Talking Hit: Acapela Replicates the Voice of Famous Swedish Blogger Alex Schulman, Used in a Powerful, Innovative Web Campaign for Major Swedish Newspaper Aftonbladet
Poster: SySAdmin
Posted on November 17, 2010 at 7:21:02 AM
Talking Hit: Acapela Replicates the Voice of Famous Swedish Blogger Alex Schulman, Used in a Powerful, Innovative Web Campaign for Major Swedish Newspaper Aftonbladet
MONS, Belgium, November 17, 2010/PRNewswire/ -- 'Alex' is the voice created by Acapela to perfectly reproduce the famous
Swedish blogger Alex Schulman, to be used in a talking viral campaign
designed by the Swedish agencies Strip Digital and Naked Communications. The
campaign is aimed at promoting Nojesbladet, the weekend supplement of the
Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet. It is very creative and uses advanced features
with cutting edge technology. In October it received the 'Web campaign of the
month' award from the Swedish magazine Resume.
Making the most of speech synthesis
The agencies have put their faith in Acapela's expertise to both create a
synthetic version of Alex Schulman's real voice and to vocalize online
personal information provided by the campaign's visitors. The visitor types
in personal details on the website which are then automatically and in real
time transformed into speech with Alex's voice, using the Acapela VaaS online
service. Text to speech voice generation is smoothly mixed with recorded
prompts to develop a story and enable Alex to talk directly to any of the
visitor's contacts using highly personal info!
Acapela Voice Factory made it possible!
The 'Alex' synthetic voice has been created with Acapela Voice Factory,
which is the result of in-depth research into recording, segmentation and
fine tuning methods used in the text to speech production process. Voices
are initially recorded in the studio with the selected speaker and are then
analyzed, sliced and orchestrated to develop a synthetic voice that remains
true to the original recording.
"Acapela had exactly the solution we were looking for and the capacity to
deliver the voice extremely quickly. In only 4 weeks, they managed to create
a realistic synthetic version of Alex Schulman's voice. Really impressive!
And the Acapela VaaS service was the ideal solution to vocalize in real time
the personal info in order to deliver a personalized message with clout from
Alex'," says Karl Rosander, co-founder of Strip Digital.
"We are very proud to be providing the text to speech solution for this
exceptional campaign," comments Lars-Erik Larsson, CEO of Acapela Group. "It
highlights the growing demand for custom made synthetic voices and the
infinite number of potential ways synthetic speech can be used. Any company
today can get their own unique text to speech voices, which can be used in
many different contexts. An original, representative voice creates a highly
effective vocal counterpart to a company's image, providing an imaginative
and striking way for a company to differentiate itself from the competition."
The campaign: Alex Schulman yells at your boring friend, in your own
words! The campaign aims to prove that the only thing you need to get a
"kick-ass" night out is a good friend and Nojesbladet. When entering the
dedicated web site, the visitor is invited to accept help from Alex Schulman,
known for being blatant and rude, to yell at a friend who has become boring.
The visitor enters personal details such as names and the reason why the
friend has become boring. The result is a video clip whereby Alex, using the
Internet user's own words, yells at the friend in a very personal way. The
clip can then be shared with the friend via a link in a personal e-mail from
Alex Schulman, on Facebook, or through a phone call. The live call-up
function, directly available on the web site, allows Alex to make a call to
the friend while the Internet user is able to listen to the dialogue and hear
the reaction! And last but not least, a web TV reminder will automatically
interrupt the Aftonbladet webpage with a commercial break showing a
personalized video where Alex asks how things are going with the friend. Just
amazing!
See the campaign and try it for yourself at:
http://femplushelg.aftonbladet.se
About Strip Digital: http://www.stripdigital.se
About Naked Communications: http://www.nakedcomms.se
Source: Acapela Group
Contact (MEDIA ONLY) : Caroline Houel, Telephone number : +33562247104, E-mail : caroline.houel@acapela-group.com
MONS, Belgium, November 17, 2010/PRNewswire/ -- 'Alex' is the voice created by Acapela to perfectly reproduce the famous
Swedish blogger Alex Schulman, to be used in a talking viral campaign
designed by the Swedish agencies Strip Digital and Naked Communications. The
campaign is aimed at promoting Nojesbladet, the weekend supplement of the
Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet. It is very creative and uses advanced features
with cutting edge technology. In October it received the 'Web campaign of the
month' award from the Swedish magazine Resume.
Making the most of speech synthesis
The agencies have put their faith in Acapela's expertise to both create a
synthetic version of Alex Schulman's real voice and to vocalize online
personal information provided by the campaign's visitors. The visitor types
in personal details on the website which are then automatically and in real
time transformed into speech with Alex's voice, using the Acapela VaaS online
service. Text to speech voice generation is smoothly mixed with recorded
prompts to develop a story and enable Alex to talk directly to any of the
visitor's contacts using highly personal info!
Acapela Voice Factory made it possible!
The 'Alex' synthetic voice has been created with Acapela Voice Factory,
which is the result of in-depth research into recording, segmentation and
fine tuning methods used in the text to speech production process. Voices
are initially recorded in the studio with the selected speaker and are then
analyzed, sliced and orchestrated to develop a synthetic voice that remains
true to the original recording.
"Acapela had exactly the solution we were looking for and the capacity to
deliver the voice extremely quickly. In only 4 weeks, they managed to create
a realistic synthetic version of Alex Schulman's voice. Really impressive!
And the Acapela VaaS service was the ideal solution to vocalize in real time
the personal info in order to deliver a personalized message with clout from
Alex'," says Karl Rosander, co-founder of Strip Digital.
"We are very proud to be providing the text to speech solution for this
exceptional campaign," comments Lars-Erik Larsson, CEO of Acapela Group. "It
highlights the growing demand for custom made synthetic voices and the
infinite number of potential ways synthetic speech can be used. Any company
today can get their own unique text to speech voices, which can be used in
many different contexts. An original, representative voice creates a highly
effective vocal counterpart to a company's image, providing an imaginative
and striking way for a company to differentiate itself from the competition."
The campaign: Alex Schulman yells at your boring friend, in your own
words! The campaign aims to prove that the only thing you need to get a
"kick-ass" night out is a good friend and Nojesbladet. When entering the
dedicated web site, the visitor is invited to accept help from Alex Schulman,
known for being blatant and rude, to yell at a friend who has become boring.
The visitor enters personal details such as names and the reason why the
friend has become boring. The result is a video clip whereby Alex, using the
Internet user's own words, yells at the friend in a very personal way. The
clip can then be shared with the friend via a link in a personal e-mail from
Alex Schulman, on Facebook, or through a phone call. The live call-up
function, directly available on the web site, allows Alex to make a call to
the friend while the Internet user is able to listen to the dialogue and hear
the reaction! And last but not least, a web TV reminder will automatically
interrupt the Aftonbladet webpage with a commercial break showing a
personalized video where Alex asks how things are going with the friend. Just
amazing!
See the campaign and try it for yourself at:
http://femplushelg.aftonbladet.se
About Strip Digital: http://www.stripdigital.se
About Naked Communications: http://www.nakedcomms.se
Source: Acapela Group
Contact (MEDIA ONLY) : Caroline Houel, Telephone number : +33562247104, E-mail : caroline.houel@acapela-group.com