Marketers, Put Your Brand Voice on Autotune

When you hear the word autotune, who comes to mind?

If you’re a pop culture fanatic, you may think of Cher, who is often credited as the first artist to experiment with autotune with her 1998 single, “Believe.”

But if there’s anyone who's known for using autotune consistently, it’s hip hop artist, T-Pain. In fact, he’s so strongly associated with autotune that an iPhone app called “I Am T-Pain” was created to mimic the effect.

Every one of T-Pain’s songs brings me back to my college days when I actually looked forward to going to the club. He had hits like Bartender, Buy U a Drank, and I’m N Luv with a Stripper just to name a few.

These songs cut through the late 2000s competitive hip-hop scene. T-Pain was up against artists like Lil Wayne, Drake, T.I., Flo-Rida and Jay-Z and yet he still produced hit after hit.

The Secret to Brand Voice Differentiation

Marketers can relate to T-Pain’s position as an artist. Your category is crowded. Whether it’s your personal brand or your business, you’ve got your own set of competitors.

In the face of competition, most underdogs have their strategy all wrong. I’ve had countless clients who try to copy what their competitors are doing, throw more money at advertising, or invest in expensive innovations to try to demonstrate that they are better.

From what I’ve seen, these efforts won’t push you ahead in the race — at least not as quickly as you’d hope.

Take it from one of my favorite authors, Sally Hogshead, who says

“It’s good to be better, but it’s better to be different.”

And this is exactly how T-Pain stood out. He wasn’t necessarily better than other artists of his era, but he packaged his work in a unique way with autotune. It was something we’d never heard before. After his debut single “I’m Sprung” dropped, we were hooked.

Individuals and brands have a similar opportunity to differentiate themselves. You don’t have to be the best or…