Adlanders pick their favourite audio ads
To celebrate The Future of Audio digital event, we asked advertising experts to nominate their favourite audio ads (which of course, they had nothing to do with…)
McCain – “Differences”
Pam Myers, director, Rorschach Radio
When it comes to relationships, I’m the world’s least romantic person.
Declarations of love? Pass the bucket. I’m more Zombieland than The Notebook.
So how come I’m so head over heels with this McCain ‘Differences’ spot? Maybe it’s the intelligently written copy. It could be the well-chosen track that sustains the emotion without over egging it. But for me, it’s the voice. The authentic ease of connection with the words, the prosodic features and, yes, imperfections which draw you in to the narrator’s world. This is a performance that is about so much more than just chips, it wears its compassion and humanity so lightly and kindly. A truly delicious piece of radio.
Date: August 2019
Agency: adam&eveDDB
The Economist – “Sexy Island”
Dino Myers-Lamptey, founder, The Barber Shop
The ad I’ve chosen is a little off the beaten track as it breaks a number of norms, but ultimately is planted deeply in my memory. This is The Economist audio ad produced and presented by Adam Buxton on his podcast.
What I love about these ads is that The Economist have allowed Adam Buxton to do what he does best, and unleash his own style of creativity on the ad. This involves him taking up all the character roles, and bringing together pop culture Love Island references with the deeper intellectual promise of The Economist, while applauding and mimicking it in equal measure – no doubt everything against the brand guidelines.
Most important of all though, the ad is engaging, memorable and perfectly contextually matched to the content that then follows. This is all proven by the fact that you won’t even think to notice it’s 81 seconds long!
Date: June 2018
Created by: Adam Buxton
Marie Claire x Spotify – “Loud Silence”
Taylor Barr, brand partnerships, the7stars
On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women 2018, Marie Claire and Spotify partnered to tackle a major obstacle in combatting domestic violence in France – the silence surrounding it – and turn it into a force for good.
Their strategy? An audacious audio campaign which interrupted listeners’ Spotify experience with silence, prompting them to find out why their favourite tracks weren’t playing. Instead they saw a Spotify visual ad raising awareness of violence against women.
The unprecedented use of audio to promote silence over sound truly gives this campaign its power. Being disruptive allowed Marie Claire to use the silence as a gateway into other formats and mediums able to convey far more than 30 seconds of audio on its own. The campaign generated 22,000 tweets reaching 2 million people, literally breaking the silence around violence against women.
Date: May 2019
Agency: Dare.Win Paris
Trainline – “Ticket Machine Man”
Matt Hopper, co-founder and creative director, Trisonic
Funny ads are all very well in principle but they are hard to do well.
This is one of the best examples of recent years. It’s not just funny for the sake of it either; it shows empathy with the target audience – rail users who buy tickets online and print them off in a station – and enlarges their frustrating ticket machine experience to great comic effect.
An ad that really connects with its target audience must show that it understands them, and this does in bucketloads. The writer has either been there themselves or spoken to people that have. It’s beautifully written with some lovely touches, superbly well performed and layered with some subtle but effective sound design.
Of course, once you’ve got the target onside and shown that you understand their problem, the sell of a solution is an easy one. Nice one Trainline.
Date: July 2019
Agency: Bartle Bogle Hegarty London
Surfers Against Sewage – “Undiscovered Creatures”
Tristan Cavanagh, creative director, 23red
It’s estimated that up to 95% of the world’s oceans are unexplored – it’s a truly alien world that we simply haven’t seen, let alone heard. That’s why I love the ‘Undiscovered Creatures’ series for Surfers Against Sewage by M&C Saatchi.
Starting with the click of an old-school tape machine preps the listener for an audio experience, followed by these rare sounds from the deep. The voice over – low and serious – explains what you’re hearing but crucially there’s plenty of space for the sound itself to resonate.
It’s simple, memorable and completely different to the vast majority of radio, with a great endline: “Are we killing what we’ve yet to discover?’
Date: October 2019
Agency: M&C Saatchi
G6 Glucose Monitoring System – “Mindhole”
Sean Carnegie, managing partner, Radioville
Too often you hear radio commercials where a brand message is bolted on to a really tenuous gag. In those instances, whilst the joke may make you smile, you tend not to remember the brand because there’s no connection.
That wasn’t the case with this Dexcom G6 commercial. What’s great about this ad is that the creative concept is very much rooted in the core product truth. So it’s difficult to forget the brand or the commercial. Great work.
Hats off to the client for buying this idea, because it takes a brave Marketing Director to approve a 60” spot where the brand isn’t mentioned until 57” in to the ad.
Date: June 2018
Agency: McCann Birmingham
Weetabix – “Rome” and “Noah’s Ark”
Mihir Haria-Shah, head of broadcast, Total Media
As a lifelong Weetabix enthusiast, it was great to hear them come back to radio advertising at the end of 2019. The ad was perfectly targeted to those eating breakfast and the creative was excellent, cutting through what is usually a crowded part of the day.
Weetabix cleverly harnessed the power of audio by telling instantly recognisable stories (Noah’s Ark and the creation of Rome) in an amusing and engaging way. The famous tagline ‘have you had your Weetabix’ was the only form of branding needed to sell the product to audiences.
Date: October 2019
FCA – “Can’t totally recall 90’s”
Dipesh Mistry, associate creative director, Brave
You’ve got 30” RADIO to tell me about PPI, when the rest of the world is also telling me about PPI.
Time to PUMP UP THE JAM, and that’s exactly what these boys did. This script reads like it was written after a few pints down the local, and as a result, we have a nonsensical ad that actually reminds about PPI and to DO IT NOW.
Date: March 2018
Agency: M&C Saatchi
Between 6 – 17 April Mediatel is hosting The Future of Audio – a free digital event to experience during lockdown. Click here for the full agenda, which includes live-streams, presentations and audio-themed editorial.