Voice over is all around us. Well done voice over can be noticeable and recognizable, but its more often the bad that you notice more. If you’ve ever listened to an audio book orated by a dull and boring reader then you know what we mean! This month in the blog we wanted to spend a little time talking about why voice over is so important for brands, radio stations, commercials and the many other places that it is used.
Voice over = Branding
Agencies, companies and individuals alike are always branding themselves. Whether you know it or not, you have an individual “brand” that you develop in your everyday life through how you work, what you do, and how you say things. It’s easy to think of branding simply as a logo and maybe a color scheme, but there is so much more.
The voice of any company or person is just as much a part of their brand as their creative design is. A great example of this would be the insurance company, Allstate. If you spend much time watching television, its likely that you’ve seen one of Allstate’s many commercials over the last couple years, advertising their “safe driving bonus check”. In these commercials they have captured the power of using a unique voice, in a fun and creative way, to develop their brand and communicate their message. Here’s an example of one other there “safe driving bonus check” commercials.
Allstate has done a great job of establishing a voice that people recognize and associate with their company. Now when you hear that voice on the radio, from the other room in your house, or anywhere else, you immediately make the connection to Allstate. Not only that, but if you are like me, you appreciate the voice and therefore make a positive association with the brand, which is the sentiment that all brands, companies and individuals alike, are after.
Voice over captures attention
As I mentioned in the opening, voice over, like anything, can be done very poorly or very well. Voice over has the power to either turn people away or draw them in. The power of great voice over is the ability to draw an audience into a message that you want them to hear. When I think about a great example of this my mind immediately goes to Morgan Freeman.
Morgan Freeman may have one of the most used voices in the world. His voice has become commonly used for the voice of God in many movies, and his sound has become synonymous with that of all things good and trustworthy. When companies choose his voice they are immediately gaining a captive and trusting audience, which provides them with their best chance to have their message heard. A captive and trusting audience is something that we all desire, and great voice over has the power to make this possible.
Conclusion
As you can probably tell by now, at Longtrain Productions we get pretty excited about all things voice over. Whether its radio voice over, commercial voice over or anything in between, our passion is helping brands, companies and individuals share their message in the best way possible. Voice over is such a powerful tool for many more reasons than the two we talked about today. So if you are looking to capture the attention of an audience and communicate trust, then give us a call today and let us show you first hand the power of voice over done right!
