5+1 tips to strengthen your voice-over
Are you working at one of those multinational companies who receives TV spots from the global HQ and you have to adapt them for the local market? And are you one of those employees who wants to be creative, but your hands are tied?
If you have ever worked on an adaptation, you know that it’s not as easy as it sounds. A commercial spot hides many small details that might not be attractive for your local audience - for example, as we already discussed in a previous article, showing culturally distant characters, stories, situations and places may not trigger people for intense emotional resonation. Still, many times you have to cook with what you have, and you may only spice up the spot with the voice-over and some tags. No question that you want to find the most matching, most catchy, most attractive copy - as the best chance to save your messages and brand image. But is a narration really that important, does it have a strong influence on emotions? How can you get the most out of it? Our article is here to answer your questions. One thing is sure: working on your voice-over is really worth it - it can have a strong impact on emotional resonation, engagement level and conscious evaluation of your ad.
If you want to read more about how a voice influences emotions, check this article!
If you look around on the market, you can see many different ad solutions, starting from a simple background music to a totally narrated storyline. Companies play with the voice-over by changing the tone, the content or the style, which happens not just in adapted copies, but many times in long term used spots. Let’s dig deep into some examples from the market and learn how a small change can influence the performance of your advertisement!
In the followings, we will cover:
Differences between the influence of a background music and a voice-over
Effects of using different narrators
Importance of the transferred message and used words
Style and tone of your narration
Visual-verbal consistency
+1 How to strengthen packshot and branding
1. Background music or voice-over?
Many times it happens that advertisers start with an ad using a background music, then refresh it later with narration. What we can clearly see is that the voice-over grabs more attention from the first moment of the ad, while it elicits appreciation and moves emotions on a bigger scale than a simple background music could. Although a well-chosen music can also support emotional waves and engagement, involving viewers with questions and call-to-actions usually works better.
2. Different narrators - different results
It is also important that your storyline should be matching with the tone of voice you use. There is no better explanation for that than one of our measured OTC brand’s results: the company created exactly the same ad with a tone of a child and with a tone of a woman - and the differences were strongly visible. When the “newborn child” was talking to the audience, mothers felt frustrated (if you want to learn more about frustration, check our previous article). Meanwhile, the voice of the fellow mother grabbed attention and felt comforting. The key takeaway from this story is that creativity is important, but always try to pay attention to match your story with the used tone of voice, without creating a weird impression.
3. Transferred message and used words
The content of the narration has a strong influence both on appreciation and engagement. As we usually see in our measured ads, involving the audience with questions or call-to-actions grabs attention and elicits positive emotions in many cases. However, it is important to mention that all TV spots wear out by time, which means if you are planning to use exactly the same visuals but with a different narration or messages, with time your audience will be less likely to show interest. Refreshing the spot with new elements, visuals or background music may help to extend the lifespan of a commercial video.
4. Tone of voice
Using a cheerful or a bored tone of voice can make a huge impact on your results. Just think about it: are you more excited when a person is talking to you in a happy and enthusiastic voice? The same happens when you are watching an ad: happy voice - positive emotions. With an enthusiastic tone of voice usually it is easier to grab attention and to support resonation. Neuro testing proved that when brands changed their narration to a more cheerful one, engagement was stronger from the first moment of the story. However, tone of voice is a great tool to create the mood, so when you start with a problem, a dramatic voice is great to have.
5. Visual - verbal consistency
And just before you think you are ready with your spot, don’t forget the most important one. Match your voice-over with the shown visuals, not forgetting your packshot. A slip in the narration and the visuals can cause misunderstandings and cognitive loads that both ruin engagement and the interpretation of the message. An ad without harmony usually loses attention, meaning bad news for your packshot that arrives in a bored or disengaged state of mind. Visual-verbal consistency is key in transmitting messages too. If the slightest slip happens between the story and voice the main lifestyle message will become unclear, affecting memorability and associations, so viewers will take-away secondary information. To learn more about how to create harmony, check our previous article.
+1 Strengthen packshot and branding with your voice-over
Strengthening your brand with your narration is a must. Without mentioning verbally the brand name under the packshot, consciously the ad performs poorly. Lack of verbal explanation about the product information and added values, it is difficult to transfer main messages. Strengthening verbally your brand and added values while using corner tags, product placements and a harmonized packshot can strongly improve understanding and your brand recall after watching your spot.
written by Petra Varhelyi
If you need help in how to integrate all these learnings to your adapted copy, or just want to measure the success of an already existing one, do not hesitate to contact us!
