Audio’s Rule of Thirds with Rhapsody Voices’s Mike Jensen
We’ve got a jam-packed edition of the Influencer this week, but first, we’d be remiss not to address the attempted assassination of Former President Donald Trump this past weekend.
What the world witnessed Saturday was shocking but sadly, no surprise. From what we know, this heinous act of violence was carried out by a sole deranged individual. And yet, the culmination of rhetoric coming from all sides of the political spectrum are undoubtedly a factor here. Words matter! Saturday’s events are the most extreme version of what happens when words send feelings and emotions spiraling out of control. Sometimes we forget that we’re all members of the human race; including those who may have divergent ideas and values from our own. Addressing differing opinions while maintaining human decency is what we strive for on behalf of Oxford Road here in the Influencer and on the Media Roundtable podcast.
As marketers, we must support building bridges across our differences and preserving fair-minded discussion in the media landscape in an effort to reduce the likelihood of tragic events like this from happening again. We do this mainly through the corporate language of “Brand Safety and Suitability.” This is best represented by our advocacy for the Civility Score as a key metric in podcasting, as a measure of personal attacks in sponsorable content. Only through civil discourse can we, as President Biden so accurately asked, “lower the temperature in our politics” and focus on progress.
Stepping off the soap box, we do have a great edition of the Influencer this week; our Ad Infinitum superhost Stew Redwine sits down with special guest—Mike Jensen, CEO of Rhapsody Voices—to chat about the “Rules of 3” pertaining to audio and advertising.
Audio is replete with 3’s: First, there’s production: voice-over, sound design, and music. Second, there’s the classic story structure of beginning, middle, and end. Of course third, there’s the timeless rhetorical appeals: pathos, logos, and ethos. Mike adds a fourth dimension: the Host, the Audience, and the Sponsor. With all these forces at play in audio advertising, how can marketers make heads or tales of things to get the best ad for their buck?
“We really want to deliver on the connectivity between the host, the sponsors, and the audience.”
- Mike Jensen, CEO of Rhapsody Voices
Mike channels his inner audio advertising guru to come up with 3 takeaways for forging connections with brands to make the host-read ads work.
🔑 Authenticity is Key: Authenticity in host-read ads is paramount. A host should be able to demonstrate their genuine connection to the product—otherwise, why are they reading the ad?
👌 Simplicity: For Mike, authenticity goes hand-in-hand with simplicity. For example, if a Starbucks ad has 20 potential value propositions, the host shouldn’t try to highlight all of them. Instead, they should focus on one or two things, like perhaps new summer drinks and caffeine-free options. This way, the host can elaborate on what they genuinely like about the product.
📣 Clear Call to Action: Everyone knows an ad works best when it has a call to action. However, not all CTAs are equal. Triple down on having a clear, concise, and persuasive CTA, and triple-check the copy to make sure it’s solid. After all, a read is only as good as the copy presented.
Check out this Ad Infinitum episode for more valuable insights from these two major players in the audio space. Plus, you won’t want to miss everyone’s favorite segment; the air-check ad ratings!