Audio branding – How is your brand sounding?

The brand name, first asset of an audio branding strategy.

The best way we know to brand a product or service is through its name. A brand’s name is the most important part of its identity, and it’s usually what helps consumers identify a product or service in the first place. 

When we think of Coca-Cola, Netflix, or Apple, for example, we don’t just see their logos. 

We hear them.

Those names have become iconic brands because they established themselves as recognizable entities with distinctive sounds (and, of course, visual identities).

Audio branding (aka sonic branding) is an essential tool that allows your business to establish an identity and promote trust among customers by creating sounds that are memorable and unique to your brand alone.

When you hear those sounds as part of your experience with a brand —whether on TV commercials, digital advertising, a podcast, content videos or in-store music— they tell you immediately what company you’re dealing with.

What are we talking about? 

The sonic identity developed by Coca-Cola is a great example:

They use their “Taste the Feeling” message alongside an intrinsic soundscape (the bottle opening, bottle cap noise, ice cubes clicking, the sound of pouring, fizzing, then “ahh” of satisfaction). Coco-Cola is doing more than just selling a soft drink. It’s selling an experience. And in using the soundscape to help support that, the brand was able to broach cultural and language barriers and thereby reach consumers all around the world.

The power of audio branding

Audio branding is a powerful tool that can enhance brand perception, form emotional connections with consumers, boost memorability, and more.

As humans, we process sound much more instinctively and quickly than the written word or images. Our inner ear connects to our vestibular system. And the vestibular system links to the limbic system, which is responsible for regulating the biochemistry of our emotions.

Audio branding is all about how you use the power of sound to enhance your brand or corporate identity and make it more memorable for your customers.

Sonic branding strategies have become increasingly important as businesses are becoming increasingly aware that audio is a highly effective way to engage with their audience. 

With so many messages competing for attention online, if companies want their content to stand out they need something different. Something unique which makes them memorable over other brands in their category.

Using audio branding can help your company stand out from the competition and make a better impression on consumers.

Sound plays an important role not only in the way we hear things, but also in how we perceive them visually. Which means that even if you don’t have music playing while watching an ad on TV (or listening to one over the radio), there will still be a sound background (hopefully well designed) that helps create an auditory experience for viewers. 

Sound is one of the most important aspects that people remember about your brand. It’s crucial for companies to create a memorable soundscape for their customers. 

The key is finding the right balance between being effective at communicating what you want to say while also making sure consumers don’t get bored with too much repetition.

Touchpoints in sonic branding strategies

You may be familiar with audio branding in the guise of jingles or adverts. But in fact, audio branding can be used across every aspect of your business. From the sounds you use on your website or app, to the hold music you play when customers call.

Sonic branding strategies can be used across a wide range of mediums including music and sound design for…

• Videos in social media (Tik Tok, Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, etc.)
• Ads in digital platforms, TV or radio.
• Website, app or physical product such as page transitions, buttons, alarms, notifications, etc. This is known as UX / UI audio design.
• Podcast episodes.
• Customer service line.
• Conference halls, public buildings, museums, retail stores, hotels or restaurants.
• Live events online or offline.

Audio branding is more important than ever in the digital age because of the sheer number of touch points that your customer has with your brand. In a retail setting, for example, music can be used to create atmosphere, enhance the customer experience and reinforce brand identity. It can also be used to influence shoppers’ behavior by encouraging them to spend more time in store which, in turn, increases sales.

Sound branding strategies can also help to create a sense of community and belonging to institutions, NGOs, causes, foundations, associations, etc.

Memorable examples of audio branding

If you are a business owner, it is likely that you have already considered how your brand will look to the world. You wouldn’t think about launching a website without its own logo, colour scheme and typography. So… why would you create a brand without considering how it will sound?

Audio branding is not simply about choosing what tune plays over the speakers at work or which ringtone goes off when customers call your number. Rather, it involves developing an entirely new language for communicating with your audience using their ears.

We have selected here some examples of audio branding strategies to better describe what we are talking about in this post.

The NBC Chimes

A simple yet iconic audio logo. And, probably, the oldest.

Wikipedia states: “The NBC chimes are a sequence of three tones played on National Broadcasting Company (NBC) broadcasts. Originally developed in 1927 as seven notes, they were standardized to the current three-note version by the early 1930s, and possibly as early as 1929.”

Netflix

Even if you haven’t gotten hooked on watching series on this famous video on demand platform, you will surely recognize its sonic logo.

20th Century Fox

We are sure that you can recognize the brand just by listening to the first 2 seconds of the snare drum.

McDonald’s

Although this video is quite long, it is good to hear many examples of different styles of music production for a single audio logo DNA.

Apple

Artist and producer A.G. Cook creates a song from scratch using only the iconic sounds of Apple products from the last 45 years.

The Daily Podcast (New York Times)

Here is an example of a sonic strategy in two known podcast platforms. Introduction, transitions and background music is a constant in almost every episode and they achieve a huge consistency. In each episode of the podcast there is a lot of time where only the voice of the journalists and their interviewees are heard without background music. This makes repeating sound assets work perfectly when they do sound.

Apple podcasts

Spotify podcasts

Raw materials in sonic branding

There are several audio elements to consider when creating an audio identity.

Music

Rhythm, melody, harmony and timbre are musical elements that can be used to create the DNA of your brand. The NBC Chimes are an example of a purely musical audio logo.

Sound effects

A sound effect is something you hear that is not music but can still convey what the brand is expressing. A good example would be the non-musical sounds in the Coca-Cola video mentioned above.

Spoken words

The spoken word also has many uses depending on whether you’re trying to create a sonic logo or sonic brand. For example, if someone walks into their office building and hears their company name being announced overhead by an automated voice system (“Welcome to Acme Industries”), this might create some kind of Pavlovian response where they associate Acme Industries with the feeling they got from hearing the announcement (eagerness). Another example is the slogan “I’m loving it” from McDonald’s.

Your own mix

To express the purpose, mission and values of your brand in a sound identity, it is possible to use one or more of these raw materials. A good professional in this discipline should be able to create an audio logo that represents the brand using these elements in a proportionate way.

Conclusion

Audio branding is a unique way to reach your audience and tell them more about your brand. It brings a new level of intimacy and authenticity to your relationship with customers and clients, which can help strengthen their feelings towards you or your business.

So, if you’re looking to get ahead of the competition, remember that audio branding can be a powerful tool. It’s important to invest in an experienced professional who knows what they are doing as well as how to deliver results for your business. If you’re not sure where to start, why not call us? We would love to help!