[(00:00)] Speaker 1: This week on the Sonic Truth, Veritonic Digital Marketing manager, Sabrina Nielsen, sits down with Daniella Linden of Sport Clips to discuss the role that audio plays in Sport Clips marketing strategy, how it's evolved over time, and the measurement and testing tactics that they rely on to ensure efficacy. We hope you enjoy this episode and welcome again to the Sonic Truth.

[(00:23)] Sabrina Nielsen: Hello everybody and welcome back to the Sonic Truth Podcast for another episode. I am joined here today by Linden Linden, senior Marketing director of Sport Clips, Linden, so nice to have you on the pod here today with us.

[(00:37)]Daniella Linden: Well, thank you. Thank you for having me. Happy to be here.

[(00:40)] Nielsen: Beautiful. I wanna talk a little bit more about how the incorporation of audio into the Sport Clips marketing strategy has evolved over time.

[(00:49)] Linden: Oh, wow. Yeah, it-it's been quite the process. So I've been with Sport Clips for 14 years and, um, when I first started the landscape, uh, audio was very-very different. So initially we really were looking at, you know, audio with mass reach kind of lens, and so it was all about terrestrial radio am fm and, um, 62nd Creative. And every once in a while we'd get a little crazy and add in DJ endorsement radio, but, um, that was pretty much our only option. And then throughout time as, um, technology started to evolve and there started to be some really exciting, um, changes in the audio space, we started expanding our advertising fund plans and started to incorporate, uh, partners such as Sirius XM satellite. And then, um, as the audio streaming space started to explode first kind of with Pandora and then with Spotify, we kind of jumped in and started working with those partners and then kind of eventually moved to the podcast space and then just more digital audio work with partners such as Bar Store Radio. And, um, in addition to just kind of looking at all the different media options that were out there, the whole creative opportunities also completely changed for us.

[(02:14)] Nielsen: Incredible. I would love to talk about some recent work that y'all did, um, that revolved around as ASMR really wanna talk about the why and how ASMR was baked into your audio strategy and potentially save a little time for us to be able to play one of those advertisements.

[(02:31)] Linden: Oh, yeah. Uh, well, so, um, this was kind of worn out of really trying to go deep within one of our, uh, signature services, which is the MVP haircut experience. And for, uh, the MVP, this is all about, it's kind of the haircut upgrade for us. It is the neck and shoulder treatment, which is really kind of a-a massage, and it's the hot steam towel, it's the massaging shampoo. And so we've been playing around for a while about the idea of the five different senses and kind of bringing them to life and our creative. And, you know, when you think about video, it's kind of easy to really show, uh, visually how great that experience is. And then, uh, we got involved with kind of the scent around the MVP, and so we developed some scent fresheners and, um, you know, sent those out to our stores and gave them away to our clients and then even distributed them to some of our podcast hosts.

So they're able to really be able to talk about, uh, the scent in a really authentic way. And then we kind of were going back and forth with, well, how do we really introduce this idea, uh, in the audio space? And so we started working with a sonic agency that just specializes in audio creative Gwen Sound and, um, started floating this idea of, um, ASMR with them. And we were really unsure. It, it's kind of like a niche and kind of an outlier, this idea of ASMR. And we really liked the idea of it, but we just weren't sure how well it's gonna be received by audiences. And, you know, we wanted to be a little risky, but we also didn't want to go so far out that, um, folks were, you know, kind of scratching their heads and-and not getting it, or not really, um, you know, experiencing, uh, it in a way that we intended.

So we sat down and, uh, worked quite a bit with Gwen Sound where they developed five different scripts for us, and, um, started to, um, you know, think about, uh, what kind of talent we wanted to use. And the first step in the process for us was to actually go into our store and record from start to finish the entire experience. So client walks in the door, you know, they're greeted, uh, they go back and they get-they get their haircut. What are the sounds that you, you know, would hear with the scissors. And then you go back in the shower area and what kind of sounds might you hear when you are getting the MVP? So you're hearing, um, you know, that massage or that's on your neck and shoulders. You also, you know, have the hot steam towel and then you've got that massaging shampoo. So we recorded all of those sounds and brought 'em to life to really try to, uh, tap into, uh, the uniqueness of ASMR.

[(05:16)] Nielsen: It is absolutely brilliant, and it ended up coming out so immersive, right? I mean, just listening to them and we-we can definitely go ahead and play one here in just a moment, but listening back, you fully feel if you are sitting there and you're closing your eyes, you are having the full fledged experience.

[(05:35)] Linden: Oh my gosh. Uh, we think so too. They turned out so well, and part of it again, was because we just weren't sure how-how this was gonna be received. And so, um, after the scripts were written and, uh, we had some demo production work that was done, we tested it with AI first, and, uh, we had really good results, um, against all the different, uh, brain attributes that we were trying to reach, you know, relaxing, authentic, you know, recall and engagement. And then that kind of gave us, um, some confidence and then we tested it on a national level and then saw equally good results. And it was so cool, um, to look at all the research, we were able to actually go in and see the points in each of the spots where there was the highest level of engagement. And so you could hear the sounds of water with the shampooing, and you could actually, you know, they kind of amplified the sounds of the hot steam towel because sometimes steam is kind of hard to recreate, right? You can see it, but how do you hear it? And so they amplified these sounds and at the end of the day, it just sounded so amazing. So it just gave us full confidence knowing that it, you know, uh, passed with flying marks against AI and against a national panel. So we brought it to Marketplace and we were just thrilled with the results of it.

[(06:52)] Nielsen: Yeah, it, I mean, it's powerful. It's immersive and it's almost also disruptive, right? You take a moment...

[(06:59)] Linden: Yeah.

[(06:59)] Nielsen: And you listen because you're like, what is that? Where am I? What am I feeling? And then as soon as you hear those first snips, or as soon as you hear exactly like you're saying that steam sound, you know exactly where you are. You're sitting right there in the chair and you're having your full experience on that front. Let's go ahead and actually play one of those ASMRs.

[(07:17)] Speaker 2: This is your mind in the middle of a regular old busy workday. And this is your mind during the MVP haircut experience only Sport clips and this-and this the MVP haircut experience, the most relaxing haircut ever.

[(07:47)] Nielsen: Fantastic. That's just a quick little snippet, everybody is there. You're having the full VIP experience. Hope you enjoyed.

[(07:54)] Linden: Yeah, thank you. Um, like I said, it turned out super well, and um, you know, we were very pleased that we were able to work with Veritonic and with Gwen Sound because they really brought this idea to life and, um, just made it sound amazing.

[(08:09)] Nielsen: Most definitely. In terms of audio as a whole, what do you think it is about audio that makes it such a compelling and engaging in effective advertising vehicle?

[(08:21)] Linden: You know, um, audio is, it is still kind of that mass reach vehicle, right? So you can hear it anywhere, um, almost in the entire world at any time. And it's also that, um, very unique because you don't have visuals, so you've gotta work a little bit harder at it. And, you know, I don't wanna be trite and say Theater of the Mind, but when you're missing that visual, you have to really make sure that how your messaging is super engaging. And, um, you know, I think what we did with ASMR, it was disruptive and I think it stood out and there is so much clutter in that environment that you have to really work so much harder to make sure that you have a message that does stand out in a staging. And that's gonna really connect with your listeners out there.

[(09:07)] Nielsen: When it comes to measuring the efficacy of the Sport Clips, audio ads, both pre and in market, what are some of the metrics that y'all are relying on?

[(09:16)] Linden: So, um, we do- we do a lot, um, and, you know, we have kind of a, an arsenal of tools that we use. So we do web pixels, so you know, here are Sport Clips ad, um, and do you take an action on our website, right? Do you check in online? Uh, do you look for, uh, go to one of our, uh, store locator pages? What do you do once you hear an ad? And then we do foot traffic studies. So again, hear an ad, can we trace you to a Sport Clips location where you actually walked in and got your haircut. Um, we also, um, as we just talked about, do some, uh, pre-market creative testing and that helps build, you know, confidence in the creative. And then, uh, we do a little bit of backend creative testing as well. And then, um, you know, we also look at some of our, we-we do a lot of host read content now, kind of in more in the podcast space.

And so we are always looking at, um, how well those podcasts ads are doing. And a lot of that really is based on, you know, hosts and-and how they do, you know, their reads. Um, some hosts are better than other hosts and, um, you know, it takes a while to kind of build a relationship with the host, but, um, it's-it's such an opportunity to be really creative and let the hosts really kinda run with content. Um, you know, it's, you-you gotta kind of make sure that you've got a lot of fresh content, uh, creatively that's being pumped out there. So the hosts have, you know, um, that ability to kind of keep refreshing, uh, what it is that they're saying, but you also have to give them the license to kind of run with it and speak to it in their own voice and in an authentic way so that it really connects with their listeners

[(10:51)] Nielsen: Most definitely. And with that in mind, taking into account the measurability aspect, the creative aspect, the innovation aspect of all that is audio, do you feel as though it has an opportunity to become a larger part of Sport Clips marketing strategy overall moving forward? And if so, what ways do you see that continuing to grow?

[(11:10)] Linden: Yeah, I-I-I certainly hope so. I mean, the audio space continues to get really interesting more, you know, customization, personalization, it's what the listeners want, it's what the trends show. And, um, at the end of the day, we are... we are always gonna follow the listeners and, um, go where their ears are and-and that cont you know, with the audio space continue to grow, we're gonna continue to grow along with it.

[(11:33)] Nielsen: Absolutely. That makes total sense. And kind of also in that same vein, do you think, or how do you think audio as an advertising medium as a whole is going to continue to evolve in the next, you know, six months, one year timeframe?

[(11:50)] Linden: Um, what we've seen I think is just gonna continue, which is just the players are gonna continue to get more dominant. They're going to add, um, you know, to their portals and, um, they're gonna keep merging, adding content, adding, um, other options, more personalization, customization. I think we're gonna have more programmatic options where we're just kind of buying impressions, but I think they're just gonna continue what they're doing best and continue aggregating really, really good content and, um, just kind of becoming your one stop audio, uh, shopping place.

[(12:23)] Nielsen: Sure, absolutely. That makes total sense. I think you hit the nail on the head there. I would love to shift gears and tap into a couple of our fun rapid fire questions. What was the last ad or jingle that you had stuck in your head?

[(12:37)] Linden: I'm gonna have to say, uh, probably Home Depot. So I am a big, um, do it yourselfer and I think every time I walk in the door, that jingle is plain in the back of my head. It's, it's quite sticky and it's fun and, um, they've had it for a while and um, it just really resonates with me and it just comes out there every single time I start my shopping.

[(13:00)] Nielsen: I love that one. Likewise, there's always a project happening in my house, so I'm right there with you. Which podcast host would you want to be stuck on a desert island with and why?

[(13:11)] Linden: Oh my God, there's so many great podcasts, uh, hosts out there. Um, but I'm gonna go for practical on this one, and I'm going to say, um, not a particular host, but I would definitely find one that is a survivalist host of a podcast.

[(13:28)] Nielsen: [laughs]

[(13:29)] Linden: I'm all about living and, and making sure that I'm with the right person that's gonna show me and tell me how to do that.

[(13:35)] Nielsen: Yep, absolutely. If I can find a podcast that bear girls hosts, most definitely, you can best believe that that's exactly who I'd like to be on an island with [laughs]. I love that answer. Well, Linden, thank you so incredibly much for joining us again today for this episode. It was fantastic to be able to talk a little bit more about all of the innovative and creative ways that Sport Clips is really making a name for themselves in the audio sphere. And I really enjoyed chatting with you today.

[(14:01)] Linden: Thank you. I so enjoy talking with you.

[(14:04)] Speaker 1: At Veritonic, we remain committed to helping you get the most out of your audio strategy. If you're interested in learning more about audio research, testing and measurement, visit veritonic.com or contact marketing@veritonic.com.

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