how to impersonate audible
I participated in the 2022 D&AD: New Blood Awards Competition having the e-Book brand, Audible, as the client.
The Ask: Create a brand tone of voice guide for Audible. For the entire brief, please click here.
deliverable:
3-5 examples of copy as app store copy, homepage, and content discovery experience in one presentation with a max of 5 slides, not including the title.
at first i wanted to…
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...make it steamy.
The target audience was people 18-35 and the Tone of Voice guide had to be compelling. People in that age range are active in the dating scene so I figured that a funny, relatable guide would hit the mark.
That was short-lived after my mentor told me exactly why this was not a good direction. This approach wasn’t fitting for problem, and the solution was more than creating a do’s and dont’s list.
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...get religious.
This one was pretty funny. Audible is a book platform and The Holy Bible is a book. In fact, The Holy Bible is the most famous book after If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff. I figured, “It’s “a book that everybody knows!”
This idea got rejected and I’m not entirely sure why. I was thinking that perhaps it would be a missed joke or that it’s a bit exclusive to include a book that not everyone reads (this is why I think If You Give a Mouse a Cookie is more popular).
final result
how to impersonate audible
When they asked, “Create a brand world…” I heard “Approachable, consistent, and concise.” Audible resonates with a wide range of listeners, making complex concepts easy to understand and fostering a sense of connection with its users. Considering that Audible’s weak point was the lack of connection between the brand and its users, it made sense to go in a more approachable direction, therefore “How to Impersonate Audible” was an entertaining direction that brought excitement and personality, all while being in clear and concise copy.
Reasons why this direction works better than the other ones:
Not too boring
Not too risky
Sounds like Audible
Copy is still straightforward with no need for metaphors which can beat around the bush sometimes