Branding Your Business With Audio Production

Audio branding refers to the specific sounds, music or jingle associated with a company or product. In the spirit of this topic, let’s address the earworm. What exactly is this hideous term? The earworm is the song that plays in a loop (in your mind) long after the song is over.  When it comes to business, this could come in the form of  a voice spot, a song or even just a melody or "hum".

Let’s experiment, what happens when I say the following words:

-Nationwide

-Ricola

-Farmers

Most of those who were tested responded in the following ways:

Nationwide

Response: is on your siiiiide 

Ricola: EVERY SINGLE PERSON said Riiiiiiicoooooolaaaaaaa

Farmers: many sang "we are farmers...bumbuttump bum bum bum bum "

This is essentially branding a company with sound. So, in the spirit of audio branding, let’s review the top 10 songs that have stood the test of time and have possibly made its way into your ear for the rest of the day (earworm):

1.       We Will Rock You : Queen

2.       The Addams Family: TV Theme Song

3.       Tequila: The Champs

4.       Born in the U.S.A: Bruce Springsteen

5.       Oh, Pretty Woman: Roy Orbison

6.       Walking on Sunshine: Katrina & The Waves

7.       Roxanne: The Police

8.       Brown Eyed Girl: Van Morrison

9.       Don’t Stop Believin’: Journey

10.   We Built This City: Starship

When it comes to audio production for businesses, it is imperative that the branding of your company be handled by a professional team. To learn more or to listen to some sampling tv and radio spots from a professional a/v production company, check out this site.

Voice Over Talent Production- TV and Radio

One of the things that many people do not really sit down and think about is: Voice Talent. It is absolutely incredible the number of marketing and advertising commercials that have voice overs attached. 

What is an actual voiceover and how does it work?

Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non-diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentations.^[1] The voice-over may be spoken by someone who appears elsewhere in the production or by a specialist voice actor. It is pre-recorded and placed over the top of a film or video and commonly used in documentaries or news reports to explain information. (reference found on Wikipedia)

In many instances, these talented professionals that are looking to be in feature films and "make it big", are represented and in an acting union of some sort. Traditionally these are not the people you would be looking for to speak in a local ad or spot. However, non union professionals are everywhere and working in studios across the country. Many of these hidden diamonds are the voices behind radio and televisions commercials and ads that we hear everyday. Without us knowing it, these people are in our cars, our bedrooms and our living rooms every single day (not literally, of course).
If you feel like you have what it takes to record yourself for a living, then you owe it to yourself to contact an audio video production company to inquire about it. 

A great resource for more information or to listen to a sampling of different speaking styles and techniques, click here.