What Is The Sound Of Your Brand?
I don’t think it would be controversial to say that all brands would like to be seen as unique and stand out in their market place. At Make This Noise we also believe that it’s not enough to make up a pretty logo and a list of values and say that this is “the brand” – we think you have to authentically “be” the brand as well.
What do we mean by this? Well, for example you can’t just say “we have a great customer service”, you also have to actually deliver great customer service and build that into your offering from the ground up.
It’s the same with your brand personality – you can’t just say “we’re a safe pair of hands” or we’re really innovative” without signalling those values in some way. It can be with your logo and your service, but also through your sonic branding – i.e. your audio logo and the music that plays around it (e.g. TV commercial, a mnemonic, in your stores, or your telephone hold music).
The visual logo and, brands are instantly recognizable, the same thing would be with the sound which sets good brands apart. What would be the best sound for my brand?
In MTN, for example, we always take into consideration a few things in order to design the best music for your brand.
We said before that we need to differentiate from our competitors and so music can give a brand a distinctive edge. In order to achieve this we would have in-depth conversations about the brand’s core values, before our strategists create a brief for a curated playlist or a brief for a composer to create something from scratch.
Our ultimate aim is to hand the brand with something irresistible for the target audience which will make them feel more connected to them.
Once the sound of the brand has been decided – the next thing is to communicate appropriately and with consistency – exactly what McDonald’s have done with their “I’m loving it” audio logo. They have stuck at it so long that they were able to get people to play their tune and get a prize with no instructions whatsoever on their musical bench.
In conclusion – working out the sound of your brand need not be scary or complicated. Just think of the brands that got it right – e.g. McDonalds, Intel, Danone etc and what they have achieved in terms of recognition. Of course it needs some guidance and refreshing over time, but at a slower rate than visual styles change, I think….