Do you believe a voice talent ought to use a "slogan" in marketing? Why or why not?

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Permalink Reply by Steven Mane on June 11, 2009 at 1:48pm

Actually, Don never used it himself. It was given to him by other people, and the name stuck.

Now, as for me, my marketing name is "The Voxman". It has a particular ring to it. Steven "The Voxman" Mane. Don't like it? Go vox yourself. And hey, it's not nearly as bad as my other ideas: The Imitator, The Maniac, The Messiah, and The Antichrist.

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Permalink Reply by Barry Trussell on June 13, 2009 at 2:51pm

Steven you made my point thank you. The best slogan is given to you by peers - if you're lucky. It's organic that way, and seems to work the best, even if one doesn't refer to oneself by the same slogan, I think it's perfectly fine to say that my peers call me, my friends call me........ It's marketing and is certainly appropriate to mention when relationship building in a sales conversation, when the time is right.

Barry

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Permalink Reply by Steven Mane on June 18, 2009 at 1:52pm

So if you don't mind me asking: what do they call you? Do you have a slogan or brand? It all comes down to what works best in the long run. After I imitated another guy's voice, he called me "Imitator". However, I was advised against using it as a brand because I was told it would do more harm then good. Sometimes, you've got to self-proclaim.

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Permalink Reply by Barry Trussell on June 19, 2009 at 1:34pm

Hi Steve,

Well I don't have a slogan that I use on a regular basis- still experimenting, but I certainly do believe in them. Perhaps time, experience and peers will eventually bestow one upon me. And yes, you're right, sometimes you've just gotta take a stance. There is always someone who will tell you this or that won't work because (insert opinionated phrase here)....... I say do what works. Didn't work out so bad for Christopher Columbus. It's like making a choice on a script. make a choice, if it doesn't work then make another choice.

Barry

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Permalink Reply by Bettye Zoller on June 24, 2009 at 12:04am

Under Any Circumstances, Phillip you are the best and you make my day with your comments.
Bettye Zoller

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Permalink Reply by Kay Bess on August 17, 2009 at 4:47pm

Branding is such an interesting concept. With the volume of voice actors in the world, if we want to get steady work, we must first be on our game as far as talent and skill goes, but we must also somehow differentiate ourselves from the "crowd." What image does your website or postcard present? Does it lead a producer to want to listen? And once they do listen, is your sound consistent with your image? Branding is illusive and very difficult to achieve. It's not about a slogan per se, it's about projecting an image that is consistent with what you have to offer as a voice talent. Examples of people (not necessarily voice actors) with very strong personal brands - Oprah, Martha Stewart, Amy Winehouse (for better or worse) or here in VoiceOver Universe, Don La Fontaine (R.I.P.) Say any one of those names as an adjective and pretty much everyone is clear about you mean. But none of them has a "slogan." In order for branding to work, you must know who you are and what you do best, and not attempt to convince a casting agent or producer that you do EVERYTHING, even if you think you can. "Jack of All Trades" branding is rarely EVER accurate. I do know that if your work is not consistent with your image, your demo is likely to get tossed in the proverbial circular file really quickly, and whatever imaging or branding you've employed will ultimately have been fruitless.

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Permalink Reply by Bettye Zoller on August 17, 2009 at 4:56pm

Well, Kay, what a well crafted and concise, precise and on-target response. Thank you for it. Everything you say here I totally agree. Yes, branding is "a good thing," as Martha would say. Slogans? So many of these are meaningless or worse, do not 'fit' the person. I won't go into detail (to protect the 'guilty," but there are a few vo talents using slogans referring to the sounds of their voices that are not correct at all. There is one female who refers to her voice being 'smooth' but does not use that word...and I don't think she's 'smooth' at all. And to use a word like "selling" or "salesperson" referring to one's voice, just about everyone does that but in differing ways. Bottom line: Wouldn't it be wonderful if we voice talents could hire expensive branding experts and advertising creatives and agencies to do our branding and marketing? They are so expensive! That's why most everyone tries to do their own branding and slogans and postcards etc. And the few times I've consulted people about my branding, they really haven't "hit upon it" to my satisfaction. Now, I'm doing straight foreword stuff like postcards saying "ask for my new audio book narration demo" or "I'm doing a book signing and hope you'll be there" or "I'm on TV on August 24"==just the facts. No funny stuff. I think informational marketing is always a good thing.And one of my agents loves my newsletters. She says she thinks newsletters if they are good ones always are read or at least glanced at and I tend to agree.

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