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Audio Branding: The Hidden Gem

with Jodi Krangle

Introduce yourself.
My voiceover journey began with singing —since around the time I started talking. (It’s still up for debate as to which I started first!) Music has always been a way our family connects. When I was little, my dad would pull out his trusty guitar and my mom would sing to my sister and I at bedtime.

Fast forward to 1993. Through gaming (Dungeons and Dragons, to be exact), I was introduced to “Filk” music—the music that’s played at science fiction/fantasy conventions. In 1994, I joined two friends from the fandom world to form an acoustic band called Urban Tapestry. In our time together, we’ve headlined at music conventions in Canada, the U.S., and Europe.

Here are some fun facts about me:

* I was honored to be the Winner of the 2018 SOVAS Award for Outstanding Narration Demo. (That's the voice over Academy Awards. 😉 )

* I’m a filker! My all-female, acoustic band, Urban Tapestry is pretty well-known in the Filk scene (science fiction- / fantasy-themed music).

* I’m a self-taught computer nerd. I sold computer hardware back when the 386SX was shiny and new. (Wow, am I showing my age!)

* My love of computers led to my discovery of this mind-blowing thing called the internet back in the early 1990s. That led me into web design and the creation of a songwriting resource called The Muse’s Muse that I ran from 1994 until 2016.

* I started doing search engine optimization and internet marketing work back when banner ads were all the rage. (I’m getting older by the second . . . )

* If I could have a chip in my head keeping me connected to the Internet, I’d totally do that. I’m just about constantly connected (which is how I’m able to respond to emails so quickly)!

In case you’re wondering, yes, I’m a grown woman who (still) loves comic books and D&D. Think of me as a smart, wry, Tina Fey-like, post-apocalyptic warrior princess leading an army of Dr. Who and Firefly fans in an epic battle cry.

"If you're not paying as much attention to the way your brand sounds as you are to the way it looks, you're doing it a disservice and not making as deep a connection with your audience as you could."

-Jodi Krangle

Share an experience that has shaped who you are today.
My first voiceover work was in 1995 when I spent a year in a volunteer position with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) creating books on tape. And by tape, I mean real “tape.”—reel to reel, baby. Several years later, I took the leap to venture out on my own, and boy, has it been rewarding.

I’ve done voiceovers in the healthcare, corporate, hospitality, political, and non-profit sectors, among others. I tend to stick to the commercial and corporate narration lane of voice overs - and my ultimate goal of making other people money with my voice, led me to discussing audio branding - something I knew I was contributing to with my voice.

My highly satisfied clients include Dell, Bose, BBVA, Subway, Mitre, Unisom, Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital, Kraft, Travel Alberta, HGTV, and more.
Tell us about your podcast audience.
My typical audience is those who work in sound who want to know how to explain to the people they work with, why sound is important - along with advertising/marketing professionals who are hearing this buzzword of "audio branding" or "sonic branding" a lot more now and want to know what it's about.

I also happen to have some folks listening who are fellow voice talent wanting to understand more about the larger picture their voices are contributing to. But I also reach people who are just interested in the subject of how to understand how sound affects us in our daily lives.
I talk about all sorts of things from podcasting (yeah - pretty meta. 😉 ), to music, to advertising & marketing, to audio branding (yes), to storytelling & public speaking, to how the medical profession is using the sound of our voices to diagnose our physical ailments, or how the beeps in hospitals are killing us, or how films make movies with noiseless props, or how we're healing ourselves with sound (binaural beats, ASMR,etc.), or how machines are learning how to create music and sing, or how the universe isn't as silent as we think, and a whole host of other topics. The power of sound is a fascinating subject and I know I've only scratched the surface!
What makes your podcast unique?
Keeping a consistent sound in how you present your company really is the “hidden gem” of marketing. But audio or sonic branding influences us in many different ways and in many different places within our lives. I’ll be exploring that in this podcast, both with my own observations and by interviewing knowledgeable professionals in the field of advertising, marketing, music and science.

Voice overs are what I love (I've been doing this over 15 years full time now) - but I also want to do my best to raise all boats for those of us who work in sound. Audio shouldn't be the after thought in a production - and it often is. It's unfortunate - because paying attention to the sound early on - making it equally as important as the visuals - can make a so so production into something truly outstanding - because it'll reach us on a deep, emotional level. (You think I'm making this up? Try watching a movie without the sound on and see how emotionally invested you are in what's happening on the screen. Not much, am I right? I'm not a horror fan. If I turn off the sound on a horror movie, I can watch it just fine. 😉 )

Vinnie Potestivo, Editor-in-Chief of
I Have A Podcast®

Vinnie Potestivo,
Editor-in-Chief of I Have A Podcast®

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