Voice Over. USTA Serves Campaign

Andy Taylor Voice Over for USTA Serves

Since 2002, voice actor Andy Taylor has voiced television commercials for the United States Tennis Association, including this 2009 fundraising PSA for the USTA Serves Foundation.

Additionally, as the Voice of the US Open, Andy is the defining sound of the tennis season’s final Grand Slam.

Narration for Local and National Ad Campaigns

Commercial voice over for radio and television is considered traditional marketing. But, what does traditional marketing mean exactly?

In short, traditional marketing is “pre-internet” advertising that evolved alongside the emergence of radio and television. Prior to radio’s rise, for over a century the most popular marketing was print advertising. Because over-the-air broadcasting did not exist, the best way to reach potential consumers was through newspapers, periodicals, billboards and signage. For example, companies like Sears actually mailed customers wildly popular seasonal catalogs to advertise its products.

Then, along came radio – and with it, an entirely new way to reach buyers. In radio’s early days, broadcasters built paid-for advertising (sponsorship) into each radio broadcast. For instance, the program’s narrator would read scripts designed to promote products and services. While in other cases, writers wrote paid-for product promotion into a radio program’s story-line.

Soon, television followed, mirroring radio’s technique of revenue generation through sponsorship. Over time, the number of radio and television stations grew tremendously, as did the number of broadcast receivers. Both mediums desperately needed a way to generate more revenue to offset the costs of payroll, hiring new talent, and continuously updating technology. Quickly, a new way of advertising emerged. One that still exists today.

Rise of the 30 and 60 Second Commercial

The need for more advertising income forced broadcasters to turn to the print model. Newspapers sold ads based on size and word count. Plus, periodicals featured all of the advertisements in a specific insert, like a Classified section, for example.

So, rather than contract a single sponsor for say, an hour of programming, a new broadcast model emerged: The commercial stop set. That is to say, broadcast companies began selling blocks of time, allowing buyers to record their own messages.

30 and 60 second blocks became the popular “sizes” for these audio and video advertisements. Additionally, broadcasters earned extra revenue by charging a premium to air ads more frequently, or during popular programming.

Moreover, to accommodate the increased volume of advertisers, broadcast stations played all of the purchased advertisements (commercials) at specific times. And so, three to four times each hour, radio and television stations created advertising blocks known as commercial stop-sets.

The approach was so lucrative, the idea became an industry standard and is still the norm today.

An 18-year Broadcast Veteran, Andy Taylor is skilled at Commercial Voice Over

A top-rated morning show host for 10-years at KTTS, Andy Taylor is a graduate of the traditional marketing spectrum. Over the years, he has voiced thousands of radio and television commercials for local, national and international broadcast products.

When hiring voice talent for television commercials, remember that the voice must match the target demographic of the ad’s audience. But just as importantly, due to the design of commercial stop-sets, the advertising purchase must focus on frequency for the ad to have impact.

Put another way, television commercials are effective top-of-mind awareness tools. However, to be effective, the advertising schedule…

  1. Must ensure the spot airs often throughout the day.
  2. Should only air the commercial on television programs that appeal to ad’s target demographic.

Think of it like this: If a cosmetic company wants to advertise its brand…

  1. Making sure the ad is viewed often is imperative, to reach as many viewers as possible.
  2. But airing the commercial during a baseball game is ill-advised, because most women the ad targets would not choose to watch a ball game.

In conclusion, when producing a television commercial, professionalism and experience are important. Solid writing, video production and voice over are key, as well. Discuss your project with Andy Taylor, and receive the experienced support of a broadcast professional who will help navigate your television commercial production.