When you think about branding, brand logo, color scheme, and other visual elements always come to mind. Sonic branding, on the other hand, despite its ability to make the brands more identifiable, is often neglected.
This article discusses sonic branding and how to use it to set your brand apart from the competition.
What Is Sonic Branding?
Sonic branding, also known as sound branding, acoustic branding, and audio branding, refers to the sound of a brand. It is usually simple mnemonics, sound effects, or jingles, which can carry an extensive emotional and exclusive value that connects them with the brand.
While visual branding makes your organization seen, sonic branding uses the power of sound, which transcends culture, language, and even visuals, to make it heard. By doing so, sonic branding provides a new level to connect your brand with its target audience.
If you are a millennial, the following examples of sonic branding and sonic logos will sound nostalgic. The emotions you are going to feel are strong evidence of the power of sonic branding:
Why Sonic Branding Is Becoming Important
The rise of smart speakers, such as Echo from Amazo and Nest from Google, is one of the reasons that makes developing a sonic brand far more relevant today than ever before. This study shows that these speakers are widely adopted and increasingly used for shopping. A sonic identity can promote your brand among the users of those audio-only devices, whereas a visual identity will have no advantage.
Do You Need A Sonic Brand?
The best way to answer this question is by studying the organization activities and its existing brand. Try to look for scenarios where you can utilize sound to make your brand recognizable.
For example, If your brand is involved in one or more of the following, investing in sonic branding is most likely beneficial:
- Appearing in audio or visual media such as social media, television, radio, and streaming platforms.
- Producing recorded audio or video materials.
- Hosting a podcast or vlog.
- Manufacturing devices like computers, cell phones, or home appliances.
- Creating audiobooks.
- Relying on hold music when customers contact the call center.
How Sonic Branding Works
When your customers experience your brand through a specific sound, they learn to associate those distinctive sounds with your company, product, or service. If done well, your customers will immediately think of the sound when they think of your brand–or think of your brand when they hear the sound.
Therefore, the sounds you choose to brand your company should provide a glimpse of your brand story. And should be carefully crafted to represent your brand as clearly as possible.
Luckily, sounds and music can convey tons of emotions that copy or visual elements cannot carry. That is why Sonic branding can make a brand so memorable that it becomes a permanent part of the customer’s life. And just like the examples above, a powerful sonic brand becomes part of pop culture and manages to trigger memories in loyal customers for years to come.
Not to mention that sound can penetrate the subconscious of your target audience even when they are not listening. The ability of sonic identities to flow through the mind gives it one more advantage over visual identities, that for it to work, it requires someone to pay attention.
Benefits Of Sonic Branding
Invokes Loyalty
Sound has the power of triggering emotional responses far better than visuals. And with those emotions, you can develop a strong bond with your target audience and win them as loyal and committed customers.
Helps In Brand Recall
Additionally, sound can help your target audience recall your brand more easily. This study suggests that listening to sound can initiate the memory section in the brain. And If a sound is associated with a brand, listening to it can help make that brand present in mind.
Boosts Brand Personality
Sound can humanize your brand and make it more appealing to your target audience. People react faster to sound than any other media. As a result, a professional sonic identity can help in providing a greater depth to your brand personality.
Enhances Engagement And Customer Experience
A fun sound or jingle sticks in mind. It might even become a viral phenomenon or a meme in this modern socially-driven online space. Developing a unique sound for your brand will make it fun and vibrant, which will increase the engagement level with the brand from your target audience.
Things To Consider While Developing A Sonic Brand
Start With A Sonic Branding Audit
Your brand might probably have the beginnings of an audio identity. You might find it in certain music you play in the background of your podcast or a phrase you say at the end of every vlog.
Therefore, your first step in developing a sonic brand should be checking through your brand and content assets for any signs of a sonic logo or identity. When you find something that might work, you can build on your existing knowledge of the music and sounds that resonate with your brand and find a way to embed the essence of your company into a few seconds of sound.
Keep It Simple
What the best sonic identities have in common is simplicity. A simple tone is easy to recognize, and this is what you want for your sonic brand. To have a recognizable sonic brand, avoid relying on words. Instead, find a musical mnemonic that elicits a specific feeling from your target audience.
This famous lion roar from MGM as well as the Netflix ta-dum sound are clear examples of how powerful a simple sound can be.
Focus On Triggering Emotions
Although sonic branding is not very popular, there is still way too much sound in the world, and much of it is nothing more than meaningless noise. You do not want your sonic brand to be part of that noise. Hence, it needs to be meaningful and capable of invoking the right feeling in your target audience.
Where To Use Your Sonic Identity?
You should use your sonic logo at the beginning and end of a podcast or logo. Moreover, you can add it to your live streams and broadcasts on social media or put it in your television ads.
Generally speaking, you can use it in any media that supports sound.
Conclusion
Although it is very effective in making brands stand out, sonic branding is the most untapped aspect of the branding world.
Building the sonic aspect of your brand is like developing any other component of your identity. It takes time, focus, and perseverance. Your sonic brand should convey the story of your brand and the emotions associated with it using original sounds specifically developed to suit your brand.
Avoiding generic sounds such as default sound effects or unlicensed music is crucial to the success of your sonic brand. If you do not have the skills needed to produce original sounds, working with professionals will save a lot of your efforts and time and is highly recommended.
We are sonic branding experts who can work with you to develop original sounds that make sense for your brand story and invoke certain emotions in your target audience. If you think it is about time to add that powerful sonic dimension to your brand, contact Mello Studio today.
