We often think that “sound identity” rhymes with “jingle”. In reality, sound identity covers a vast field, from telephone on-hold music to the voices that will animate an advertising spot, not forgetting the musical ambience at the point of sale. The list is long, and constantly changing. Like visual identity, sound is a complex universe where creative, pragmatic and rigorous professionals are needed to make the most of it. Would you like to create a sound identity for your brand? Here are five tips to help you make your sound identity a real success driver.
Tip 1: Know how to present your brand
In France, barely 20% of the population claim to practice any musical activity, be it singing or playing a musical instrument. It’s easy to imagine, therefore, that there’s still a large majority of people who don’t feel capable of carrying out a sound identity project. And yet, many of them make strategic business decisions. Rest assured, you don’t have to be a conservatory graduate to successfully manage a sound identity project either!
Quite the contrary: to each his own. The advertiser must be able to produce a useful brief for the agency to guide it in the creation of the sound identity. There’s no need to provide musical themes to explore or, on the contrary, to banish. The brief should focus exclusively on everything that characterizes the brand, i.e. the following points:
Its history ;
Its field of expertise;
Its points of difference;
Target audience;
Its personality;
Mission statement ;
Values;
Brand strategy.
It’s a complete brand brief, also known as a brand platform.
It’s up to the sound design agency to set these elements to music. There’s no need to give them musical guidelines or a sound benchmark of the competition, because they’ll know the sector and its sound benchmarks. With a detailed brand brief, the agency will take stock of the market in question and its past and present sound signatures.
Tip 2: Give your brand’s sound identity a purpose
The aim of creating a sound identity is to improve brand memorability, unite people around a brand’s values, or differentiate a brand from its competitors… You can’t carry out a sound identity project just because “everyone’s doing it” or “it’s fashionable”. Defining a precise objective for your sound identity creation helps you focus on its success.
Competition is an important factor in this project. Whether sound identity is common practice in the sector concerned or not, the creative approach will not be the same. A willingness to take risks is essential if you are to use sound identity as a lever to differentiate your brand.
Tip 3: Know your sound footprint
Reviewing your brand’s sound history is essential. Over the years, a succession of sound messages have appeared on different media: web, telephony, media, stores… without necessarily having been developed with an overall vision. Soundprints are blurred and lose their effectiveness. Organizing vocal, musical and sound interventions with a coherent overall strategy strengthens brand identity and consumer perception.
Tip 4: Set a budget to match your ambitions
How much does sound identity cost? This is a legitimate question, and one that hasn’t been asked for a long time. The range is vast, from €1,000 to €100,000, with an average between €30,000 and €50,000. It’s easy to see that €1,000 will get you a jingle whose results will be hard to control, without access to a truly impactful sound identity. On the other hand, a budget of €40,000 should include, on the part of the sound design agency, several mock-up proposals, a precise benchmark of the competition and a thorough briefing phase during which we meet the decision-makers. It all depends on your ambitions. The secret is to strike a delicate balance between the objectives defined for your brand and the resources devoted to its sound dimension.
Tip 5: Keep your sound identity alive and evolving
Like a living creature, a sound identity is born, grows and ages. It evolves with the seasons, adapting to the countries it crosses. We can’t afford to invest one year and then freeze all sound evolution for 10 years: it would be pointless, even counter-productive. Like branding, sound identity is a process.
The world is constantly evolving: consumer tastes change, technologies evolve, music is renewed… Sound identity must know how to move forward to assert its presence over the years. Without having to start from scratch, it can be renewed ad infinitum by reworking the timbre, tempo or style of the existing musical line, already familiar to consumers.
Building a sound identity is a major undertaking. The most important thing to remember from this article is to respect each person’s expertise. Advertisers must be able to present their brand identity in detail. With these elements in hand, and guided by clear, quantified, well-argued objectives, the music design studio will be able to decipher, analyze and create, adapting to the changing times. In a word, let everyone play their part with all their virtuosity.
Would you like to discuss your sound identity? We’d love to hear from you.
