Your Guide to Sonic Branding: A Sound Strategy for Business Growth
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Every marketer has their own definition of what marketing is.
However, most will agree that, in the simplest of terms, ‘marketing is targeting.’
It begins with creating a product or service – effectively a manufacturing process – and then drawing the attention of the intended market to its benefits and problem-solving capabilities. Sonic branding offers a highly impactful way to do this whilst influencing customer buying decisions.
Creating a strong, visual branding component like a visual logo or other graphical asset, are key steps in getting people to emotionally connect with your offer. You’ll see all sorts of claims as to how quickly our brains can do this, but generally, we’re talking milliseconds.
That’s assuming it’s done well.
The graphics used in O2 mobile’s advertising are great examples of this. Consumers recognise the simplicity of the bubbles against a blue-sky background, and instantly interpret it as O2 – no name required.
This is powerful visual branding, playing a significant role in promoting its overall brand identity.
But what about using sound, music, a jingle, or other styles of audio in your branding? How can they play a significant role in your marketing strategy, and how can they be made so powerful, it becomes hardwired into the brains of the consumers you want to sell to? As a marketing professional, it’s important that the brand identity you represent is not only seen by consumers, it’s ‘heard,’ too.
The power of sound: what is sonic branding?
Sonic branding is the audio representation of your brand. It’s the sound that an audience connects with when they hear your jingle or corporate melody – effectively being a logo for the ears – a ‘sonic’ logo. A powerful example of this is the McDonald’s sonic logo. We all recognise its succinct, 5-note whistle. It’s catchy, it’s unmistakable… and that’s the point.
“The sonic logo is the dominant component in audio branding”
You’re already aware that your branding is effectively the personality of your organisation. Its foundations are based on its values, mission, and principles. Visually speaking, the colours, icons and styling are its physical persona.
The sounds that represent it are very much part of its voice, stimulating other senses and providing a way of speaking without being seen. Yet, customers still recognise the value proposition it represents and understand the important marketing message it conveys.
So much of the content we consume is now in the form of podcasts and video: both having a huge audio component to them, along with TV and radio, too.
Even interactions with Facebook posts are 73% higher if the post has a video attached to it, and video provides opportunity to use sound. Sonic branding is not a fad, it’s a must-have in any marketing armoury.
How Does Sonic Branding Enhance the Brand Experience?
Many of the objects we physically interact with on a day-to-day basis have a memorable, sonic branding element to them. For example: switch a Microsoft PC on or off, and one of its deep, rich sounds will instantly reinforce the brand, right at your fingertips.
This is all part of audio branding, which falls under the same umbrella as sonic branding.
It’s all the customer touchpoints working together to enhance a brand’s value proposition and personality.
Do something correctly on an interactive app, and you receive a reassuring ping. Do something wrong, or something it fails to comprehend, and you hear a short, sharp tone that instantly informs you of an error. All these sounds have a strategic use, and are unique to the sonic branding experience.
They are signposts that keep us emotionally engaged with the messages they want us to remember, and thus strengthening the overall brand experience.
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The benefits of working with sonic branding companies
A sonic branding agency or sound production company like BKP Group will help you project your brand voice in a way that streamlines and improves your existing marketing efforts.
Sonic branding companies will dive deep into the personas of your audience, creating a sonic branding strategy to include all touchpoints within the audio and visual branding mix.
Whether it’s creating background music, sound design, radio ads, or just a few notes for when powering up your latest widget, a sonic branding agency will focus on delighting the ears of your customers, and ultimately improving your bottom line.
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A Sonic Branding Company Will Help You To:
- Create a unique brand voice and stand out from competitors
- Engage customers emotionally and leave a lasting impression and promote brand recall
- Develop a multi-sensory brand experience that engages customers on a deeper level
- Establish a comprehensive sonic branding strategy that includes various sound elements
- Use sound elements across different channels to create a cohesive and memorable brand experience
- Reach audiences and customers who may not be as responsive to traditional visual advertising
- Ensure the branding strategy aligns with the target audience through research and analysis
- Increase enquiries, sales, or marketing conversion goals
6 Key Steps to Creating a Strong Sonic Brand
- Identify Your Brand Voice: Before creating a sonic brand or jingle, it’s essential to identify your brand’s voice and understand your brand story. This should reflect the values and personality of your business.
- Understand Your Target Audience: Knowing your target audience is key to creating a strong sonic brand. By understanding their likes, dislikes, and preferences, you can tailor your sonic brand to resonate with them on an emotional level.
- Create a Sonic Logo: A unique sound that represents your business. This can be a melody, a sound effect, or a jingle. It should be memorable and distinctive, reflecting your brand’s personality and values.
- Develop a Sound Palette (audio branding): A sound palette is a collection of sounds that represent your brand. This includes background music, sound effects, and voiceovers. The sounds should be consistent with your brand’s personality and values.
- Use Consistent Branding Across Channels: Once you’ve developed your sonic brand, it’s important to use it consistently across all channels. This includes radio and TV ads, social media, and podcasts. Consistency helps establish a strong sonic identity and reinforces brand recognition.
- Continuously Evaluate and Refine: A strong sonic brand is not static; it requires continuous evaluation and refinement. Regularly reviewing your sonic branding strategy will help ensure that it remains aligned with your business’ goals and target audience.
BKP – Sonic Branding Experts
At BKP Group, we’ve had the pleasure of creating sonic branding, music composition and audio recording for some of the world’s most recognised brands. Those brands appreciate our understanding of the UAE’s rich and historic culture, and the fact that we’ve been operating since the 1980s reassures them of our brand experience and credibility. But, above all, they love our previous sonic branding work.
The Success of Sonic Branding
BKP’s notable sonic branding successes include Sama TV, Emirates, Dubai TV, Dubai Metro and many more. We took each of their brand stories and created highly original sound to dovetail with their existing marketing efforts.
Moving forward, this empowered their brands, cemented the emotional connection with their customers, and left them all with a strong and powerful sonic logos they could use for years to come.
Sonic Logo Creation Tips for Success
Keep it simple
A successful sonic logo should be simple and memorable. It should be hummable, catchy, and easy for your audience to recognize and remember.
Make it unique
Your sonic logo should be distinctive and set your brand apart from others in your industry. It should be instantly recognizable as your brand’s sound.
Reflect your brand personality
Your sonic logo should reflect your brand personality and values. It should evoke the emotions and feelings that you want your brand to be associated with.
Consider your audience
Your sonic logo should resonate with your intended audience. Consider their preferences, age, and musical taste when creating your sound.
Test it out
Test your sonic logo with a focus group to ensure that it resonates with your target audience. Make adjustments based on their feedback.
Consistently use it
Once you have created your sonic logo, use it consistently across all your marketing channels, including TV, podcasts, and social media. This will help your audience recognize and remember your brand’s sound.
Keep it flexible
While your sonic logo should be consistent, it should also be flexible enough to adapt to different media and platforms. Consider creating different versions of your sound logo for different contexts.
Sonic branding examples: The Nokia tune
The Nokia sonic logo was a successful audio branding effort that contributed to the brand’s global recognition and success. The iconic “Nokia tune” was created in 1994 and became one of the most recognizable sound logos in the world. The tune was based on a 19th-century guitar work called “Gran Vals” and was adapted to create a distinctive sound that represented the Nokia brand.
The simplicity and uniqueness of the Nokia tune helped it to become associated with the brand across various marketing channels, including TV, and mobile phones. The Nokia tune was so successful that it was included as a default ringtone on Nokia phones, contributing to its widespread recognition.
The success of the Nokia tune shows the importance of audio branding in creating a distinctive and memorable brand identity. It also highlights the need for brands to adapt and evolve their audio branding efforts to stay relevant in a rapidly changing technological landscape.
Sonic branding examples: Nationwide
The Nationwide Building Society’s audio branding was so successful, it that helped to establish the brand’s identity and recognition. The sonic logo was introduced in 2007 and was based on the sound of a pen being clicked, which represented the idea of “making things happen” for customers.
The simplicity and uniqueness of the sound helped it to become associated with the brand across various channels, including TV, radio, and online ads. The Nationwide Building Society’s sonic branding was so successful that it was adopted as the brand’s default hold music, contributing to its widespread recognition.
The success of the Nationwide Building Society’s sonic logo shows the importance of creating a unique and recognizable sound that reflects the brand’s values and personality. It also highlights the power of audio to create emotional connections with customers and to enhance brand awareness and loyalty.
Speak to BKP group about sonic branding, sound design and taking your brand to the next level using audio your audience will love.
