Reclaiming Our Senses in a Digital World

Hardware enablers—AirPods and smart speakers—are colliding with changes in consumer behavior. On top of that, screen fatigue is drumming up demand for screen-less content. This confluence of factors is creating huge demand for “water”—for audio content and audio-first social networks.

Ours is a culture based on excess, on overproduction; the result is a steady loss of sharpness in our sensory experience. All the conditions of modern life - its material plenitude, its sheer crowdedness - conjoin to dull our sensory faculties.... What is important now is to recover our senses. We must learn to see more, to hear more, to feel more

“Audio is the hottest format of all. Human speech burns with information. It resolves uncertainty and communicates meaning more than any other format. Audio is how you communicate what you really mean. Intonation, emphasis, innuendo and all.” - Colin Keeley

Consumers interact with brands through sound in a variety of ways, from podcasts to radio ads — even the log-in music for a favorite streaming service. The most memorable “sonic” brands can drive sales, raise awareness, and stand out among competitors. While marketers know how to glean data and insights from traditional advertising, the audio lands... See more

We think of the senses as passive intake valves: Light enters my eyes; my ears are vessels for absorbing sound. But actually the senses have this almost active role in shaping the world around us. In viewing nature’s palettes, eyes also act like paint brushes.