Commercial Voice Artist: My True Voiceover Love!
I’m often asked which area I work in the most and yep, you guessed it by the title, the answer is commercials, AKA the good auld fashioned advert!
I know you shouldn’t pick your favourite child BUT, out of all the genres I’ve voiced, it does have to be my favourite! Don’t take offence other genres, you’ve got some fab qualities too! It was a tough decision!
But commercial voiceovers were how I began my career (thank you Scottish Government for casting me for your radio campaign!) and whether it be online, radio, TV or instore advertising, commercials are still the majority of my voiceover work today.
So why do you love them so much, I hear you yell! (You might not be shouting but for the sake of drama, let’s say you are!)
Well, here’s a little love letter to them/indulgent trip down memory lane!
Commercial voiceovers are short. I love that challenge. They can be anywhere from circa 3 seconds – 60 seconds at the most. And in that relatively short space of time, you have to catch the listeners’ attention, successfully convey the brands’ image and (usually) make them want to buy whatever product you’re selling. There’s huge variety in the genre too, as each campaign is usually trying to create a specific emotion. Think of the last three adverts you heard and think of the nuance in each!
Creative writers are also amazing at their job and I’ve been lucky to voice some fun, wacky, evocative and also heart wrenching pieces over the years: from being a Halloween witch to promoting cancer awareness to being the voice of a bean…. yep, I voiced a bean…. and the bean was dancing at the time….
Some voiceover highlights for me have ‘bean’ voicing an online campaign for Chromebook, playing the most famed Scot in Scotland, the Loch Ness Monster; voicing a recent commercial campaign for Samsung, a multi-billion-dollar company and recording the Visit Scotland radio adverts, as I’m ridiculously patriotic!!
So, what’s the dream commercial voiceover? Because of my acting background I love the characterful ones. Ones with a bit of quirkiness, or ones when I’m playing a real person. But then, I also love the ones which are warm and smiley… ARGH, I JUST LOVE ALL COMMERCIAL VOICEOVERS!
*Blanche collects herself*
But being serious, the dream is to team up with a brand and be their sole voice for all their campaigns. To represent them, to grow with them and to connect with customers for them. THAT really would be the voiceover dream!
Here’s to past, present and future commercials!
Blanche, Scottish Voiceover