What is sonic branding?
Sonic branding, also known as sound branding or audio branding, is about enhancing your brand identity with sound. This could be a short and powerful audio logo, a beautifully composed soundtrack for your TV campaign, or a complete musical identity. Think about a characteristic voice-over, the sound of your app notifications, or an accelerating electric car. A coherently applied musical identity grabs attention, triggers brand recognition, and reinforces your brand values. Thus, sonic branding contributes to the growth of your brand.
How does sonic branding work?
Let’s be honest: when faced with choices, we revert to our routines. Most purchase decisions are made automatically. The subconscious mind presents us with a set of options, from which we then choose. The challenge for your brand is to make it onto that mental shortlist. But how do you do that?
To answer that question, you need to think of a brand as a network of associations. The result of all interactions you’ve ever had with that brand. The stronger and more numerous the associations around your brand, the higher the chance you will rise to the top in a buying situation. We call this mental availability.
Of course, you need to train that mental availability. It’s important to keep activating that network of associations. You do this with distinctive assets: elements that refer to your brand, such as a visual logo, a specific colour, or a specific sound. By consistently deploying these, those associations can become as strong, or even stronger, than your brand name. This broadens the mental pathway to your brand and increases the chance of landing on that coveted mental shortlist. Which medium is most effective for this? Exactly, it’s audio.
Why sonic branding?
We are overwhelmed by visual communication. At the same time, we are consuming less and less linear media. As a result, it is becoming increasingly difficult for brands to reach their target audience. An audience that listens more than looks. And that presents opportunities.
Audio is on the rise
Our audio consumption is growing. Podcasts are becoming mainstream, social media is increasingly driven by audio, and radio is well on its way to becoming a digital mass medium. As a result, we are now spending a large part of our day consuming audio.
Audio is effective
Sonic branding is one of the most effective ways to strengthen your brand. This is because processing sound involves many different parts of our brain. This intensive activity ensures that musical information strongly adheres to memories and emotions.
Audio presents opportunities
Most brands have not yet embraced sonic branding, which means investments in auditory media are lagging behind its adoption by consumers. This leaves plenty of room to claim your own sound and develop a musical identity.
How are you going to be recognised if you sound like a cliché?
Auping sonic branding
Auping has been producing beds and mattresses of the highest quality since 1888. A leading brand for which TAMBR developed a subtle, tangible musical identity. The brand associations you hear in the sound of Auping include love, peace, and craftsmanship. Expressed in an extensive audio library, the sound of Auping is heard in all their expressions, adapted to the story of every campaign and the requirements of each medium. Flexible yet recognisable.
Authentic
The shaking of bedding and the ticking of sewing machines communicate authenticity.
Close
Closely recorded piano and clarinet make you feel like you can touch the music.
Calming
The contour of the sung theme first rises, then literally comes to rest.
Auping brand anthem
How do you develop a brand sound?
When developing your own sound, your brand’s character takes centre stage. The development of an audio identity therefore begins with a strategic exploration of your brand. With which cultural codes does your brand resonate? What do you stand for? And how does that sound?
Do you already have your own sound and are you ready for a refresh or re-branding? Then it makes sense to test your existing brand sound. How well is your sound recognised? And what brand associations does your sonic brand evoke? The results of such research are valuable starting points for developing a musical strategy.
Moreover, it’s important that you stand out. Because how are you going to be recognised if you sound like a cliché? Sonic branding also means positioning yourself consciously against your competitors. The more distinctive your sound, the greater the chance you will be remembered.
Once you have found your own sound, you need to ensure that your sound is heard everywhere. An audio logo will take you a long way, but it’s better to invest in a musical identity that is suitable for providing all your expressions with your own recognisable sound. An audio library that is flexible enough to support your brand’s story on any medium
Summary
Every brand deserves its own sound. A unique combination of rhythm, melody, and timbre. Consistently applied, you build new associations and strengthen existing memory structures. In this way, sonic branding contributes to the growth of your brand. In short:
What is sonic branding?
Sonic branding is enhancing your brand identity with sound.
Why sonic branding?
Our audio consumption is growing, while brands have not yet embraced sonic branding en masse. This leaves plenty of room to claim your own sound.
What are the benefits of sonic branding?
Sonic branding increases brand awareness, triggers brand recognition, and strengthens your brand’s character.