2025 Creative Highlights

At Strategic Media, Inc., 2025 was a landmark year for the Creative Team. We wrote 165 original ads, produced over 500 ads, 40 versions of talking points, and 27 blog posts this year. To celebrate all we accomplished this year, the Creative Team got together to talk about five of our most successful ads of 2025. Each of these ads showcases something different that audio advertising can do, and exhibits the range of what we are capable of here at SMI.

#1: The RealReal’s “Consigner Christine”

Great storytelling is key to impactful advertising. In The RealReal’s “Consigner Christine,” we created a relatable character and made her memorable through the use of special effects and inspired casting. This ad features stellar production values, including sound effects our audio producer designed in-house. Though the sound effects don’t take up a lot of time, they matter a lot.

A key sound effect in this ad is the sound of the character, Christine, opening a closet. Things fall out of it, “signifying that she has too much stuff and she needs to sell some on The RealReal,” says Gillies. He couldn’t find a convincing sound effect online, so he built the one you hear in this ad, recording the sound of a door opening a bunch of different things falling. “Then I reworked it a million times,” he says. “It was definitely labor-intensive, but in the end it came across as real. It came across as recognizable. And that’s the most important. With audio-only, when you have no visuals, using sound effects to set a scene–in combination with proper writing—allows you to paint a picture in someone’s mind, which is not always the easiest thing to do—while also not having it be distracting.”

Martino adds that oftentimes, we have a very specific sound in our head and we can find something pre-produced we can use as a clip. But in this case, getting the sound exactly right was critical. “We had a bunch of options, and it was falling flat—it just wasn’t doing what we needed it to do. But Lewis compiled some things and made the sound effect that we had in our heads.”

Gillies says the final sound effect was about 20 different objects falling at about the same time. 

In addition to the sound effects, the voice actors in this ad are very distinct. “That brand needs to be real; it needs to be a certain age. You need to be able to see that person in your mind,” says Martino. “And I think both those voice actors have a distinct enough delivery that you can imagine them. You start to see who they are, and that’s so important in terms of memorability. If you can really get a listener to picture what’s happening in the ad, they’re so much more likely to remember the brand name, to be interested in it, and potentially to make a purchase. It’s critical.”

#2: Babbel’s “App for That”

We wrote “App for That” thinking about Babbel’s competitive edge. In an industry where there’s a lot of focus on AI, Babbel is a human-focused language learning product. 

This ad has been driving great results for Babbel. When thinking about what makes it so effective, Kristy Martino, Head of Creative Development, says, “I think we had this idea a long time ago to really contrast Babbel against their biggest competitor. Babbel has a real advantage here to differentiate themselves and go in the opposite direction. So when their competitor came out with the press announcement that they were leaning heavily into AI, we saw that as an opportunity to say, ‘Listen, Babbel is an intentional program that was developed by language experts—real human beings that consider what it takes to learn a language.’ And it sounds great!”

The ad is not complicated, says Audio Production Engineer Lewis Gillies. “It’s not super flashy. It’s straightforward and has a lot of emotion.”

“It’s not aggressive,” Martino adds. “We’re not naming any competitors. We’re just highlighting the differentiators that Babbel has and why it’s more successful for people that are really trying to learn a language, and not just learn a bunch of vocabulary and play a game.”

#3: IQBAR’s Founder’s Story

We do a lot of IQBAR ads voiced by the company’s founder, Will Nitze, because he is really passionate about what he does, so his story resonates well with listeners.

The ad’s simplicity enables listeners to really focus on the benefits of the product communicated in the messaging. 

“I love Will’s delivery,” says Martino. “Will is not a voice actor—he’s the founder. He sounds like a real human being who’s passionate about his product, and that sounds authentic. Listeners connect to that, and they can believe it. And I live by the rule that listeners are smart enough to tell the difference between passion and gimmick.”

Gillies adds, “I think everyone loves a story. So anytime you can take a founder’s story, or a story in general about a product, people like that. They connect with it.”

#4 Talkspace’s “Life Changes” 

The believability of an ad is so important, and one way to achieve believability is through real user testimonials, as is done in this ad. 

The testimonial is relatable and the announcer sounds kind and approachable. Production is always really important—even when the ad doesn’t have a lot of sound effects—and we focus a lot on choosing the right voices that are going to communicate a brand’s message in the most powerful way. With an online therapy service like Talkspace, it’s imperative that the voices representing the brand sound thoughtful and compassionate, as those are traits customers would likely hope to find in a therapist. 

#5 Star Patrol’s “Say Goodbye”

There’s a vast range in what SMI’s Creative Team can achieve in terms of tone. The Talkspace ad has a serious tone, but one of the Creative Team’s favorite ads produced this year is a hilarious ad with special effects and high production values. 

“I highly recommend everyone listen to this with headphones, so you can get the appropriate ambiance in your ear,” says Martino, who penned the Star Patrol masterpiece. 

This ad is so fun and quirky, it’s hard to pick a favorite element: Is it the bear roar? The very unique decision to put the disclaimer in the middle of the ad? Or the sci-fi sounding music?

“It has everything,” Martino says. “Life is short! There should be a little bit of joy on the air. Even if you don’t buy the Star Patrol, that ad made your day, maybe. It makes my day!”

“I love the fourth wall break,” adds Gillies, “the ‘We had to hire a voice actor to read the disclaimer…’ That’s one of my favorite parts of it.”

Martino ads, “And kudos to our client, who mentioned, ‘What about a bear attack?’ And I was like, ‘You know what? You’re onto something, we’re going to put that in there.’ And that’s probably my favorite part, too. So good client collaboration there!”

Final Thoughts

2025 was a big year at SMI. Big things are ahead for next year, and we’re really excited.

“We love our work,” says Martino.

We hope listeners can hear it in the ads we create.