Undoubtedly, 2021 was a weird, weird year. Some of us headed back into the office while some of us continue working remotely for good. But one thing is for sure: We spent a lot of the year wearing headphones.
Audio media listening is up; people listened to more music, more podcasts and more audio in general than ever before. In fact, according to eMarketer, digital audio listening is expected to increase 20 minutes per day from 2019 to 2023. And with more consumption comes, of course, more opportunity for audio spots.
So, we at Studio Resonate thought it was about time to take a look back at the year and pick out some of the creative, insightful and most impactful audio ads of 2021.
We have an interesting bag of favorites this year, from community awareness to sports tech innovation to pirate radio stations run by senior citizens. Immersive and 3D audio was a bit of a trend in 2021 as well as using audio in subversive ways. Listen on for our favorites.
Bingo Recovery by Preston Spire for Minnesota Alliance on Problem Gambling
Gambling addiction is a serious issue and while there have been many campaigns to spread awareness, this spot is unique in its use of sound to speak directly to its target listers. By mixing the sounds of a bingo hall (a frequent haunt for problem gamblers), this 2021 Radio Mercury Award winning spot tells a story of a problem gambler finding help and reclaiming their life through the assistance of the Minnesota Alliance on Problem Gambling.
When All You Can Food Is Think About by Mother LA for Postmates
Kicking this list right off is a fantastic subversive campaign by Mother for Postmates. Ads that pose as typical ads you might hear from a furniture retailer, car dealership or nightclub promotion are cleverly hacked with food that your mind may be preoccupied with. A delightful insight into how your brain doesn’t work right when you are hungry, brought to you by Postmates. We love this play on audio advertising tropes, as well as the moment you realize the ads weren’t what you thought they were. Well-deserved wins at the Radio Mercury Awards 2021. Listen to a bunch of the spots here.
Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It by Studio Resonate for Warner Bros
Being totally objective and not biased at all, there has been a big trend in the industry to focus on directional, spatial and 3D audio. We of course, put this to good use in our spot for the third film in the terrifying horror series, The Conjuring. Have a listen and see that you don’t need visuals to feel scared, you’ll need your headphones for the full effect.
The movie is worth a watch too! If anything, watch it for the sound because the sound design in the film is absolutely fantastic!
Saylists by Rothco for Warner Music
This campaign by data agency Rothco won the Grand Prix at Cannes in the “Creative Use of Data” category. This isn’t an audio ad per se, but an audio-centric campaign that won a data award at the world’s most prestigious ad creative awards. It’s an incredibly clever idea, with smart execution and real utility—and for a really worthwhile cause.
This is the kind of audio meets music and technology campaign—for a good cause—that all creative agencies wish they came up with. But it took a data agency to make it happen.
Action Audio by AKQA for Tennis Australia
To provide a more accurate, informative and exciting experience for those who are visually impaired, AKQA developed an ingenious system called Action Audio. It translated the data from line-calling system at the Australian Open into a 3D sound design that allowed someone to follow a game from just the sound.
This picked up a Silver Lion at Cannes this year; the tech will once again be used at the Australian Open in 2022; and it looks like they are extending the utility of this technology beyond its original use into other sports.
Lego Playwaves by Akcelo for LEGO
Voice assistants are part of our lives now, for better or worse. With recent studies showing more than half of pre-teens and teens using voice search daily, it will continue to play a big part of their lives. Akcelo developed Playwaves for LEGO, extending the play experience with immersive audio storytelling through Google Assistant.
Character-actor based narrators guide users through the experience and open the world for them to use voice commands to progress through hundreds of tasks, interactive experiences and complete each mission with their physical LEGO bricks. We love the playful and engaging use of interactive audio to augment the play experience.
Never Stop Exploring by Studio Resonate for The North Face
We just had to throw another 3D audio execution onto this list because we really love the immersion and world-building in this spot executed only on audio platforms. In this spot, the visceral and emotive elements of outdoor sports are brought to life with sound design that draws the listener into a space that is usually only depicted visually.
Radio Recliner by Luckie for Bridge Senior Living
Isolation is always a problem for senior living residents. Then suddenly, they weren’t able to leave their rooms or even see their families due to the pandemic. Luckie developed Radio Recliner, a digital radio station by seniors hosting their own radio shows. These resident DJs share stories and songs from the comfort of their recliners, recording their shows by phone. Radio Recliner also picked up a Radio Mercury Award this year.
Disco Colonoscopy by Alpha Media for Kansas Medical Clinic
Colonoscopy awareness might be one of the most challenging issues to market. Not only is it something that people are uncomfortable with discussing, but it’s also the key to avoiding serious illness that kills thousands each year. Not the easiest topic to write an audio ad for, but Alpha Media really knocked it out of the park with a fantastic script and beautiful delivery by the VO artist.
Commercial Free by BBDO NY for Snickers
We always love ads that poke fun at ads. This Snickers spot from BBDO is a great poke at all the tropes and voice and audio stylings of traditional radio broadcast. All part of the grand tradition of Snickers to standing for chilling out. We particularly loved that they ran this not only on traditional broadcast but on streaming as well, which would have really stood out.
Audio ads trends in 2022 and beyond
So, listening through our picks for great audio in 2021, you’ll notice a couple of trends: Really high-quality audio production all around, great voiceover casting and very clever scripts. We are also seeing some newer trends that we believe we will hear more of in 2022.
Diversity: With the incredibly positive response we’ve seen in the Stand For Sonic Diversity, we are looking forward to hearing many more unique voices in the media space. Instead of the all-too-familiar voice overs that we have grown over-accustomed to, expect to be listening to audio ads featuring prominent voices of color, regional and ethnic accents, and a variety of genders.
3D/Spatial Audio: Now that Dolby Atmos support is in iOS and Android devices, we are expecting to hear more and more ads move to immersive and 3D audio in the coming year. What might seem like a bit of a gimmick in music can really make for an immersive and attention-grabbing experience when it comes to audio storytelling.
Synthetic Voices: Made popular through voice assistants like Alexa and Siri—and to some degree in the form of TikTok memes—synthetic voices will start featuring more heavily in the audio ad space. We expect to hear some clever ads really subverting and playing with these robot voices in fun and entertaining ways. But we also expect some experimentation in using synthetic voices within dynamic audio ads—creating endless personalization opportunities.
