Alan Shires

Balancing Your Voiceover Life: The Day Everything Changes – The Full Story

October 26, 2022 by Alan Shires

Balancing Life With Paying the Bills

Since the age of 16, I have always worked in some way, shape, or form. I have always been exceptionally hard-working and dedicated to having an income. Having gone through phases with less and then other phases with more, I have always been very motivated to ensure I have funds coming in so I can continue going. As an actor and voiceover artist, I soon realised those moments of where things were better funded were few and far between when starting out. Finding balance in your voiceover life is a bit easier said than done.

I did not go into a massive waft of acting and voiceover work when I finished my studies, instead, I got a job in retail. As a young man, it was nice having a steady flow of money, and the drive to progress and earn more was extremely attractive. This is precisely what I did. Before too long, a few years in, I had an excellent bonus scheme, a company car, and a salary that was incredibly attractive. Sounds great, right?

What Happened to My Voiceover Life?

Well despite the money, the rewards, the benefits, and the structure – I was unhappy. In fact, towards the end, I was exceptionally unhappy! You can catch my blog and article about ‘breaking out of the day job’ back on my media page where I go into why I was unhappy in more detail, but the basic truth on this is because my heart was in acting and voice acting. There is one other element to this… It was the culture! Waking up at 5am, being exhausted after work and for what? Well, the environment was high pressure with massive expectations and low results. I have always flourished in any task I have taken, smashed the goals, expectations, and targets but the exhaustion is insane. You can work in that environment and it is never enough or the praise is minimum. At this point I will share something I learnt in my journey, did you know we all have motivations we resonate more with others? The list of motivations is:

Money (prospects of more money drives us)
Praise (a lot of people are motivated by affirming words)
Work-life balance (some would rather work more hours in less days to free up more time elsewhere)
Targets (constantly having something on the plate is a driver)
Achievement (awards, prizes and gifts are a motivator)

You might be reading this and seeing which of these you resonate with immediately. You resonate more with some than others. My employment did not really have much of that when I got high into retail management aside from the money – which was comparably low when measuring the time, responsibility, and sacrifice involved.

BREAKING OUT of the Shackles

When the article was published I was celebrating the fact that I had started a business from scratch, or more to the point, added another avenue to my acting business. At this point in time, I had started booking work, and the future looked positive. I had not broken out yet, but in hindsight, I was about a year away from being free! It’s warming looking back and seeing how things changed from this point. What I will say is the prospects of breaking out kept me highly motivated to work hard and give my everything. So let us talk about that.

The Voiceover Life of Being in Two Places at Once

So, whilst hustling this new work and building this new career for myself, I still had to work insane hours in this day job too. How did I do this? Well from 6 pm until as late as midnight, I was working away at my business. It was like having two jobs. Sleep was like 4-5 hours daily, and diet was… well! Interesting. I had at least one healthy meal a day, but chocolate helped mentally, and sometimes when I was busy, I would eat where I could, so a sandwich and a packet of crisps would be a decent go-to! A lot of the things I did during my evening pushes I still do today, including:

Auditioning for jobs
Recording samples
Marketing everywhere, reaching out and following up
Building and writing content
Networking and going to events
Connecting with new contacts
Taking workshops
Listening to webinars
and much, much more

The Prayers of a Voiceover Artist

I longed to become a parent but consistently feared the prospects of being a Dad who was not present due to his work. I had one prayer throughout my time toiling the day job in retail: ’’Lord, get me out of here before I become a parent.’’ Miraculously the week after I had left my full-time day job was the week I found out my wife had conceived. The timing was perfect. Whilst my wife was pregnant, I took another job which was much less in hours and stress, but things developed so much that by the time my daughter was born nine months later, I was working solely as a self-employed entrepreneur.

What’s Next in the Developing Voiceover Life?

My day is filled now with industry-relevant clients I offer numerous services to, but it all feeds back into a performance-based business. I spend some time every day developing content (like this, or my podcast ‘Faith and Famous’). I spend time working on client work. To no surprise I continue to audition and self-tape regularly. Everything I listed above I am still doing daily; marketing, networking, social media, developing my SEO and making friends. The only difference between now and then is I did more marketing in the past due to my desperation and now I am doing more work because I have built my foundation to a point where I can be self-sufficient as an entrepreneur.

The Dreams of Tomorrow as a Northern Voiceover Artist

I still dream of working more in voice over and in front of the camera. I am pleased to have worked in Anime this year and booked with Starbucks on screen. I love my ever-growing client list and the contacts and friends I have made. Tomorrow is unknown; it always is! But I feel so much excitement to see how this develops. What will my next job be? Who is the next friend I will make? Where can I add value? Who will I network and connect with? It’s unknown, but it is so exciting! As it says in Psalms 84:7, from glory to glory and strength to strength!

Voice Actors in Motion Capture: Centroid 3D the Full Story

October 12, 2022 by Alan Shires

Voice Actors in Motion Capture and Performance Capture

To start, I will say this is all just performance. The skills are interchangeable and transferable if you are in front of a lens, behind a microphone, or standing in a volume (mocap stage). The tricky element is how to spin all these wonderful performance-based events. Actors will have their agent, casting sites, headshots, and their typical routines with taping and so forth. Voiceover artists have their material, sites, demos, and so forth. But what of voice actors in motion capture?

In many respects, it is the new kid on the block when put next to voiceover and on-screen acting, even though it has been around for decades! The other thing vital to recognise is that performance capture continues to develop. The software used is becoming more efficient, detailed, and fast! Multiple styles of suits serve different purposes, and the cameras and sensors are constantly being upgraded. Now, I will stop on this rabbit hole of the evolution of performance capture for a second, we can cover that in another blog. The fascinating thing is that it is all just performance; thus, we must know how to act. So, let us delve into the differences and similarities.

Developing Skills in Performance Capture

If we are voicing a video game as a performer, my number one tip is to act the character. If the character on screen is waving its arm around and going wild, you must do that in your booth. Ok, do not punch the screen, knock over the microphone or hurt yourself! You do need to be aware of the space, but your performance level will massively improve if you fully immerse yourself into the character. If we are on-screen, less is typically more, which is normal. That said, the commitment to the character is vital. What are they thinking? What are they seeing? How are they feeling? What just happened in the scene before? What would you do in the character’s position?

These are standard and true questions to help you find that genuine performance. Now onto performance capture and motion capture. Commitment! Commitment is my number 1 tip. Like what you would do in front of the camera with those questions, you ask yourself to find truth in your performance, combined with the wild elements the characters demand (which I outlined above in my voiceover top tips), and we find a common ground for performance capture.

Voiceover in High Volume!

The volume; is a phrase I have used a couple of times. This is the stage a performer performs on during a motion capture and performance capture shoot. The difference between motion capture and performance capture is summed up like this: motion capture is strictly the capturing of the movement; performance capture adds the additional benefits of voice over or facial capture. Then, often you will hear the term ‘full performance capture,’ which is everything combined! Face, voice, movement, and sometimes even stunts! The performer in the volume has a 360 space to perform like on a stage, and that space is yours to own! To flourish in this area, every bit of you needs to commit to the role and take it to its maximum level, the further, and harder you push the character, the better your performance will be, and the bigger the wow factor will hit.

Voice Actors in Motion Capture Production Companies

I had the honour of working with Centroid3D during the pandemic in 2021. Whilst productions were slow in coming in and going out, artists worldwide invested in themselves, learning new skills and improving themselves. We did some live acting classes with Centroid, and a friendship was born. Aligned with this, ‘The Mocap Agency’ was born around the same time in the UK, the first Mocap agency in the UK! The mocap and performance capture industry is exploding and growing increasingly, which is exciting.

The joy of training and supporting other actors and voiceover artists is that relationships become established. Those relationships often start as professional, then casual, but in the end, they can often become long-lasting partnerships and friendships. I was thrilled to invite Centroid 3D to do an article with us and positively highlight them because the service they offer the industry is massive.

Delving in Deeper

I have gone into a good amount of detail about most of the points in the article. The one thing I have missed is the skills and stunts part of the industry. Here is the thing, performance and motion capture invite EVERYTHING. Sword-wielding, gun shooting, parkour, dancing… whatever the skill, it will come in handy at some point in performance capture. Like any other part of the entertainment industry, if you have something that will give you an edge or draw yourself closer to the be better aligned with the brief, you must capitalise on that.

Performance and motion capture are two unique and beautiful parts of the entertainment industry. They are unique, and they are fun. If you are like me and enjoy really submerging into a character and taking a big character to the furthest points of intensity and performance, then this area really does invite that. So commonly think of characters like Gollum from Lord of the Rings and Smaug from The Hobbit when we reference phenomenal performance capture characters, and rightly so! These roles are exceptional. But what did Benedict Cumberbatch and Andy Serkis do to make these roles exceptional? They went to the furthest point of physical representation they could. They were totally committed. They rolled around and slithered on the ground, they made the most surreal sounds and bizarre facial expressions. They allowed themselves to immerse themselves in these exceptional surreal, and incredibly unique characters because that is what the role demanded!

The Essence of Voiceover Creativity – The Full Story

October 6, 2022 by Alan Shires

Where Does It All Begin for an Actor & Voiceover Artist?

Getting motivated is a substance in itself, right? Often, it is the starting point to building a brand and/or business. As a parent, I do not always feel motivated to clean up on an evening, and much is the same way as an actor and voiceover artist, I do not always feel motivated to push ahead with my business. Researching new clients, keeping social media fresh, keeping the strings of communication fresh with existing clients, and then all the fun admin stuff just do not motivate me. So how does one feed their voiceover creativity?

Motivating the Performer!

A question for you… yes, that is correct; I am presenting you with a question. All of a sudden, the reading element of this is about to stop and be replaced with a moment of thought as you digest and answer this question.

How badly do you want it?

That is it! Do you want to work when you want, on your own terms and schedule? Do you want to build something which gives you financial freedom and opportunity? Do you want to build a client list with some of the world’s finest? Do you want to continue growing and booking different roles across the board?

If you really want this, then put that at the centre focus of everything you do each and every day. The fun part is when we are in the booth going wild, but the supporting pillars surrounding that are all the marketing and admin-related tasks. They are the pillars that keep us going.

The Essence of Voiceover Creativity for the Talent

I have found both personally and from spending time with other actors and voiceover artists that we are all driven by a love to perform. It all starts with a tiny spark. Similar to how all it takes is a spark to create a massive inferno within us lies a tiny spark for our creativity. This spark fuels us and the more we do it the bigger it becomes and the more it spreads. It is almost as though we ascend to a different level of focus where our usual patterns are temporarily left on the shelf.

Typically speaking I think about and undertake several tasks each and every day. I am thinking about what chores need doing, the work I have on, what time I am going to eat dinner or take my daughter to the park – you know the stuff I mean, I am sure. But when I am in full force in my booth portraying a range of wild characters, everything in my head leaves and I find myself in storyteller mode.

I find myself back in the mind of an 8-year-old where I can be and do anything I want, at the subject only of however far my imagination will take me. It becomes real for those moments of performance where everything the character says, does, sees, smells, and feels becomes the truth at that moment. I have also found this level of immersion to be the truth the client and casting directors are so desperately seeking from us as actors and voiceover artists.

Voice Talents Using Their Imaginations and Seeking Adventure!

Once upon a time, most of us would have found ourselves on the school playground enjoying the world of make-believe. In that environment, you would find a president, an astronaut, a superhero, and just about everything else available within high-profile roles. Kids do not care! They are also the number 1 audience member who will see through a mediocre performance, they have to believe, they have to see your commitment. In the playground, they are committed, and we must match that!

So, where did it all go wrong? Well, imagine that our imagination is like a muscle. The older we got, the more our attention was focused on other things meaning our imagination was not receiving the exercise it so vividly deserved, so weakened. Many of us also became more focused on what those around us think and what society depicts as acceptable.

So can you have that child-like imagination but still fit in? sure you can! I consider myself a moderately eccentric individual when measuring my personality type. I am someone who does not really care all that much about what other people think; what you see is what you get – complete transparency, no deception. So, I will certainly contribute to a formal discussion, encapsulating the behaviours of a working professional and business owner, good punctuality, a high level of work, and so on. But I am fully engaged with my imagination and love to have fun! I love building relationships with people and forming friendships I believe most humans do seek relationships. That being said, some would look to go deeper than others and every relationship is different too, so it’s an interesting one to measure.

I take my personality and bring it into the session – the client gets me! I present myself with all the excellent business qualities someone expects, but they are getting my personality too. I have been fortunate in that it has made me memorable and triggered repeat work and referrals. I believe this is the difference.

Voice Actors Finding Genuine Believability

Where am I going with this? Not only does your performance need to be believable, but you as a person need to be believable too. Some actors may find it easier than others to turn on their imagination whilst others might find it easier to bring their charm to a session. But when you can do both, both elevate. Your personality in the booth brings down your walls and the client’s walls and creates an excellent platform for the character to flow. The commitment to the adventure (your imagination) compliments you as a person because you demonstrate that you are not scared to go where others would not go. Those places long forgotten about as a child are obtainable to all of us! When imagination and personality walk hand in hand, congratulations, you have found your playground! Finding your playground as an adult with all the skills and disciplines you have acquired is what sets you apart as an actor and voice actor, and that’s what is going to obtain new clients, keep clients, bring clients back, and get new referrals. Next thing you know – the dream jobs are slowly coming in, and it is all because you found your essence of creativity and utilised it correctly.

Controversy in Voiceover With John DiMaggio

September 27, 2022 by Alan Shires

The Great Battle Fought by One of the World’s Finest Voiceover Artists

No one likes a bully! The thing is, life is full of them, and it does not stop when school ends. Bullies find themselves in drunken crowds, on the playground but sadly also in the workplace. Entertainment is no different! This happens in the actor world as well. In late 2021 we saw an example of this as a big company tried to bully those at the bottom of the ladder! It is the same old story, but the good news is bullies do not win! Let’s explore how this relates to controversy in voiceover with John DiMaggio’s story.

The Voice Talent Has Rights!

As voice actors, we must look after ourselves. We need to take care of our bank accounts, our voices, our bodies, and our mental wellbeing. It was painful to watch in 2020 all the negative press Activision and Blizzard were getting for the poor working conditions they put their employees through. Fortunately, that bad press provoked them to change and improve how they treat people. Sadly, the damage was already done. Money is such a monster! It makes people do awful things and big companies… well they have two options, make a difference with their money, or try and take every penny without care of the damage it makes to the world. Fortunately, a splash of bad press and a reduction in sales and bad companies are quick to change their tone – GOOD!

Voiceover Artists Coming Together to Stand Up to Big Companies!

Some unions are great! Some are… well you know! But earlier in this blog, I mentioned in late 2021 a big company tried to bully those at the bottom of the ladder, who was that? Many of you reading this will remember the iconic TV series The Simpsons. If you do, you may also remember the spin off ‘Futurama.’ Futurama ran for a few seasons before ending. The impressive thing about this show is that it came back for another series before ending a second time. Years and years came by and then Hulu brought it back again! Great work Hulu, right? Well. kinda… Hulu attempted to take on all the original cast however John DiMaggio said no because the rates were poor! Hulu had hoped to have got away with the low pay, but they were wrong! The voiceover community came together.

Knowing Your Worth as a Voice Actor

Throughout the battle of voice actor vs big company, there was not much in the way of mudslinging, however, Hulu did say publicly that if John DiMaggio did not come back onto the show they would replace him. This started a mass uproar on social media, why? Two reasons:

Reason 1: John DiMaggio plays ‘Bender’ the cheeky comical Robot we all grew to know and love! Effectively Hulu was saying they would replace the lead character! Voice actors are not disposable commodities!

Reason 2: Voiceover artists worldwide saw this, and personally felt threatened, because if it could happen to someone as big as John, well we are all in danger.

The Voiceover Industry Staying Strong

You will see in the article I share a tweet from Sean Schemmel. Now Sean is a dear friend of mine, but he is also arguably the biggest Anime voiceover artist in the world. Sean along with hundreds if not thousands of other voices over artists got behind John to support his battle against Hulu. So, what about the rest of the cast? Well, there was some grumbling in the ranks, some got behind John, and others stayed quiet to watch. As John was the last one to accept or reject the new contract, he really caused a stir for Hulu (and rightly so). At this point, was the whole cast in jeopardy? So many of them were supporting John whilst others were happy with the rate and hoped he would return for consistency, but there was still hope!

The Voiceover Actors’ Trump Card

It was suggested that John was simply being greedy, and it was all about the money but publicly he came out and said it was not about his own bank account, but it was about the rates in the industry. He stated that everyone in that cast was being underpaid for the calibre of the project and the responsibility and pressures that come with being a celebrity. John was not willing to let yet another company bully voiceover artists in a race to the bottom with rates, so if Hulu really believed replacing him or anyone else was the right choice then he invited them to try.

From my perspective, a giant game of bluff was at play here and John showed that we are all unique and irreplaceable. When a company chooses to recast, they choose to compromise the project and a part of it dies as something new emerges in its place, new, but different.

Can Any Voiceover Artist Do This?

To some extent yes! We all have control over our working rates and our businesses. But certainly, in this instance when the biggest voiceover artists in the world stand up for better rates and are willing to pass by on massive projects for it, well that says a lot globally. Not only does it protect all of our worth’s, but it also sends a message across the industry that the bigger companies can not simply just pay tiny fees for massive roles. The saying ‘it’s just good businesses’ really annoys me because things are done in the name of ‘good businesses’ may offer a bigger return for greedy shareholders, but the reality is that voice talent is worth a bit more wealth and the people at the top do not need any more wealth! We work in a massively competitive industry and that does not mean companies can pay the cheapest person they can find, what it means is we must ensure we are at the top of our game so that the best of the best gets selected.

A Whole New World of Voiceover – The Full Story

August 25, 2022 by Alan Shires

Imagine Being a Disney Voice Actor!

I’ve been in the voiceover industry for a good length of time and in that time, I think I have seen a maximum of 3 Disney voiceover scripts to date one of which I did not even fit the brief. It’s certainly one of the most popular sectors of the industry and typically a company most voice actors aspire to work with. I was fortunate enough to connect with Jennifer Trujillo who is one of the casting directors for Disney, at an in-person voiceover event called Above and BeVOND in 2019.

What Does a Disney Voiceover Artist Talk About?

What do you say when you meet a big client? Perhaps you stand awkwardly in the corner of the room or lurking in a conversation had by others whilst you try to find the courage to say hello. Or you could just say hello, that works really well I promise! Performers are surprisingly shy when it comes to breaking the ice because generally, they put people on pedestals.

The key is to be yourself, if someone doesn’t like you for who you are then it’s their loss, not yours. I conclude the fear of rejection isn’t just cemented in the pain of someone not liking you but also in the fear of potentially being blacklisted. Let me tell you this, it’s highly unlike someone won’t like you for being yourself however they may find you disingenuous for trying to be something you’re not. Moreover, if by chance you did not see eye to eye, you’re not going to be blacklisted, it’s just not how it works.

The natural organic approach is the best thing to do in voiceover and any other industry for that matter. My top tip is to do some research, maybe you’ll find some commonalities which you can talk about following your introduction. Example ‘’Hey, I am Alan, Great to meet you, I was so amused when I saw your response to the recent episode of Picard on prime, the last episode was great right?’’.

The In for the Voice Actor

If you are at an event like I was, why not try volunteering? Why do we go to events simply just to extract and not impart? It’s a different experience volunteering because you end up in scenarios and conversations that otherwise might not have presented themselves as attendees. In this instance, I volunteered and did pretty much everything I was asked, from the registration desk to untangling the LED lights. Whilst there I suggested we interview Jennifer for the magazine, and they took me up on the offer and so that is what I did.

From there, a professional relationship was built, and conversation becomes a little easier to manage. The thing is, whatever avenue you take be it professional, personal, or indifferent the key is to connect and then begin growing a relationship. Some potential clients become friends, some don’t, some become clients, and some don’t the point is we need to do our best to network and connect with people.

Being a Voice Talent That Looks at Things Differently

When interviewing Jennifer, I asked myself the question ‘’what do we talk about” fundamentally, I took myself out of the situation I was in and decided to look at what would bring value to the reader. The ten-million-dollar question on everyone’s mind is how do we end up in the casting room, right? Well, that’s exactly what I asked. Think about the magnitude of our business for a moment, one job can see a thousand auditions across a few platforms.

Imagine if that was open to every agent and the pay-to-play site you could be seeing 100,000 + in the way of auditions, and if that’s global you could be talking a million people going for one job! Casting directors will have confidence in the agents and platforms they use from years of reliability and relationship. This is a huge filtering system, the agent has trust in the talent, the casting director has trust in the agent and finally the director who ultimately chooses who books the job has trust in the casting director.

Disney Voiceover Actors Using Comedy to Their Advantage

I asked Jennifer for her top tip, and she said comedy is so vital for her shows. Got experience in stand-up? Well, the good news is, it’s transferable into voiceover! What about if you don’t have experience in stand-up? Well, improv is almost the next best thing, so get good at improv! The ability to instinctually think fast and on your feet will get you to a good place with improv. My top tip is to have a collection of cards up your sleeve for improv so for example in a heated argument change the tone in a comedic way by proposing. Humour and comedy are subjective, sure, but there is a consensus too. You can certainly read more from the pros about what’s funny and why but for now take your character, make it genuine and more importantly make it big.

Why is this important? Well, prominent characters often invite comedy, and as a species, we find surreal, slapstick, and animated behaviours humorous. Don’t be fooled when I say genuine and big, you can have both! Genuinely doesn’t mean naturalistic it means real. If you create an environment where a crazy character exists, and you deliver that with no compromise you have succeeded. You can’t half give yourself a character especially if you want to pull off animation, comedy or nearly just about any other genre which requires a larger persona from the character and voice actor. This is not used as commonly on screen as it is a theatrical behaviour, but it is one of the number one things to lean into as an actor and voiceover artist when looking to create comedic, big, and genuine animated characters.

Commercial Voiceover and the Northern Artist

April 5, 2022 by Alan Shires

The Commercial Voiceover Artist

Many people blur the lines between commercial and brand imaging. Even on the radio, it is a common issue. Similarly, it is hard to see the lines between commercial voiceover and narration should the ad adopt educational principles and narration sales-based qualities. It does all go back to the centre point. We have a voiceover artist looking to deliver a message on behalf of an organisation or individual to a designated audience.

Are commercials just sales? Does it count as a commercial if it’s online? Is a promo a commercial? All great questions and there is space to talk about styles, the crossovers, and the skills needed, but for now, I want to focus on my journey in this field. I had the honour of meeting and working with some of the world’s most talented commercial voiceover artists. They not only demonstrated in their work what good looks like but have also gone on to present webinars, write literature, and host workshops. Like everything else in voiceover training, it is so fundamentally essential, and if you are going to take a class, take it with the best, right? Why not?

Becoming a Northern British Commercial Voice Actor

A charity that is personal to me is ‘Premier,’ and they support mental health, help people get into work, and much more. I came across their radio stream ‘Premier Praise’ and always wondered how they found their voiceover artists and how I might one day work with them, but there was no clear direction. I became an active listener, engaging with the presenters, donating money to their projects, and entering their competitions as I felt committed to what they were doing, it felt right, and I was in alignment with some of their goals.

At one point, I did win one of their competitions too, and as the months went on, I made more connections and eventually, someone from the casting team asked me to send some content over, which I promptly did with a big smile on my face. Though it was not a quick turnaround eventually, they asked me if I could record for them. I was thrilled. However, they needed me to go into the booth within an hour of answering the call, which was highly inconvenient as I was two hundred miles from my studio.

I got a one hour break from one of my client’s activities, and she invited me to use her booth during that slot. This is an example of how sometimes it is about waiting. The actual job was everything I expected, informative, casual, with a bit of marketing thrown in there to. Advertising some products and the offers available in a conversational, authentic manner is the current key and top priority of any commercial voiceover artist regardless of accent.

British Voiceover is Multifunctional

Having a niche does not mean that you can only do one thing! It’s not like being typecast! There are always associations in entertainment. For example, the Irish voice bringing luck, or the deep stern voice being the chilling announcer. We find a lot of multipurpose in our voices. In my other blogs, you can read about my adventures with video games, animations, narrations, and anime. Still, for now, I’ll share with you radio commercials I’ve done, and a little bit into promos too.

I reference the last 12 months that from the time of writing this blog, I believe fundamentally it is essential to be current! Visually and audibly, the difference is that a promo is not a commercial advertising a brand or product. Instead, it is a medium for advertising a TV show or series. With respect to the BBC, the promos are typically aired before another show just starts.

Commercial Voiceover as Awareness

Promos are often advertised on their channel’s broadcasts. For example, the BBC might not advertise something on E4 and vice versa (though this is not always the case with the bigger broadcasters). I have used the BBC as an example as I have recently voiced a promo for them. I know what you’re thinking, the BBC does not have adverts, and this is true! However, the promo is advertising their own content on their own channel. They are not looking to advertise other companies for their sales or products. So, in many ways, promos are raising awareness of what’s out there as opposed to an advertisement, though there is a touch of that to.