What Does a Black T-Shirt Sound Like?
We can describe a black t-shirt in a lot of different ways; its texture, its hue, and collar style. But what if we were to describe what it sounds like?
I’ve been working with a company called Adsonica for the past year and they have strategically aligned themselves with a very unique opportunity within e-commerce where finding a product sound is now a viable option.
Adsonica is a sonic marketing tool that allows you to embed audio into an image file. Its patented technology allows for a no coding option that then compresses those media deliverables into a formatted package ready for upload to any of the major advertising 3rd parties such as Google, Facebook, and Linkedin.
The technology is groundbreaking and holds a plethora of potential for advertising options. One of which being e-commerce. Adsonica is now an official app in the Big Commerce marketplace.
Sound Optimization in E-commerce Storefronts
Remember when you were on Target.com last week and you were searching for a black t-shirt? So you searched “black t-shirt”. From the picture alone none are particularly astounding. A t-shirt is a t-shirt is a t-shirt. There are just so many angles you can photograph before there’s nothing left to show.
But add text to that and you have something more comparable. This one is cotton as opposed to this one being made of polyester. This one has a crew neck and this one has a v neck. One is more of a true black and another is more of a grey/black. One has a 4 star review with 100 reviews while another has a 3.5 star review with 40 reviews.
With Adsonica™ technology, you can take it even further. Through your carousel post, you can embed sounds within the images to depict that product’s specifications. You can put anything in there (ex. The text in the description through voice over, music, sounds, etc.) so that the shopper can go about their business while learning about the product orally.
It’s a much less intrusive marketing tool that does not interrupt the consumers day to day.
Oh The Possibilities
I recently had a fun dialogue online with some colleagues about this exact example. What does a black t-shirt sound like? Here’s what transpired.
“What does a black t-shirt sound like?”
“It sounds like a very low sine wave.”
“I suppose it would depend on the texture of the fabric. I think the rougher the texture, the more harmonics. A pure sine wave would be for some very fine fabric indeed!”
“I agree with low sine waves and I’d add in overtones with a low pulsing. Black is strong and confident but laid back from my thoughts in my head. The texture definitely would play into this too. Cotton would be more neutral and calm while corduroy (going extreme as I’ve never seen a corduroy shirt) would have more edge and be a bit more aggressive.”
“So a black leather jacket could sound something like a guitar run through an orange amp or a distortion pedal!”
Keep in mind that this conversation happened between 2 UX designers and a sonic brander (me) so if it’s far nerdier then your preference, I understand. The point I’m trying to make is this:
“Sound in marketing doesn’t just have to be specs and stats, it can be actual tonal or atonal creative interpretation.”
Imagine This
Imagine if you will this scenario. Keep in mind this all speculative as I don’t believe it’s an option just yet.
You are a new e-commerce clothing brand. No one has “seen” you yet other than your homepage but you have an option of turning your images into image/audio files and uploading them in a way that a smart speaker or a screen-less shopping experience device could “speak” your product? Would this give you an edge or at least an equal opportunity alongside a brand like Target if you had a space in the voice first technology world? What if you were to discover that space before Target does?
Again, this is not possible yet as far as I know but what if it were? I truly believe it will be; that it’s just a matter of time. So if you are a forward thinker and you want to get into the voice search space, this might be something to ponder on.
A Unique Opportunity
Voice first technology creates a unique opportunity to market differently. And seeing as Post-COVID will be “different”, it’s massively important for companies such as e-commerce to pay attention to what voice and sound has to offer. With brick and mortar closed or functioning at a much lower capacity, those that have goods to sell need to be seen. However, sight isn’t the all ends all of shopping now-a-days.
Before COVID, smart speakers and smart technology was just starting to see a rise. I can tell you from an inside perspective that amidst COVID it has boomed forward at an exponential rate. What was already predicted to be the technology to watch has accelerated all expectations and companies are not just watching but implementing said technology into their marketing strategy.
Blink and You’ll Miss It
We are becoming more and more a screen-less society even amidst our shelter in place phase. We’re doing things, we’re having conversations, our hands are full with kids, and their schoolwork, and our work, and making dinner. All we want is a lousy t-shirt. Why can’t we just say “Alexa, find me a medium black t-shirt.” and have the robot do the culling, suggesting, and ordering?
With technology like Adsonica available, the sky truly is the limit right now. There is so much space for creativity and discovery that we can’t possibly rationalize it all right now.
But we can dream and we can experiment.
Sound in marketing is changing and evolving in real time. Are you listening?
In Conclusion
Want to learn more about sound in marketing? There’s a course! Sound’s Power and Influence in Marketing. Check out the free previews, course curriculum and additional information at www.soundinmarketing.com
For more information on me and what I do and how I can help you explore your brands’ sound in marketing, you can find me at Dreamrproductions.com, Linkedin, Twitter, and Facebook.
You can also check out my podcast Sound In Marketing where I talk about…all the things.
Remember, we all make sounds. Let’s make sound on purpose.
