Nowadays, with consumers speed-scrolling through social media sites like Tik Tok and Instagram, the competition is fierce for publishers to capture their audiences’ diminishing attention spans to deliver best-in-class content and advertising experiences.
So what’s the best way to improve user experience and engagement (and by extension ad revenue) in these days and times?
Give them personalized, relevant, and interactive experiences to keep them hanging around and even coming back for more. How about offering them an experience like they’ve never seen or heard before?
Undertone’s High Impact Sound (aka Binaural Sound) provides an immersive, surround-sound experience within High Impact display ads.
It’s a 3D sound effect built into an ad, that is sure to capture the attention of any user who encounters it. But don’t worry, this ad experience is not invasive. In fact, users have to initiate the sound for it to play and there is a mute button included, just in case. Brands can even supply Undertone with individual soundtracks to include in their ads, as long as the audio is client-owned or licensed.
We spoke with Undertone’s President, Daniel Aks to learn more about High Impact Sound, which types of advertisers make the best use cases for the feature, and how it increases the effectiveness of ad campaigns.
Yakira Young: A benefit of High Impact Sound is that it makes High Impact Ad formats even more immersive. How does the feature accomplish this? What makes it “special?”
DA: Adding a thoughtful second sensory experience to users who engage with the ad allows a richer overall experience — as the sounds are carefully considered based on the uniqueness of the creative.
The sounds allow the audience to picture themselves at the destination — within the experience and bring to life the overall brand message. Normally in ad experiences, people can “passively” view the promotion and then move on — this will help truly engage the audience and make them want to be a part of it.
YY: With High Impact Sound, how does wearing headphones enhance the experience?
DA: Wearing traditional headphones, Airpods, or any decent quality device can elevate the listening experience for users as it allows the sound to be focused on each ear separately but also together while also blocking out any external sounds. However, the listening experience is extremely immersive without headphones as well and can be enjoyed by using desktop or mobile speakers.
YY: Which categories of advertisers can make the best use of this feature? I know you mentioned that travel/tourism, entertainment, and auto are the industries where you’ve seen the most success. What about these industries has led to High Impact Sound’s success?
DA: There is something unique about Travel & Tourism that takes a user on a journey to a different location. Sounds are unique to an environment that can immediately be identified by conscious and subconscious – think of oceans, forests, auto races, and sports entertainment, for example.
Our high-impact units consistently amplify and showcase the beautiful imagery that our clients have to offer. Adding sound can elevate these experiences, for example allowing users to hear the ocean waves as they browse photos of a beachside resort. Also, sound is energy. Think about how films enhance their gate with fabulous soundtracks, because music powers the mind.
YY: Who are some of your current clients? What companies are currently working with High Impact Sound?
DA: We’re currently working with Space Coast Tourism for an upcoming campaign that will focus on the local activities of watching rocket launches to other beach activities.
YY: Have you seen any results in the world of DOOH/OOH?
DA: We have not dived into this space (yet), but it is on our radar as a potential way to stand out in this space. We have zero doubt that closing the promotion loop within home, office and outside promotional messages delivers variability, a key to driving memorability. Message repetition with degrees of variation and environments drives communication effectiveness.
YY: What do you see in the near future for High Impact Sound?
DA: There is emerging research about how sound impacts the brain, and lots of attention is being put into this area. We know that brains “light up” differently depending on audio exposure variations. We see High Impact Sound becoming a popular add-on to our already robust High Impact creative suite. Adding immersive sound like this will help increase attention, and brand recall and give you the ability to connect with your audience like never before.
We think brands will really gravitate towards it and see how it helps them stand out in a cluttered “muted” space. Additionally, as we continue to innovate and explore new advertising mediums as a company, there are future opportunities to expand High Impact Sound into a standalone, impactful audio capability. Finally, well-crafted audio can drive a user to repeat an advertising message if the experience is enjoyable. That would be a huge forward step for advertisers.
To experience a live demo of High Impact Sound click here.