How To Build A Stronger Brand Identity With Sound
How can we use one of the most important human senses to deepen brand awareness? Hear me out.
Listen to this short clip:
If you spent your childhood afternoons watching SilverHawks on Silverbird, went on excursions to Olumo Rock or visited an airport with your schoolmates and sat in a stationary plane (your pictures were taken of course), you definitely know the brand that sound belongs to. You must have probably heard it from one of Indomie’s ads and a decade later, you instantly knew what brand it belonged to. That’s how powerful auditory association is and we want to explore how we can use it to make people connect with our brand on a subcutaneous level.
Firstly, what is sonic branding?
I like to define sonic branding as the process of creating sound associations that allow people connect particular moments, actions or feelings to your brand. While the major part of branding efforts usually goes to the visual identity like logos, colours and all, sonic or sound branding is concerned with conveying the brand’s identity via sound to the mind of the listener.
There’s a reason why you can sing word for word, all the verses on Asake’s Joha but still struggle with your 6 or 8 times table. It’s because of rhyme, rhythm and repetition (you can go into the details if you like) and something called echoic memory. Sound is usually stored briefly in your echoic memory before it is transferred to your short and long-term memory depending on its importance. Sonic branding utilizes this by repetitively associating specific sounds in your mind with any desired feeling for a brand.
It’s the reason why casinos play fake slot winnings in the background to influence customers, why soft and quiet music increases the time spent in a store or why the Windows XP startup sound immediately brings back a particular moment in your past when you were on that Compaq, Dell or HP desktop with the UPS.
Now you might ask, how does this help my brand?
Let’s start with the fact that 20% of young adults are more inclined to choose or buy a product from a brand with a sonic identity compared to those without. Now, the fine details.
Emotional Impact: Sounds connect to us on a deep level across a wide range of emotions and brands can tap into that by using sounds to create particular feelings in the minds of their audience which solidifies emotional resonance.
Intuitive Associations: You might not have actively noticed but anytime you step into your bank’s mantrap, there’s a song that plays and if you ever hear that particular jingle or instrumental outside of the bank you instantly know which bank it belongs to.
Instant Recognition: Why do mobile cobblers and tailors strike hammers on wooden boxes and jiggle metal scissors? Sounds when used for a long period of time can be connected to a particular event which helps future listeners recognize what is happening and match things. Need more evidence, just ask Pavlov’s dog.
When do you need sonic branding?
The short answer is every time if you want to truly utilize all possible touchpoints to cement your brand in the mind of people. It can take months or even years to achieve true brand awareness, so you’ll want to use every weapon in your arsenal to secure that trophy. Here are some specific instances where it comes in handy.
You want to create more modules for your brand’s identity.
Most brand identities kick off with the basics and except you have a sizeable budget at the beginning of your venture, you most likely didn’t create a sonic logo. As time goes on and the big bucks start rolling in, you have new targets and it’s time to expand your branding. That’s the perfect time to invest in sonic branding.
You’re rebranding or just starting a brand.
A rebrand is a perfect time to add sonic elements to your suite of new identity assets. Not only will it help with brand awareness but also offer more insights into your new brand. And of course, you can always do this when starting your brand for the first time.
You’re rolling out campaigns
In 2013, porting between mobile networks became a thing in Nigeria and MTN masterfully created the famous ‘I Don Port’ commercial which not only conveyed the concept properly to Nigerians but created a default association between porting and MTN which put them above competition. Campaigns will remain a great way to introduce sounds- new and old- into the ears and minds of people.
You create content
Sonic branding is also a powerful tool when we consider the amount of videos people consume from YouTube Kingdom all the way to TikTok Republic. By having a sonic identity tied into your content, you can create deeper brand connections with consumers.
Let’s now dive into ways of creating your sonic brand.
Sonic Logo: Think of your sonic logo as an accompaniment to your visual one, a perfect pair waltzing across people’s awareness. Remember the Nokia tune you heard when you turned on your phone along with the hands and the logo? That’s what we’re talking about.
Signature Phrase: If you’re a personal brand, you can repetitively say something catchy that can be synonymous with your brand. Fisayo Fosudo does this beautifully with his ‘FodaAdu’ phrase used in his video intros. If it’s organically accepted by your audience, you can even have a merch or business spinoff based on it.
Content Intros: That HBO static before your next GOT episode or what you hear that lets you know your favourite podcast is about to start. Having an intro in the content you produce will build familiarity and brand association.
In-store Music: If your brand has a brick-and-mortar presence, you can create an original sound or instrumental that plays in loop or at particular moments as visitors conduct their business
Chimes and Sounds: Product owners or designers can introduce subtle sounds when specific actions are taken or when prompts arise. Like Mac’s popular error sound, not only is this a great user experience but an awesome way of creating brand association.
Specific Voice: Businesses can use a specific voice for their content, product demos or walkthroughs. The voice of the lady from WatchMojo or the mysterious voice of Big Brother are beautiful examples of this.
Brand Playlists: For brands that have a good grasp of their target audience with detailed insights into how they feel (something every brand should know), curated playlists are a beautiful way to connect on an emotional level. It shows that the brand really cares and is relatable.
Catchy Snippets: “My friend Udeme is a great man” is a phrase from one of Guinness’s popular adverts which evolved not only into an unofficial title for the ad but birthed a nom de guerre; Udeme, for the drink in bars across Nigeria. The potential for this in this age of viral content where things can spread like wildfire is a great incentive to be intentional about your sonic branding efforts.
In Conclusion…
It will take planning, strategic insights, expert advice, time and sometimes a bit of luck to create the ultimate earworm that’ll drive your brand into the subconscious of everyone you want to reach. If you haven’t started, begin to explore how you can tap into the power of sound to take your branding efforts to the farthest sonic levels.
This article was written by Mofe Ade, a brand strategist and designer with a life’s goal of impacting 100 million African brands. This article is one step towards achieving this. Kindly share with someone that will appreciate it as much as you did.
Extended Reading on Sonic Branding
Here are some helpful links if you’ll like to take a deeper dive into sonic branding.
Sonic Branding by Daniel M. Jackson: This is a very good book if you’re interested in taking a deep dive into the world of sonic branding.
Harnessing the Power of Sound: A TedX talk by Steve Keller where he explores how brands use the power of sound to shape perceptions and influence behaviours.
Sonic logos: An Experimental Design on Sound Features and Brand Personality: This research takes a stab at determining which brand personality traits are associated with different sonic logo features.
Leitmotifs: Telling Stories with Film Music: This is an interesting one for content creators, especially those working with film or even podcasts.
Side Frames
Sonic brand identity should not be confused with verbal brand identity the latter focusing on the language of a brand and how they chose to communicate.
When creating a sonic identity, keep it simple, short and sweet. Not only will this be stickier but will also serve as a great base for different adaptations for your branding productions.
How do you think you can implement sonic branding in your branding efforts? Do any wonderful examples come to your mind? Kindly drop your thoughts in the comment section. I’ll be on the lookout for it.
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