In the Clubhouse: The Power of Digital Audio For Customer Engagement - Part 2

“If you were thinking more towards the sonic branding aspect of finding a specific sound or a musical tone that represents the company, the way that I like to approach it is, what don’t you sound like? Because sometimes that’s too obtuse of an idea to think about. But like, if you know of something that’s your competition, maybe they have a sound and you go, I’m not this sound because I don’t like this. I don’t know. I just wanted to put that out there, that recognizing your competition, and also to Ahmed’s point, asking your customers, what sounds do you portray? So again, I’m going into the more of the sonic branding element of it, but I just wanted to put that out there.” -- Jeanna Isham

This episode’s the second half of my discussion with panelists Ahmed Bouzi, Jeanna Isham, Audrey, Arbeeny, and Steve Keller in The Power of Sound Club on Clubhouse about the Power of Digital Audio, as we discuss what voice AI might mean for voiceover artists, where companies looking to take advantage of sonic branding might want to start, and how social media and marketing algorithms are making reaching out to customers both easier and more of a challenge than ever before.

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Your Brand is Your Brand

The second half starts off with a question from Xavier, a voiceover artist and actor who's looking to utilize his talent for AI and synthetic voices. We talk about the Open Voice Network and innovative voice-cloning companies like Respeecher, and our quartet of panelists offer their advice. "At the end of the day,” Steve says, “your brand is your brand. So any and all of these things that you're doing that become part of a resume could potentially make you bankable.” Audrey adds “the one thing that I would say that I'd be a little careful with is like, let's say you're associated with one brand and you're on camera for them. And then you're on all of their media, your their voice. That might limit you from being somebody else's voice because you're too associated, you know what I mean?”

Knowing Your Tools

Jeff takes the stage for the next question, as he’s curious about where a company that hasn’t invested in audio branding before might start. We talk about the different resources that are available, and which forms of sonic marketing are the best fit for particular industries. “My general guidance,” Ahmed explains, “is to educate yourself about the space, but always start with your customers and ask yourself the question, how do I use this tool? And that's why the education comes in, is you need to know what tools are out there. How do you use these various tools or one of these tools just to start?"

How Are We Using Sound?

Another observation comes from Cheryl, who notes how easy it is, in an online world driven by algorithms and metrics, for advertisers to alienate their customers with clumsy marketing. Ahmed agrees with her and shares his thoughts on the importance of diversifying ad campaigns to reach out to different categories of clients, and Steve notes that it all starts with considering how your brand intersects with your customers' lives and how they actually relate to it. “Just take your brand,” he adds, “and start thinking about what are all the places where a consumer can hear your brand and then start asking yourself, how are we showing up there? How are we using sound right now?”

Episode Summary