appropriate tone and makes us feel and think of the appropriate things. It doesn't matter what the sound quote unquote really is.

Chelsea Campbell (09:24):
Right. And part of that is through priming. It's priming the environment, it's priming the experience. Listeners thought that that was the sound of rain because we were talking about it and because you know, their hearing and their mind were aligned on that and they drew that conclusion and that's the power of priming. And it can have, you know, wonderful impact on your audio advertising, on your audio marketing and it can also be used for, you know, a bit of trickery and a bit of deception.

Stew Redwine (09:53):
And that's the thing, I know we've got another sample we're gonna play here. Was that also the bit that we did in the experience with the cards, with the different words? Was that, is that considered priming or is that something else?

Chelsea Campbell (10:04):
Absolutely, yeah that's priming. That was actually from quite a famous TikTok video and people were hearing a chant and especially in North America they were hearing a lot of it was a football chant from soccer, from a soccer stadium where the whole crowd was chanting something and when this TikTok video was shared, audiences in North America especially we're hearing other things being said. So that was partly priming of the online community. But I think it's also important to think about context here and you know, the English accent of the folks chanting the song was really being misinterpreted partly because it sounded probably a bit foreign to some of the audiences.

Stew Redwine (10:47):
Yeah and it's like the age old thing with song lyrics. Like we built this city on rock and roll when I was a kid. I remember belting it, like jumping on the couch cushions 'cause the floor was lava and I thought it was, we built this city on hot lava. I was like we built this city, we built this city on hot lava <laugh>. So these are cool tools that just when you listen to a lot of audio ads, you know even that shift in the sound from the rain to the bacon fry. And that's one example of many other things that can work like that. And then what's so fascinating to me is if I use my inner observer and watch myself listening to that and then hearing the shift, like even in my own mind I am immediately it sounds more like bacon once I know it's bacon and it sounded more like rain when I thought it was rain,

Chelsea Campbell (11:33):
Doesn't it? Yes,

Stew Redwine (11:34):
Yes. So it's like man that unlocks a lot of really cool creativity. It's just difficult. Oh there's such a gravitational pull just down towards very plain, very simple audio and we'll get more into that. So the other thing, and we kind of just touched on it here, was priming. You've got a great example of priming, let me play that audio clip.

Announcer 2 (11:58):
Green Needle brainstorm. Green Needle Brainstorm.

Stew Redwine (12:12):
Okay, what is going on with the Green Needle brainstorm? Chelsea, what am I hearing there?

Chelsea Campbell (12:17):
You are hearing a very talented senior creative director of studio resonate, Nils Dle who is the author of the audio's Magic Experience. You are hearing him play the exact same audio spot twice, but he's priming us with a different word each time. And then I dunno about you, but when he primed us with Green Needle, I heard Green Needle and when he primed us with brainstorm, yeah it sounded a bit like brainstorming if you know if I'm honest. But it was the same clip.

Stew Redwine (12:47):
Perception is reality. I guess it's kind of like the gold in the blue dress. But that's another great example and there was others like these where you can alter people's perception and you can just think of ways that that could be used in an advertisement to be more creative with your message to get people to go oh and like to listen. So very cool. Like I said, audio is magic is an incredible experience to attend yourself. Chief Audio Officers, I strongly recommend that. And we'll mention how to get in touch with Chelsea and her team at the end of the episode if you want to attend one of those. So we talked earlier about congruence. This whole episode is called Congruent Cues. I really do personally believe that that more than anything is the most important. Like I believe that every brand has a sonic identity already, right?

(13:33):
Just by default to whatever extent it currently existed, it exists, right? Whether that's the sound of their product, the sound of their founder's voice, however they've decided to show up in audio, there's some kind of baseline and then it's a question of you know, how strategic and intentional can you be in designing it further to accomplish a specific goal. But a brand that comes up time and time again for everyone is the Home Depot when it comes to congruence. And I'm late to the party, but in Gina Aisha's sound and marketing episode about the Home Depot Sonic brand, I found out that that song that we all know and love started out as like a single campaign and then they extended it further and further and further. And of course Josh Lucas's voice and their tagline, which has changed a couple times with their consistent, you know, and they commit to it once they've made a change. Home Depot's got a lot of congruence sonically when it comes to their brand. When you think about it and as you guys do your work at Studio Resonate, can you explain congruence in a bit more depth from your point of view?

Chelsea Campbell (14:32):
Yeah, we can think of congruence as when things align across our various senses. So this is a really powerful tool in marketing as we know. And with a brand like the Home Depot, the congruence here is it's like let's all become cites for a minute, right? Let's think about the vo, that famous voice of the brand. What words would you use to describe his voice to you?

Stew Redwine (14:55):
Rugged, trustworthy, confident, inspiring. Those are a few.

Chelsea Campbell (15:00):
Yeah those are exactly what I was thinking. And if I were going to a, if I needed to do some work on my house or on a property and I wanted some guidance or information from somebody that worked in a shop, those are all words that I might use to describe the experience in there, right? Like inside the store it's a bit rugged but you, you trust them, you're in there for a reason. You know, it's these different elements that are congruent with the brand. So we have the voice actors style, we have what his voice and then we've got their sonic anthem, which is, it's gritty, it's powerful, it makes, it feels like it's moving you forward. And then you've got their tagline where Doos get more done. Like that song makes me feel like getting stuff done, you know, it feels like a ballad that you could work to that you could accomplish something to.

(15:45):
And then you have the actual spots themselves. So congruence is the alignment of all of these different elements of a brand. And let's not forget the visuals of the brand. Let's not forget their iconic orange, which as Gina's podcast highlighted was almost a happy accident in how the brand landed on Orange. So it's definitely worth a listen for anyone who's intrigued by what we're talking about. But you know the orange speaks to the safety vests that you see in outdoor construction. It speaks to like safety but it also speaks to creativity. Orange is one of the most creatively inspiring colors. I did not just make that up,

Stew Redwine (16:23):
I know you didn't and it feels right, it's got an aggression to it, you know, where like I think of red is super aggressive then yellow would be more like maybe creative and passive and orange sits there in the middle. And a bit of that caution or safety undertone is also helpful 'cause that is important when you're doing that kind of stuff. For sure. And it's just interesting like you're saying the happy accident with the color in a sense, the happy accident with the song, but once they arrived there and it all locked in, they've been committed to it over time. So in one respect, what I'm hearing you say is congruence is you know, in a multisensory way making sure that you're consistent across all senses. Which Home Depot, you know, whether by design or by accident. A little bit of both. They do Well and then I also, it seems like a piece of it also is like congruence through time that there's a consistency element as well that's important.

Chelsea Campbell (17:15):
Yes. And you mentioned the word commitment that is probably, you know, as important if not more important than the individual assets themselves is the brand's commitment to using them over time but deploying them across multiple marketing channels and reinforcing these elements of the brand through tv, through audio advertising, through social, that's how you create a strong brand sonic ecosystem.

Stew Redwine (17:42):
Yeah and I know you put together an example of like a bizarro World Home Depot spot to sort of illustrate, which I actually think sounds a lot like a lot of folks advertisements where they don't have the strong central core like the Home Depot does. That's so clear on what their sonic identity is and so they show up differently in different places. So let me play this alternate multiverse Home Depot spot and see how it feels to our listeners.

Announcer 1 (18:09):
It's time to turn inspiration into perspiration from planning to progress to perfection. The Home Depot gives you the power to do it yourself and the powerful tools to get it all done. Find the top home improvement brands at the best prices at the Home Depot where doers get more done.

Stew Redwine (18:38):
That's so wild.

Chelsea Campbell (18:40):
Oh that sounds like a confused brand. If ever I heard one <laugh>,

Stew Redwine (18:44):
It's almost like it makes me wanna do that in like conversations with brands to illustrate the point. I mean that's such a great and stark relief. You're like oh they would never do that. Like it's almost like you know, this is apocryphal. I can't even believe that that piece of audio exists, right? The Home Depot would never. And yet I don't think if you have a strongly defined like core, you're gonna find yourself showing up differently all over the place. Even though that's an extreme example.

Chelsea Campbell (19:12):
Yes it's an extreme example that has been used to demonstrate the strength of their brand. But to your point, if we had all of those elements written down on paper, you can see how the confusion may arise and how something like that could get produced because that script on paper not too far off a Home Depot spot the VO let's past an English accent. People trust English accents apparently. And then let's use some sort of like a calming like a string soundtrack because we want people to think of their future home as one of elegance and luxury and the world they can create there. So you know, just by that rationalization you can see how without being intentional and if you don't think about the congruence of your brand on a bigger scale and across all of your channels, mistakes like that can slip through the cracks.

Stew Redwine (20:04):
You did such a great job there of like you know, the rational mind rationalizing the way through to that output. And there's also a case to be made where like you know, maybe strings would be appropriate for Home Depot. And I know as we were talking about, it's like we both already knew about a version of the Home Depot spot 'cause it's striking where they did use strings. And so let me play that right now.

Announcer 3 (20:29):
What kind of person would come here at 5:45 AM Well there's Carly a carpenter just like her dad. There's Juan, he's building a house and a better life. Kenton and Sadie are here because couple that grouts together stays together. Mary's a drama teacher, she'll do anything for her. Students even builds sets before class. Lamar needs a torch and clamps for welding school Ed's putting in a pool for a friend. We all need an ed. That's who's in our parking lot at 5:45 AM Real customers made for doing and at the Home Depot, everything we do we do for them.

Stew Redwine (21:25):
Bravo. It's crazy. That gets me,

Chelsea Campbell (21:29):
I got tingles.

Stew Redwine (21:30):
Yeah it's powerful and beautiful. It's the song, it fits the moment of like the morning and you can see like that's where they would take the same kind of thinking you were going through. But it manifests in that way because they have a North Star because they have their sonic identity defined, they can then bring it to life with strings but they're like no we're not gonna depart from our voice. You know, it's still Josh Lucas but like tonally it's closer to the incongruent example spot in many regards.

Chelsea Campbell (22:02):
Yes. But what I love about what they've done is it was built from a real, not even insight, it was built from a real consumer moment. The people that wait for the stores to open. And that's a special community. You know that if you are in their regularly waiting for the store to open, you nod to the person in the car next to you. I bet there's a little community in Home Depots across America of people who wait for the shops to open. And that's what makes that spot absolutely flawless is that it is the creative strategy is perfectly aligned with the brand and the audience

Stew Redwine (22:37):
Couldn't have said it better myself. Home Depot continues to be the gold standard out there for how to show up in audio with intent and a good strategic thinking behind it. So let's see how a couple other top spenders are showing up in audio. So what we did is we looked at Magellan for top spenders in podcast and media monitors for top spenders in radio to get a sense of who is spending the most in both of those channels and see if they're showing up with congruence across audio. And the two at the top of that list are T-Mobile and Progressive. So if it's all right with you Chelsea, let's get into listening to and grading some ads.

Chelsea Campbell (23:18):
Let's dive in.

Stew Redwine (23:20):
Okay first up here is a national radio spot from T-Mobile.

Announcer 4 (23:24):
Say oh yeah to T-Mobile's go 5G plus plan and stay connected with our studios. Plus get the new Samsung Galaxy S 24 on us when you switch and now it's easier than ever to join T-Mobile with your eligible mat with 24 monthly bill credits for well-qualified customers plus taxing $35 connection charge. Contact us before canceling entire account to continue bill credits or credit stop and balance on acquired finance agreement due bill credits and if you pay off device early tmobile com.

Stew Redwine (23:54):
There we go. First one out the gate and they're off. How about we do this? How about we listen to T-Mobile's podcast spot or do you want to comment? Go ahead.

Chelsea Campbell (24:02):
I'd say the music bed is good for a music listening environment. It leans into the good mood that people are seeking when they listen to the radio. Yeah, let's listen to the podcast one.

Stew Redwine (24:14):
That's what I'm thinking too 'cause I mean we're really looking at this with this congruence lens. Let's look at it like that. Then we'll get at our measuring sticks.

Chelsea Campbell (24:21):
Yeah,

Stew Redwine (24:22):
Okay, here we go. So that's recent radio ad from VX that we pulled that's got pretty heavy rotation. And then we've got a podcast ad here. Here we go

Announcer 5 (24:33):
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Announcer 6 (24:43):
With T-Mobile you can get tons of benefits and still save because nobody likes having to choose. It's like getting romance and sci-fi.

Announcer 5 (24:49):
I love you. Also, I'm a robot

Announcer 6 (24:53):
At T-Mobile. You can get the benefits you want and still save on every plan versus at and t and Verizon. See how with our savings calculator at T-Mobile dot com slash switch plus switch and keep your phone, we'll pay it off up to $800 via a virtual prepaid card in 15 days. Qualifying unlock device credit service and timely redemption required card has no cash access and expires in six months. See T-Mobile dot com.

Stew Redwine (25:14):
Okay, there we have it. That is a podcast ad and a radio ad from T-Mobile. Are they congruent Chelsea?

Chelsea Campbell (25:20):
Are they the same brand? Stu <laugh>, I'll tell you what was congruent in them. Both. Wall to wall vo.

Stew Redwine (25:26):
Yes. And about 50% disclaimer.

Chelsea Campbell (25:28):
Yes. Yes. So there's some consistency. I liked the little bit of, they did a bit of like world building in the podcast ad there was a little bit of sound design. They did bring in a music bed and then they squished in in both of the spots. They squished in the Sonic ID before the short novel of a disclaimer. And it just felt like too much information was trying to be communicated and I couldn't have told you it was T-Mobile. If there was no brand mention or Sonic Id absolutely not. And that's what we're talking about with congruence. You should be able to get a sense of the brand from every single touch point. And with those examples, I couldn't have told you which brand it was or even what vertical it was for without the brand mention and it didn't feel like the spot was built around the Sonic ID and a good sonic ID should just be the bed of a sonic ecosystem that the rest of the creative is built from.

Stew Redwine (26:24):
I agree with you. I mean they were idiosyncratic, you know in the first one, the radio one, it sounded like there was some Spanish in the middle of it. I got the sense perhaps for a Spanish speaking audience even from the vo but they just didn't match up nicely. And it's funny because I've been seeing some like it's on OTT so it's on streaming so I'm not sure if it's on television as well, but I've been seeing these T-Mobile spots where they have the two actors from Suits and they sing the Sonic logo. They go do do do do do with their voice. And I feel like I've seen another spot where they had people do that and I thought well that's kind of interesting. Like that would be a cool motif to roll out. But then wildly different than what you and I just listened to in those two different spots.

(27:08):
You can just kind of see the thinking behind it is like we've gotta crank out something for audio. I agree with you in the second one has that bit about like they're trying to be clever with the Sci-fi and the romance. So it's like you know they do attempt that that dings them from an audio lytics standpoint. So audio lytics score wise, the Radio one got a 67% and the podcast one got a 68%, which is about what I would expect is pretty typical, pretty average. Everybody falls right in about 65 to 75%. Our target for all in market creative is a 90% and they just lacked clarity. They lacked simplicity and they also made this massive trade in the amount of time that they spent. Like if you take the second one in particular, you take the disclaimer plus that creative playful setup, which does have, there's a case to be made for that. But like you take that out, you take the disclaimer out, there's not much information getting transmitted and it's not super clear who it is that's talking to me anyway. So there's room for improvement, definitely for T-Mobile I think just from a messaging standpoint, but then like what you and I are talking about from a congruent standpoint, these don't even sound like the same brand other than you just have the do do do do do. Like that would be the only thing that would really make, you know,

Chelsea Campbell (28:22):
And it's such a shame because they are a brand that has a well-known Sonic ID and they've built equity in it and like with that OTT spot with the folks from Suits, like they are thinking about using it in creative ways but they're just not extending that across all the platforms. And with these two spots they're trying to do too much within each of them and they would be better off doing less with more spots, you know, do some brand building in one spot and then use another spot more strategically to drive the performance messaging home.

Stew Redwine (28:55):
With that said, if you were gonna assign them a score, are we doing letters? Are we doing numbers? What is the Chelsea Campbell audio scoring metric? Is it out of 10? Most people go with out of 10 but you could also do it out of a hundred. You could use colors.

Chelsea Campbell (29:08):
Let's do out of 10.

Stew Redwine (29:09):
Okay,

Chelsea Campbell (29:10):
I'll do a color and a number. The radio spot is an aggressive purple. I won't say magenta. You know the brand color? It's an aggressive purple 'cause it's a bit off and I think I'd give it a five if I'm being generous.

Stew Redwine (29:23):
Alright, that's a generous five with some aggressive purple. What about podcast?

Chelsea Campbell (29:27):
The podcast spot is a murky sea monster green and they can have a five and a half.

Stew Redwine (29:34):
Alright, this is the best. Thank you for playing the game. It's like one of my favorite quotes of all time is from Ready Player one where he goes, thank you Paral, thank you for playing my game. That's all I want. I just want people to play the game with me. So thank you for playing the game. That's all we need to do. Just play.

Chelsea Campbell (29:48):
Yes. Life's too short to knock. Oh

Stew Redwine (29:51):
Come on. Life is to be lived. Let's have fun. And while we're having fun we also wanna make sure we're properly insured. And that's why this next segment is brought to you by Progressive. Let's listen to a couple ads from Progressive Insurance. This is how they showed up in radio recently. Here we go.

Announcer 7 (30:06):
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Stew Redwine (30:37):
Okay, there we go. Progressive. Doing what they do, having fun with it in radio. Let's listen to the podcast ad and then we'll talk about 'em. Here we go.

Announcer 8 (30:47):
This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. What if comparing car insurance rates was as easy as putting on your favorite podcast With Progressive it is just visit the progressive website to quote with all the coverages you want. You'll see Progressive's direct rate, then the tool will provide options from other companies. So you can compare. All you need to do is choose the rate and coverage you like. Quote today a progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust progressive, progressive casualty insurance company and affiliates. Comparison rates not available in all states or situations. Prices vary based on how you buy.

Stew Redwine (31:26):
And there we have the podcast one. So I mean straight out the gate I feel like progressives coming in with a stronger offering. What do you think Chelsea?

Chelsea Campbell (31:34):
Definitely a stronger offering. I have a question about the podcast one. Do you know if that was the host doing a host read?

Stew Redwine (31:40):
It looked like it was from all I can tell that is the host of the Spooked podcast doing a host read. If it's not the host it would be a producer, but I believe it was the host.

Chelsea Campbell (31:51):
Okay, cool. What I loved about those two ads is that they were serving different functions. I thought the radio ad was excellent. I'm gonna give that an eight, maybe an eight and a half. I thought they did a really good job of reaching the demographic driver parents. The VO performance was notch. And the thing with car insurances, especially when you're advertising on radio or streaming audio is that you can't really talk about the thing you're insuring 'cause you can't use any sound effects that might jar the driver or create a situation that makes the driver or the passengers feel unsafe. So you don't wanna play any sirens or anything for obvious reasons. So what was great about that spot was that they created this daydreaming moment. So you can imagine just driving along and you're sort of daydreaming and that's where I went with the spot.

(32:39):
I thought it was a really good use of the medium good script, clear audio production, you know for radio that was clean, it wasn't too cluttered and it was doing a brand building upper funnel job. While in the podcast we had a host read it sounded like it was a verbatim script so it sounded like they were reading the exact script provided by the client and it served a different function. And for that I think it's an example of a brand using their different channels to reach different marketing goals and different KPIs. And I think that's a great use of their marketing budget personally.

Stew Redwine (33:17):
And what color would you give the radio spot and then what color and number would you give the podcast spot?

Chelsea Campbell (33:23):
The radio spot was a sky blue because it had be daydreaming up in the clouds and the podcast spot it was gray 'cause it was quite black and white.

Stew Redwine (33:31):
Okay. And what number would you give? You gave eight to their radio. What do you give to their podcast? Creative.

Chelsea Campbell (33:36):
Let's give it a 6.5 because I think the host read was good for quite dry content.

Stew Redwine (33:44):
Alright, so blended you give it a eight and a 6.5. So we've got 14 and a half. So an average of about seven and a quarter Audio lytics standpoint, these two ads scored a 70% and a 71%. So they outperformed the T-Mobile spots 'cause they are more clear, they've got a clear offering and information in there. There's more that could be done, you know, they could be tightened up, but they're definitely stronger than the T-Mobile spots. And I think as you highlighted, you can just, they're being congruent in the fact that you can feel that they're being intentional where they're showing up that like that's kind of my takeaway from this is that Progressive is being intentional and T-Mobile does not feel as intentional. And so to me it's like they're way ahead in that regard even though it's not like they're not using a consistent song, they're not using a consistent voice.

(34:34):
There isn't a consistent tagline, there isn't a mnemonic, but they're honoring where the ad is showing up. And there is a through line sort of in the what if setup of the two ads where the one is going, you could save a bunch and that would be life changing. Let me tell you about that potential scenario. And then what if switching your insurance was as easily as switching to your favorite podcast. So they kind of, both of them tee you up with like, let me get you to think about this progressive. But like you pointed out, the one feels like, oh this was designed to show up in radio here and this was designed to show up in podcast here where the T-Mobile spots are like man, these feel like they were kind of thrown together.

Chelsea Campbell (35:12):
Yeah, and I think this is a great lesson for all the chief audio officers who are listening and wondering, oh, we don't have a mnemonic, we don't have the jingle, we don't have a Sonic id. How quickly can we build one? How quickly can we implement one? Here you have a brand that has a very well established sonic ID with solid equity invested in it. And as you said Stu, they're not intentional about how they're showing up in each of these different platforms. Just squishing the sonic ID in the middle. And then you have another brand that doesn't have a sonic ID and is scoring higher than everyone else is creatively a bit more brave, a bit more strategic and a bit more thoughtful about how they're showing up in audio.

Stew Redwine (35:51):
And it's like that's the big takeaway for Chief Audio Officers is not necessarily setting the bar at straight out the gate. You need to be the Home Depot. It's you can be thoughtful and you can be strategic and intentional regardless of where your current sonic brand is in its evolution.

Chelsea Campbell (36:09):
Couldn't agree more.

Stew Redwine (36:09):
Well Chelsea, this has been a ton of fun. I know there was one other spot we were supposed to talk about and I'm gonna bring it in here at the end for you to talk a bit more about Studio Resonate, the work you do, this patron spot, and then how people can contact you and what they would need to do if they wanted to come experience audio is magic for themselves. So before you take us on that whole feel, let's listen to this patron spot and then we'll get outta here.

Announcer 1 (36:38):
Paloma, here's to a summer made sensational tequila patron. The perfect way to enjoy Patron is responsibly copyright 2022 imported by Patron Spirits Company, coral Gables, Florida Tequila, 40% A BV.

Stew Redwine (37:04):
Lovely. All right, I felt like I was there. So why don't you use that spot to uniquely segue into telling us more about Studio Resonate and how to experience audio as magic for ourselves.

Chelsea Campbell (37:14):
Smooth. Yes, I'd love to. <laugh> <laugh>. So this spot was, let's just say it was an award-winning spot. I'm very pleased to share that and a fantastic situation around here is that the creative concept for this spot was built around the product and the platform. So it was for streaming audio platforms. So from there we can assume that most people are listening with headphones. Let's keep that in mind. And the client bought a 3D audio product. So as you know, 3D audio is where the spot is built with a spatialized sound design. And the important thing about that being baked in from the beginning of the ideation stage is that 3D audio spots really do best when the script has as few words as possible to allow the sound design to breathe and to tell this rich story through Theater of the Mind. So in this spot we played with the Psychoacoustics through sound design.

(38:08):
That's why we all felt like we were at this lovely summer garden party. We could hear the chatter and the jazz in the background. And then we brought in a little bit of a SMR with the softness of the voice and the VO was designed to make you feel as relaxed as if you'd just been handed a Paloma at the actual garden party. So it transported us through Theater of the Mind. Her read was beautiful. And there's an example of how to do a disclaimer if you know you're gonna have to have a disclaimer in your spot, bake it in from the beginning, give the vo artist enough time to make that piece of information as enjoyable as the beginning of your spot and leave your audience on a warm and fuzzy note. Don't just like throw on a disclaimer in a different voice and gram it in because you wanted to make the most of the other 25 seconds. So yeah, I just think with 3D audio, this minimal script and the Maximum Sound Design and the Psychoacoustic Play of Environment around us, it's one of my favorite spots that Studio Resonate has produced recently.

Stew Redwine (39:11):
Well thank you for sharing it with us and it's a great example of being very intentional from the start. You make a great point on the disclaimers because we had, you know, the T-Mobile spots, both of those where about halfway through the ad chose to shift gears into disclaimer land, which I also don't wanna like completely disparage that, where it's like, you know, sometimes I think we can be too harsh as advertising professionals on something sounding broadcast or whatever where Jane and Joe Public probably are more gracious or not bothered or it doesn't, you know, it's like it's not one of the seven deadly sins, but you showed with this ad how you can be intentional and just resisting that pole of gravity down and actually do something different with it, which is super cool. So if people wanna contact you and talk to Studio Resonate or if they wanted to attend audios magic, how do they do that?

Chelsea Campbell (39:58):
Yeah, so definitely check out audios magic.com. We've tried to transform a little bit of the illusionary magic into a web experience and there's a sign signup form on there if you have interest in attending one of our future sessions. And of course visit studio resonate.com for more information about the wonderful team within SiriusXM Media.

Stew Redwine (40:18):
Awesome, thank you so much Chelsea. This was a very inspiring episode. There's so much opportunity. I really believe that to really be intentional with audio and I do think audio is uniquely, it's so easy to not be super intentional. It's easy to just crank stuff out. So it's like you only have to go like an inch further to actually make work that is like interesting and cool because it's just so easy to go like, oh, whatever. It's just talking points and we'll just have somebody record it. But I think these were great examples that we went through and like I said, for all the chief audio officers listening, definitely go to audio as magic. Absolutely. At least go look at the site. And Chelsea, again, thank you so much for being on ad infinitum.

Chelsea Campbell (41:02):
Thank you Stu, it's been a pleasure and I agree the potential with audio is infinite.

Stew Redwine (41:07):
I love that. Thank you Chelsea. The potential with audio sure is infinite and that's why we'll keep coming back to add infinitum. Thanks again for being on the show today and sharing your wealth of knowledge. And for our listeners, you can find out more about Chelsea's work at Studio resonate by visiting SiriusXM's website. And remember, if you like what you heard today, show us some love with an honest five star review and let me know if there's an ad you want us to feature on the show or an aspect of audio advertising you want us to cover. You can email me directly at stew@oxfordroad.com, that's STE w@oxfordroad.com and also visit magellan.ai/infinitum to sign up for a free demo of the Magellan platform. That's what we use to analyze the top spenders and podcasts for the show. So you can go to magellan.ai/add infinitum to get a free demo of the Magellan podcast platform. And one more thing before you go. We had Oscar surrender on from Wonder Craft on the last episode and he took a Toyota ad that we had analyzed and took it into the Wonder Craft platform to improve it using their technology all the way from the copywriting through the sound effects, the music and the voices and had a lot of fun with it. And so with no further ado, here's the result.

Announcer 9 (42:28):
Well howdy there folks. Let me tell you about something special we got down here on Old Toyota Ranch. You see picking out an SUV is a lot like choosing a good horse. You want one that's gonna be there for you through thick and thin rain or shine. Now them Toyotas, they're just like our most trusted speeds round these parts reliable as the day is long and they keep their value better than a prize winning stallion. That's why they're the number one resale value brand for 2024 according to them. Folks over at Kelly Blue Book, whether you're looking at that newly spruced up Land Cruiser, the roomy Grand Highlander, or even the Nimble RAV4 available in regular hybrid and that newfangled plug-in hybrid, you're getting yourself a trusty companion for the long haul.

Announcer 10 (43:11):
Remember partner when you saddle up with a Toyota, you ain't just buying a ride for today, you're investing in a horse that'll still fetch a pretty penny when it comes time to trade her in down the road. So mosey on over to buy@toyota.com and see what kind of deal you can. Rust up Toyota, let's hit the trail and go places.

Stew Redwine (43:32):
There you have it. That was a lot of fun. Thank you Oscar and the entire team at Wonder Craft. And that was just playing around in Wonder Craft for a few minutes to work on that Toyota ad. I liked a few things in there, the sound design, the music, the different voices, all to get engagement up. So much to explore with Wonder Craft. We've been using them a lot here at Oxford Road and I recommend you check them out@wondercraft.ai. And until next time, remember to have fun making the ads work.


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