What We Want Vs What You Need
When you work with brands and C-suites you always go through:
this is what we want
and then you have to work out
what they actually need.
The dance is then - helping senior leaders understand what they want and what they need are often aligned but can feel incredibly different.
Or when what they want is so different it is going to meet what they need at x point in the journey. If those journeys don’t meet, don’t expect to work together successfully.
Most of the smartest in-house operators will connect the dots, if they can’t it is on you as the consultant or advisor to ensure you connect the dots quickly. It is the same for agencies, if you are pitching your services and the wants and needs are so different you won’t land the client and will never become their strategic partner.
To make yourself stand out, you have to connect the dots quickly and concisely and often draw the map and journey together.
The Importance Of Audio & The Connected Attention Needed
The Power Of Audio Is Still Underrated
Have you ever had a jingle stuck in your head?
Have you ever heard a song and thought that’s the x advert? (Thanks to being stuck on a Jet2 flight Jess Glynne is forever burnt into my brain - enjoy her song at the bottom of this post)
Audio is often overlooked as an important component of Branding, Marketing, grabbing and holding attention.
TikTok managed to nail this so much that it is now driving huge success for artists and their songs.
A quick story from my past, I worked at a company and we had an app, the best feature reported by users was the money fall noise when someone donated to their page, it was that dopamine kick, that reward we crave and gave the fundraiser the celebratory feedback they needed.
When it comes to audio you need to remember the attention needed for each format, the way I frame this:
Medium To % Attention Needed
Jingle - 10-15%
Radio - 25%
Music - 25-35%
Podcast - 65%
Phone Calls - 70-80%
Audio Note - 80-85%
Audiobook - 95%+
Jingles from TV ads or a sound from an app require 10-15% of your attention to stick into your mind (a few times and it’s embedded in your brain), ask any artist how important TikTok and music in Reels are for them at the moment.
Likewise, with podcasts, you need something from an intro, the outro, to a slogan you repeat to hold someone’s attention and build affinity with the audience. Once you have this and some repetition it builds a deeper affinity, alongside the para-social relationship that can be formed with the host(s)
My recommendation to many of my clients (coaching or consulting) is to select your mediums and create a jingle or a sound that you will be forever connected with you or your brand.
The same goes for brands I advise, I recommend owning a sound on social and an emoji that you are instantly associated with.
Go and own a sound, a jingle and an emoji.
The Original Song
The Ad
The Art Of Viral While Causing Mischief
Why Gabriel Whaley from MSCHF Sharing His Success Might Be Your Blueprint For Success
MSCHF have had numerous viral hits and this podcast (video above) explains some essential principles many would not share or explain.
Watch to learn:
How an internship at Buzzfeed led to a side hustle and engineering MSCHF
How to think differently to break out
Building something extreme, big and bolder is going to get more appeal and more shares driving more eyeballs
Creating something people cannot buy is bigger than something they can
Why viral hits is more remixing and re-engineering the weird and the wild together
Why you have to change with how the internet shifts and actually works from wanting:
(1) mass social sharing to flood newsfeeds → (2) mass PR sharing → (3) mass influencer sharing → (4) screenshots being shared in the most important group chats (think more than just iMessage & WhatsApp) → the next workings of the web
Enjoy!