Using Reactor to map out the associations evoked by different voices

This week at the Cannes ‘Festival of Creativity’ CloudArmy President Thom Noble jointly presented Wavemaker’s pioneering research into the power of voice using CloudArmy’s Reactor platform. Wavemaker Global, a leading digital media agency, are using Implicit Response testing to gain new insights into brands’ potential use of voice.

We’re reaching a tipping point of adoption of voice interaction devices, such as Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri and Google Home - representing new opportunities for branded apps that allow consumers to engage with your brand in a new way. While voices have previously been associated with brands—e.g. via spokespersons in advertising, or in the automated voices on phone help lines—interactive voice apps open up a new frontier of richer, more personal voice expression of a brand for consumers. As consumers increasingly ask for advice and information, or make purchases via voice devices, developing and picking the right voice to represent your brand is crucially important.

Almost any kind of audio, including voices, can be tested Implicitly. Using Implicit Response testing, a voice can be forensically mapped, and its ability to evoke various feelings and associations quantified. Different voice options can then be compared objectively for their potential to best represent your brand.

Tests are conducted online, and they can be set up quickly and run almost anywhere in the world, in any language. All that's needed are the audio files of the voices, and the word ‘attributes’ that you are aiming to evoke with the voices.

Does a voice automatically evoke Trust? Does it evoke Friendliness, Optimism, Authenticity? These are just some examples of the vast array of associations that can be tested for voices using Implicit Response measures.

“A voice paints a picture of a personality,” observes Noble, “and matching the right personality to your brand is critically important. Yet we decode and react to voices very much at a nonconscious level, making it hard to understand people’s reactions to voice by simply asking them, or using pen-and-paper-style rating scales. By using Implicit Response testing we can gain an altogether richer and more insightful understanding of voices.”

“The tongue paints: What eye’s can’t see: the power of voice” was held on June 19th at 10.30am, at the Palais II stage, at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. For more information, visit: https://www.canneslions.com/the-festival/programme#/agenda/event/the-tongue-paints-what-eyes-cant-see-power-of-voice-e1-30798