Sound branding
Encyclopedia
Sound branding is the use of sound to reinforce brand
identity. Sound branding is increasingly becoming a vehicle for conveying a memorable message to targeted consumers, taking advantage of the powerful memory sense of sound.
, brand music, and brand theme. A sound logo (or audio logo or sonic logo) is a short distinctive melody
or other sequence of sound, mostly positioned at the beginning or ending of a commercial. It can be seen as the acoustic equivalent of a visual logo. Often a combination of both types of logo is used to enforce the recognition of a brand. An example is the T-Mobile
logo and ring tone composed by Lance Massey, or the Intel logo composed by Walter Werzowa
.
The sound logo leads to learning effects on consumer's perception of a certain product. A melody is the most memorable sequence of sound, since, when a melody starts, the human brain automatically expects the ending. However, some brands realise the importance the sound their brand can make and attempt to capitalize on its own uniqueness. A good example here is motorcycle brand Harley Davidson, which, in 1994, filed a sound trademark application for its distinctive V-twin engine sound. It realised that if it could capture its own sound, it could distinguish the brand at every point of customer interaction. The most essential qualities of a sound logo are uniqueness, memorability, and flexibility.
Some widely known examples include:
Radio and television stations create their own audio identities using a melodic themes to strengthen their brand. Notable radio examples include the short variations of the BBC Radio 2
or Classic FM
jingle
s. In recent years, television station ident
s have also introduced their own audio identities to strengthen their brand recognitions.
Creating a brand experience is using sound is also within the area of sound branding. As brands now look to engage with their customers on a much deeper level. The opportunities for creating a sound branding experience that conveys a brand essence and soul is possible.
Bentley Motors recently looked to create a brand experience by replacing all interior mechanical sounds with sound that had been created for their Continental GT car.
Sound design for mobile phones, ATMs, laptop computers, PDAs, and countless other devices can improve the user experience by making tasks easier and more enjoyable. These sounds can also reveal something about the company that created the experience (and, in the case of personalized ringtones, something about the user him/herself). Manufacturers, software designers, and marketers who create these sonic experiences purposefully and with a view toward expressing something of themselves are practicing sound branding.
Another form of sound branding involves an organization's public association with or sponsorship of a musical enterprise—a non-profit music organization, for instance, or perhaps a music artist or group of artists. For example, some companies completely unrelated to music offer free music downloads on their websites. Ostensibly intended to demonstrate the sponsoring organization's good will from a cultural patronage stand point, practices like these also brand the organization by calling public attention to its beliefs, its values, and its aesthetic sensibilities.
It's arguable that sound branding is now using ‘subliminal’ brand placement in pop song lyrics to echo a corporate slogan, a company’s ‘Unique Selling Point’ or ‘brand values’ (rather than the ‘old fashioned’ mentioning of brands / products directly). An example of this would be Pharrell Williams’ 2005 song ‘Can I Have It Like That’ (featuring Gwen Stefani), with the chorus which echoed the Burger King advertising slogan "Have It Your Way".
Brand
The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."...
identity. Sound branding is increasingly becoming a vehicle for conveying a memorable message to targeted consumers, taking advantage of the powerful memory sense of sound.
Sound logos
The sound logo is one of the tools of sound branding, along with the jingleJingle
A jingle is a short tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. The jingle contains one or more hooks and lyrics that explicitly promote the product being advertised, usually through the use of one or more advertising slogans. Ad buyers use jingles in radio and television...
, brand music, and brand theme. A sound logo (or audio logo or sonic logo) is a short distinctive melody
Melody
A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
or other sequence of sound, mostly positioned at the beginning or ending of a commercial. It can be seen as the acoustic equivalent of a visual logo. Often a combination of both types of logo is used to enforce the recognition of a brand. An example is the T-Mobile
T-Mobile
T-Mobile International AG is a German-based holding company for Deutsche Telekom AG's various mobile communications subsidiaries outside Germany. Based in Bonn, Germany, its subsidiaries operate GSM and UMTS-based cellular networks in Europe, the United States, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands...
logo and ring tone composed by Lance Massey, or the Intel logo composed by Walter Werzowa
Walter Werzowa
Walter Werzowa is an Austrian composer, producer and owner of LA-based music production studio Musikvergnuegen. He is most famous for composing the "Intel bong" jingle and the '80s hit "Bring Me Edelweiss" as part of the band Edelweiss....
.
The sound logo leads to learning effects on consumer's perception of a certain product. A melody is the most memorable sequence of sound, since, when a melody starts, the human brain automatically expects the ending. However, some brands realise the importance the sound their brand can make and attempt to capitalize on its own uniqueness. A good example here is motorcycle brand Harley Davidson, which, in 1994, filed a sound trademark application for its distinctive V-twin engine sound. It realised that if it could capture its own sound, it could distinguish the brand at every point of customer interaction. The most essential qualities of a sound logo are uniqueness, memorability, and flexibility.
Some widely known examples include:
- Intel's "Intel inside" musical jingle" (composed by Walter Werzowa)
- NBCNBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's 3 note flourish incorporated into station id's and news themes - THXTHXTHX is a trade name of a high-fidelity audio/visual reproduction standard for movie theaters, screening rooms, home theaters, computer speakers, gaming consoles, and car audio systems. The current THX was created in 2001 when it spun off from Lucasfilm Ltd...
's Deep NoteDeep NoteDeep Note is the name of THX's audio logo, a distinctive synthesized crescendo sound. It was created by Dr. James A. Moorer, then an employee of the Lucasfilm Computer Division, in 1983... - FourscoreFourscoreFourscore was the signature tune used by Channel 4 in the United Kingdom for 10 years, from 1982 to 1992. It was composed by Lord David Dundas. Various short excerpts from the piece, which were the various orchestrations of the same four note melody, in the key of F Major, were used to accompany...
, the four note audio ident used by Channel Four - McDonald'sMcDonald'sMcDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
Corporation's 5-note "i'm lovin' it" jingle - The 20th Century Fox Fanfare (composed by Alfred NewmanAlfred NewmanAlfred Newman was an American composer, arranger, and conductor of music for films.In a career which spanned over forty years, Newman composed music for over two hundred films. He was one of the most respected film score composers of his time, and is today regarded as one of the greatest...
) - The Nokia tuneNokia tuneThe Nokia tune is a phrase from a composition for solo guitar, Gran Vals, by the Spanish classical guitarist and composer Francisco Tárrega, written in 1902....
- The Macintosh startup sound This is not actually sound branding, and was created to avoid negative connotations for when an apple macintosh crashed. Designer Jim Reekes wanted to create something which was more pleasant than the previous start up Tri-Tone sound.
- The Xbox 360Xbox 360The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
startup sound/swoosh, created by AudiobrainAudiobrain-History:Audiobrain was founded in 2003. Audrey Arbeeny, Audiobrain’s Owner and Executive Producer, currently teaches Sonic Branding at New York's Pratt Institute.-Projects:...
Radio and television stations create their own audio identities using a melodic themes to strengthen their brand. Notable radio examples include the short variations of the BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
or Classic FM
Classic FM (UK)
Classic FM, one of the United Kingdom's three Independent National Radio stations, broadcasts classical music in a popular and accessible style.-Overview:...
jingle
Jingle
A jingle is a short tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. The jingle contains one or more hooks and lyrics that explicitly promote the product being advertised, usually through the use of one or more advertising slogans. Ad buyers use jingles in radio and television...
s. In recent years, television station ident
Ident
The Ident Protocol, specified in RFC 1413, is an Internet protocol that helps identify the user of a particular TCP connection. One popular daemon program for providing the ident service is identd.-How ident works:...
s have also introduced their own audio identities to strengthen their brand recognitions.
Other forms of sound branding
Sound branding encompasses many other tactics intended to convey organizational or product identity (who an organization is and what it stands for); enhance consumers' experience of a product or service; or extend an organization's relationship with its audience.Creating a brand experience is using sound is also within the area of sound branding. As brands now look to engage with their customers on a much deeper level. The opportunities for creating a sound branding experience that conveys a brand essence and soul is possible.
Bentley Motors recently looked to create a brand experience by replacing all interior mechanical sounds with sound that had been created for their Continental GT car.
Sound design for mobile phones, ATMs, laptop computers, PDAs, and countless other devices can improve the user experience by making tasks easier and more enjoyable. These sounds can also reveal something about the company that created the experience (and, in the case of personalized ringtones, something about the user him/herself). Manufacturers, software designers, and marketers who create these sonic experiences purposefully and with a view toward expressing something of themselves are practicing sound branding.
Another form of sound branding involves an organization's public association with or sponsorship of a musical enterprise—a non-profit music organization, for instance, or perhaps a music artist or group of artists. For example, some companies completely unrelated to music offer free music downloads on their websites. Ostensibly intended to demonstrate the sponsoring organization's good will from a cultural patronage stand point, practices like these also brand the organization by calling public attention to its beliefs, its values, and its aesthetic sensibilities.
It's arguable that sound branding is now using ‘subliminal’ brand placement in pop song lyrics to echo a corporate slogan, a company’s ‘Unique Selling Point’ or ‘brand values’ (rather than the ‘old fashioned’ mentioning of brands / products directly). An example of this would be Pharrell Williams’ 2005 song ‘Can I Have It Like That’ (featuring Gwen Stefani), with the chorus which echoed the Burger King advertising slogan "Have It Your Way".