Marketing: Is Kelley Crazy To Think Her Marketing Campaign To Jeep Will Get Her Hired? by Kelley Buttrick
VOICE OVER MARKETING / PART 1
Is Kelley Crazy To Think Her Marketing
Campaign To Jeep Will Get Her Hired?
March 25, 2016
Note:
Ever energetic and marketing-minded voice talent Kelley Buttrick
developed a unique full-scale campaign targeted at a huge potential
client. She produced a series of videos and snail mail flyers directed
at top marketing executives of her favorite brand, Jeep! Recently, she
took her efforts public. Did Kelley get hired? Well, the story
continues. Here’s Part 1 of a series and a link to her campaign story
…
By Kelley Buttrick
Voice Actor
My colleagues think I’m a little crazy. AdWeek agrees, but according to their article, they think maybe what I’m doing is crazy enough to work.
Here’s why this shouldn’t work – and why it might yet put me in the driver’s seat.
1. Voice Over Talents Are Not Creative
Okay, I can hear the collective gasp from our industry now at that statement, but let’s get real. In the genre where I specialize, broadcast advertising and short-form narration, it’s the copywriters, designers, producers and account managers at the ad agencies who are creative.
Our job boils down to responding to their direction during a session in order to sound like the voice in their heads.
Do I bring creativity to my delivery? Absolutely, but it’s the ad agency team bringing the main course of creativity to the table. I’m merely an ingredient from their spice rack.
This is why I hired incredibly creative people to help me with campaign content.
2. VOs Don’t Make Pitches. We Voice Them
In the voice over industry, work is mainly generated through agents, casting entities and individual marketing efforts like emailing demos, sending branded chotskies and making nice on social media with people who have the power to hire us.
Sometimes we get hired to perform spec reads for ad agency pitches, but our job is to give them a voice, not create them.
Before spending my days alone in a 4×5 soundproof box, I did PR, fundraising and promotions. My degree is in journalism. While I may not be tossing around beach balls while brainstorming with clients in a conference room, taking major donors to dinner and tugging heartstrings with success stories or coming up with stunts to drive listenership, my mind is always spinning with marketing ideas.
You can take the pitcher out of the ballpark, but my mind is always on the mound.
3. People Don’t Like To Be Told What They Want
Don’t you hate it when someone puts words in your mouth? Seriously, they have no idea what you were about to say, but some people feel compelled to complete your sentence for you anyway.
Ad agency creatives have their own ideas about what voices should be telling their clients’ brand stories.
Many times, while they’d never in a millions years say it, those same creatives don’t want their clients telling them how that voice in their heads should sound. So this was a tricky challenge for me.
The brand I pitched has a pretty specific main target demographic, and I’m not it.
Stumping for their consideration, much of my campaign was designed to get the brand’s executives and affiliated ad agencies at the time to be open as to how my voice could resonate with their consumers across their multiple products’ various target demographics – including their main marketing avatar’s gender – male – despite the fact that I’m a woman.
4. I Aimed Too High
Well, yes, the brand I targeted is a big one – a really big one. Early last year, like most business people, I was thinking about where I wanted my business to go.
What did the ideal future look like for KB Voiceovers, LLC?
If I had a magic wand, I would have contracts with three to five major brands that I had an affinity to personally. These contracts would have me voicing just about everything for those brands – from ad campaigns to apps and in-store announcements to Internet videos telling the brand’s story.
Immediately, the brand I knew I wanted to voice for was Jeep.
The automotive icon has been a part of my family’s history for generations, and their brand’s themes of adventure, fun, freedom, capability, history and daring to do-it-their-way resonate deeply in my heart.
TOO CRAZY TO WORK?
Was this campaign of mine too crazy to work? Or was I successful in counteracting the crazy?
Well, the end of the story has yet to be told, as we are only in the 7th inning. The target brand is at bat and my pitching arm feels great.
Please hop in and join me for a ride on my campaign trail …
Kelley
Buttrick: A Voice For Any Terrain.
Next: Part 2 – How To Go Off-Road With
Your VO Marketing
————————
ABOUT KELLEY
Kelley
Buttrick is a versatile voice over talent known for matching her voice
to the message, be it the sound of a soccer mom, corporate executive,
flirty date or snarky BFF. Her pre-VO work experience in marketing and
media gives her a unique big-picture perspective for each project. And
while she enjoys the smooth ride of great agents, the nicest repeat
clients and national bookings, she kicked it in gear with the Jeep
marketing campaign and appreciates tweets, shares, likes, etc., especially
when tagged with #MyJeepStory and #KB4Jeep.
Web: www.kbvoiceovers.com
Jeep Campaign: www.kbvoiceovers.com/KB4Jeep