How the start-up Klangchat makes voice messages attractive
Text messages and emoticons are a thing of the past. The new communication favours audio. The younger generation in particular prefers to send voice messages via messenger services. Although this has the advantage that the messages are quickly spoken and sound more personal, they cannot be made to sound original or decorated with graphics. Spoken – sent – listened to. The MediaTech Hub startup Klangchat is changing this and offers a social audio app that allows voice users to add music and interactive stickers to their messages.
The Klangchat team can be found in the MediaTech Hub Space and in the MediaTech Hub Accelerator programme. They recently took part in a design thinking workshop with the Hasso Plattner Institute. At the MediaTech Hub Conference panel on 11 November 2021, they will explain how they found new approaches for their product within the given framework.
‘With other services, voice messages are a secondary medium. As a messenger service, we have specialised in audio and this form of communication,’ says co-founder Philip Kressin, who is responsible for partnerships and content at Klangchat.
The first version for iOS is already available in the Apple Store and, in addition to lots of music, offers free animated stickers and some as in-app purchases. The small audio-video snippets can be shared via all common messenger services such as WhatsApp, Telegram, iMessages or Facebook Messenger and are also suitable for branded content marketing. In the next step, Klangchat would like to add its own messenger service to the app. The special feature will be that the messenger will work exclusively on an audio level; there will be no ‘texting back’. Even the entire user experience is designed around the user’s voice.
Optimised audio experience thanks to sound chat sound engine
In addition to background music and images, the app promises another advantage: if you have inhibitions about hearing your own voice and therefore rarely use audio messages, the sound chat sound engine provides small automated adjustments. The spoken word subtly adapts to the rhythm of the music. You can also use your own photos and turn them into simple animations in which the lip-sync simulates the spoken word. Whether it’s a holiday greeting with tropical sounds, an enthusiastic message about a new job with orchestral music or a simple ‘How are you?’ accompanied by an animated photo: users enjoy it, they can tell their message in a more entertaining way and embellish it with audio and images.
The music comes from the Klangchat founders themselves, whose backgrounds include the music industry, DJing, mixing and composing. Founder Henning Grambow has composed film music and helped set up a music publishing company. Philip Kressin has toured Argentina as an indie rock star and has already had an exit there with a digital culture magazine with an integrated social network. Julian Laping has worked as a sound and product designer, composer and music producer and Piotr Śnieżek is a designer and developer of web and mobile apps.
Branded content and gamification for Gen Z
They are now using their joint expertise to successfully implement Klangchat’s business model in collaboration with Gen Z and branded content partners. The target group is clearly in their mid-twenties, a generation that ‘culturally embraces voice messaging’. They communicate more in private chats than in public networks and are harder to reach for marketing. How do you play branded content to them? Klangchat offers personalised stickers – similar to the sponsored lenses on Snapchat – or music branded to companies. ‘Brands and companies have to offer creative, funny content snippets in order to be able to take place in the direct message threads of teenagers,’ says Philip Kressin.
Test runs on the Indian market have shown that many users are willing to pay for subscription models or in-app purchases. One test run involved working with the producers of the Indian blockbuster Bahubali. During the promotion, fans were able to send voice messages with film character avatars and add music based on the soundtrack. Many took advantage of this opportunity and purchased in-app characters. Such gamification elements are also in high demand in the messenger sector. ‘In India, they were enthusiastic about the functions, which motivated us a lot,’ says co-founder Henning Grambow. In general, the Asian market is very open to audio. Communication in messengers there mainly consists of audio messages. This is because the large number of characters in Chinese or Indian written language makes texting more laborious.
Less hate speech thanks to spoken messages
In addition to the emotional level and the fun factor, voice messages have another advantage: hate speech and bullying often take place in text form on social networks. ‘Hate speech is very often written speech, so to speak,’ says Grambow. ‘It’s different whether you write something or have to say something.’ The motivation is therefore high to create a safe space and leave less room for digital violence through audio.
The team is constantly testing the app developments on the target group. Next year will be all about iteration.
Secure your ticket for the MediaTech Hub Conference now and don’t miss the session with Klangchat:
11 November 2021, Partner Stage
12:00 – 12:45, Partner Session “Design Thinking Meets Startups: A Case Study of the MTH Design Thinking Challenge”
Henning Grambow, Jörg Jonas-Kops, Philip Kressin, Samuel Tschepe
Partner: MTH Accelerator | Babelsberg
More about the MTH Blog
The media technologies of the future are already being used today – not only in the entertainment sector but in a wide variety of industries. For our MediaTech Hub Potsdam blog, we talk to tech enthusiasts, entrepreneurs and researchers once a month and tell the stories behind their innovative business models, ideas, projects and collaborations.
