Tag: audio

Radio is Alive and Well…in Belleville?

Back in 2006, something very strange happened. The story was relayed to me by family friend Neal Stoll. At the time Neal was a national account manager for Saputo. His account was Shoppers Drug Mart which was just starting to expand more into food. Saputo was putting a national program in place to supply all…


Melody & Timbre: A Brand Needs Both

There are a number of sonic logos that tend to be heavy on timbre but light on melody. It’s great to have unique and engaging sounds, but they don’t always stick with the public on an emotional level. We talked about this a while back with Netflix as an example. Compelling sounds are great, but…


Your Voice: Is Bigger Better?

I didn’t think I would be bringing up the Mario movie here, but bear with me. When the trailers were first released, there was a lot of comment about the voices. The most obvious was probably Mario. In the 80s he was American. Then in the mid-90s his voice was Italian. Now he’s American again….


Male or Female Voice: A Discussion

I kind of see this as the third part in a blog trilogy. A few months ago we started exploring the increasingly irrelevant gender binary in the voiceover and branding worlds. In the following blog we took it a step further by looking more specifically at non-binary voices. This time we continue the exploration with…


No One is Bigger Than the Brand

When it comes to crafting a sonic identity, no one person is bigger than the brand. Not the CMO, not the customer or client, not you, and especially not me. One of the great things about sonic branding is the opportunity to create without your ego in tow. You’re not expressing yourself. You’re expressing the…


Building an Audio Logo: Loyalist College

Loyalist College recently did a huge overhaul of their visual identity as well as reassessed their position in the market. The time was right for an audio identity. This was very exciting because in their 50+ year history, Loyalist had never developed any audio strategy or assets. Fortunately when I entered the picture, most of…


The Importance of Sounding Authentic

I don’t know if people are sick of talking about COVID, but it was/is a crisis that taught us a lot, and there’s still lots more to unpack. Several months ago we talked about crisis-proofing your brand and building emotional depth through the use of sound. Something that I don’t think has been discussed enough…


5 Reasons Your Audio Ads Are Underperforming

The average person will tell you there are a lot of bad ads out there. A professional will tell you there are a lot of ineffective ads out there. From local mom-and-pop shops to multi-billion dollar corporations, so many businesses are throwing money into the ether and the airwaves without knowing why or if it’s…


Male or Female Voice: How About Neither?

Last time we talked about getting away from the male/female binary in voiceover. But the conversation didn’t end there. The blog generated some great comment and discussion which I’d like to address and expand on here. I’d like to start with one of my favourite comments which came from voice actor Mike Tobin. “…many clients…


Male or Female Voice: Does it Even Matter Anymore?

Does this sound familiar? We need a voiceover. Should it be a male or female voice? Female. OK. Next item. There are a couple of problems here. First of all, the voiceover is not an afterthought. It is the emotional core of your project, and it sets the tone for everything else. Quite often visuals…