Part of blogging, as the oracles of our digital age will tell you, is to open up the conversation about things going on with one’s company, industry or domain of expertise. It can give others a sense of who you are that isn’t readily apparent from just a single click on a homepage or a quick once-over of the “about-us” link.
For those of you who put your eyes here often, you’ll note that over the past few months you’ve seen more about Staff Birthdays, Interns, our Philanthropy as well as Views of Downtown Minneapolis from our perch atop the Plymouth Building.
We like this newer twist. In essence, it’s our flavor.
But, we also like to share the work we do – the “meat”, if we may continue the analogy.
So, in an effort to combine these two ideals, we thought we’d give a plate appearance (inadvertent and regrettable pun – sorry. ed.) to someone who could offer a flavor we can’t – those of a writer from an advertising agency.
Darren Tibbits, Associate Creative Director at Carmichael Lynch, recently recorded some Trane radio here and was kind enough to offer up how this particular campaign came together.
Here is his take –
“The advertising strategy for Trane heating and air conditioning has shifted to feel poignant. Each piece lives as if a stand-alone ad, addressing the target audience in colloquial tone and referencing the surrounding environment—publication, location, etc.—and then showing how Trane systems work harder in comparison.
Then a new wave of media buy comes. Radio. During sportscasts. In multiple regions. Starting with baseball. Hmm. So the challenge becomes making Trane relevant to what’s happening pre-game, in-game and post-game and showcase its benefit. Hard-working. Reliability. Energy efficient. In audio form.
Rather than go for the easy connections to players working hard on the field or at the plate, we decided to play off the more colorful aspects to sportcasts. To break through the clutter of typical sports radio advertising, we ran a list of thoughts that tend to percolate in our brains as we enjoy the game. Hope they don’t bring in whats-his-face. Does the stats guy use Wikipedia? And who’s the lucky sap that gets to come up with the nicknames for sports teams? Aha. Amusing pontifications while you’re washing the car, mowing the lawn or kicking back on the deck. And there is where Trane has to make sense, even if we have to shoehorn it in. I mean, these could air several times a game for 162 games, so the shelf life needs to be strong. Too often, the funny spot with heavy media weight can become the annoyance. We need these to stay consistent.
Now, this can’t be yuck-yuck humor. It’s dry and witty. A bit irreverent but not condescending. And the talent’s voice and delivery needs to match that tone. Otherwise, we’re not putting the beef into the stroganoff, if you know what I mean. It’s just an audio plate of noodles. We got that with our voice talent, Leland Orser. Great name, btw. It took a little time to get the perfect balance between wit off the top and trustworthiness during the sell, but the end result was something we chuckled at the hundred or so times we heard it during final mixing. Sprinkle in some wonderful subtle sound design from John Lukas at Babble-On Recording and the spots really felt solid. And funny. And the client couldn’t agree more.”
Thanks, Darren. Here are the spots…
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