When creating a programmatic audio ad campaign, your brand has a blank creative slate to start from. One option is to take a tried-and-true produced ad approach known as the founder’s spot.
What is a Founder’s Spot?
A founder’s spot is exactly what it sounds like: an ad featuring the voice of your brand’s founder. It allows you to give the world your elevator pitch. Founder’s spots are an opportunity to tell the origin story of how your brand was conceived, explain the philosophy behind a product or service, or highlight a founder who is already well-known. If you’ve ever watched an episode of Shark Tank, you’re already familiar with founder stories. Just about every pitch on the show involves a version of one.
Origin stories help explain the “why” of a brand. Maybe a founder saw an injustice in the world that she wanted to help fix. Or she created a product to help someone she cared about who had no other options. Or maybe she simply created a product she was looking for herself only to realize it didn’t yet exist.
What Makes a Founder’s Spot Special?
As podcast advertising experts, ARM knows the power of creating a human connection. It’s the backbone of how endorsements from beloved podcast hosts can be so effective. Since produced spots don’t involve that kind of endorsement, a founder’s spot can be the next best thing. It reveals the human behind the brand. It makes a produced ad more personal.
Putting a “face” to a brand—even if it’s really just a voice in an audio ad—not only creates a more human touch, it shows that the founder is proud to publicly stand behind his product and its quality. This can instill confidence in the consumer. And if the founder is charismatic and energetic, a founder’s spot shows off his winning personality, increasing the brand’s overall likability.
Most importantly, the listener who relates to the founder’s story is likely to be the brand’s target audience. And when the target listener connects with the brand’s mission on a personal level, they will be more inspired to give the product a try.
The media planning and strategy experts at Ad Results specialize in targeting your ad campaign directly to the audience you’re trying to reach. So a founder’s spot that reaches its ideal audience can be both very effective and very efficient.
Are Founder’s Spots For Everyone?
A founder’s spot is a great way to show off a charismatic founder’s voice and story. And many company founders are experienced with public speaking, having talked at length about their product in interviews and at conferences for years. But doing voiceover work is a skill unto itself, and it can be trickier than it seems.
It’s no easy task to read a script, give a natural delivery with personality and energy, and nail the exact timing for a 60-second or 30-second spot—all at the same time. There’s a reason why great voiceover artists are in high demand. So while a founder’s spot can be a great brand showcase, not every founder will feel comfortable with the task. If that’s the case, it’s worth exploring other creative approaches to convey your brand story in another way.
And if you’re not sure you have a compelling origin story for your brand or notable mission that will hook listeners on a personal level, there’s nothing wrong with that. There are plenty of other ways to approach a programmatic ad spot that can help your brand stand out from the crowd. The creative experts at Ad Results work with you to determine what will work best for your campaign.
ARM Founder’s Spots in Action
Midi Health
Midi Health co-founder Jill Herzig talks about her experience with disruptive perimenopause symptoms, giving her instant credibility when talking about her company’s mission to provide expert care to women at midlife. Her empathic, compassionate tone of voice adds extra humanity to the spot.
Ritual
Kat Schneider, founder of Ritual, drives home the importance of traceability in your supplements by revealing that your vitamin D comes from squeezed sheep wool grease. Gross.
Legacybox
You can feel the conviction of Legacybox founders Nick and Adam in this energetic founder’s spot that showcases their personalities—and the importance of preserving your family memories.
Final Thoughts
If your brand has an interesting origin story, a compelling mission, and a charismatic founder, it’s a great candidate for a founder’s spot. When you’re ready to learn more about how Ad Results Media can help you craft compelling creative and reach your target consumer in a way that will connect with them on a personal level, get in touch with us.
