If you’re a 90s girl like me, it is difficult to hear Depeche Mode without the GAP advert springing to mind or see the name Toys R Us and not automatically blurt out the catchy jingle to the annoyance or perhaps delight of those around me. Throughout time, music and brands have been synonymous, yet why is there so much focus on what a brand looks like vs what it sounds like? 

The history of music and brands is lengthy and comes in various forms; jingles, adverts, mnemonics, sonic branding, social media content, podcasts, and now with the emergence of AI, there is so much more to come. 

In this article's part I, I am going to delve into the world of audio branding or as some call it, sonic branding. However, don’t despair as part of our Brands and Music series, we will be visiting other areas especially AI in due course. But for now…

The world of Sonic Branding

"Sometimes it's not the song that makes you emotional, it’s the people and things that come to your mind when you hear it..." Unknown

Before I delve into the specifics around brands, I want to start with sound in the real world. We are creatures of sound and those sounds help us to communicate daily. We have developed languages, dialects, expressive tones, and other ways to distinguish each other apart and be unique and memorable. It's these small details in our evolution that have allowed us to work together to accomplish greater things. Without sound we wouldn't hear and therefore wouldn't speak.

Sounds continuously surround us in our day without us realising it, the morning alarm clock, the brrrrr of the coffee machine, the MS Teams call, the intro of your favourite TV show, or a song on the radio. All these sounds can evoke familiarity, and nostalgia, sometimes they make us angry or they can make us feel calm. There are a thousand emotions that can be triggered by sound, it’s impossible to mention them all now.

Why is this important and how does it relate to brands?

At a high level,  the brands’ ethos is to create a connection with a customer in order to develop appeal and therefore sales. By developing a true connection and adhering to their brand promises they are able to build trust, gain consumer confidence and create affinity that is hopefully long-lasting. Brands want to evoke emotion and by doing so they become more memorable, sticky, and recognisable just like hearing your favourite song on the radio or the roar of the MGM lion.

Sound has a powerful ability to get us to trigger specific emotions and memories, and that’s impactful when it comes to a brand. Therefore, when you correlate a sound to a brand you therefore build a connection that is deeper than a love of a product. With 8,25 seconds, we humans now officially have shorter attention spans than goldfish. As our daily information uptake exceeds our visual processing powers, sound as an alternative communication channel becomes much more important.

We’ve established a correlation between sound and brand, but let’s now take a look at a macro view of sound in branding.

The importance of sound in a brand isn’t as simple as adding a mnemonic to a logo, creating a jazzy jingle, or choosing a popular music track. It is a way to bring to life the true essence of a brand’s DNA and showcase its personality through rhythm, beats, chords, and melodies. It is bringing to life its colour, its identity, and its character.

Jack Black was bang on in the film ‘The Holiday’ when creating a theme song for Arthur to collect his award. When playing the song Kate Winslet’s character remarked ‘it’s cheeky, it sounds just like him’. And that’s what brands can do, they can create sounds that sound like them. For years there has been a lot of focus on what a brand looks like visually, with lesser regard for how it sounds. And that is a missed opportunity.

Sound identity as a safety net

EV vehicles are an emerging prime example of a product that is soundless but actually needs a sound identity for safety. However, this brings about an opportunity to create something ownerable. This is something Rivian was all too aware of. They, rightly so, spent time and money thinking about what their EV range would sound like, everything from the key lock to the sound the vehicle emits. According to Rivian, “the acoustic vehicle alert system, or AVAS, was one of the most debated and considered”. Using nature as their inspiration, they built a sonic framework of nature-inspired sounds that were then incorporated into varying aspects of the vehicle. “Like the other natural sounds incorporated into Rivian vehicles, it’s not a simple sonic cut-and-paste job, but rather an altered version of a real mountain bluebird call.” This just highlights an amazing example of turning something that is required into an asset that is part and parcel of the brand.

The phenomenon of brand recall

Now let’s just take a minute to talk about the genius that is ‘Did somebody say Just Eat’... I cannot count how many times I have recited this annoying but very simple and catchy jingle. Or is it a song? Who knows. But, one thing I can say is the brand recall is phenomenal. In 2021 a marketing effectiveness index ranked it number one for the most recognisable sonic logo out of UK brands. “The index also found: sonic logos that include the brand’s name are twice as effective at cementing brand association than those that do not”. However, in Oct 2022, the company reported annual losses and a reduction in market share which is surprising. Therefore, although the brand recall for many could be high, customer satisfaction must be quite low. It just shows you can have the best brand recall in the world but unless this is married up with great customer service, a high-quality product, and an attractive price point then even the likes of Snoop Dogg and Katy Perry can’t help. 

Therefore, why should sound be important for brand managers and brands in general? Keep your eyes peeled for our part II where Nikki looks at the top 10 reasons why sound should be a prime consideration for modern-day marketers.

About the Author

Nikki is a key marketing professional who has been in the advertising, marketing, and events world for 16 years. She specialises in strategy and helping brands build lasting relationships with their customers through innovation, content, and messaging. 

Her vast knowledge and viewpoint of the industry give her a unique take on emerging factors affecting the way we market today.

Photo by Jason Rosewell on Unsplash