Most of us at Audible are culture mavens — we love books, obviously, but also take in our fair share of bingeworthy shows, live performances, and, of course, movies. You could say we are hungry for “story” in all its formats. That’s why, when our paid media team came to us and said, “We’ve been offered air time on the Oscars this year,” we jumped at the opportunity.
“It was like putting a giant, moving, three-dimensional puzzle together.”
If this year’s SAG Awards were , the 2017 Oscars promised to be “vocal” — something we at Audible know all about. In recent years, awards shows have become platforms for myriad voices to be heard, and Audible celebrates the power of the human voice every day. Our entire brand experience is built around the love for well-composed words, performed beautifully. A chance to inspire so many people to think about the power of our words through our brand’s voice felt like a peanut-butter-and-jelly moment: an iconic, irresistibly delicious combination.
In How Many Days?!
The meeting where the opportunity was presented was Friday, February 3rd, according to my calendar. The Oscars were slated for Sunday, February 26th, giving us a scant three weeks. For those unfamiliar with the advertising world, it typically takes at least three weeks to write a creative brief, let alone produce and deploy national spots. Commercials typically take months to concept, storyboard, cast, produce, edit, and deliver. So who to turn to?
Friends Of Audible
A cornerstone of the Audible business is the creative community in which we work and play: the writers, actors, and performers who bring stories to life. We have longstanding relationships with some of the most memorable, talented voices on the planet. We celebrate the gravel in ’s delivery; savor ’ emphatic, lingering tenor; revel in ’s crisp, character-riddled accent.
We celebrate the gravel in Victor Bevine’s delivery; savor Claire Danes’ emphatic, lingering tenor; revel in Alan Cumming’s crisp, character-riddled accent.
With a simple concept simultaneously being hammered out in Word documents and storyboards, and (more than) a fistful of luck, our team reached out to friends of Audible with a simple ask: Would you lend your voice to deliver a poignant passage?
Radical Solutions Required
While our talent team reached out to performers, our head of Creative and Brand Marketing, Barbara Ward Thall, reached out to the one friend she knew was up to the task of producing our spots: her ex-boss and mentor at , Jon Kamen. RadicalMedia has long been known for producing flawless spots under extreme circumstances — crunched timelines, underwater extravaganzas, technical marvels. Barbara knew this because she worked there from 1995 to 1998, during which time she led their “New Media” division. If there was one studio that she knew could pull off a two-week, soup-to-nuts, award-worthy production, it was Jon’s team.
