In recent years, sound identity has become a key element of communication strategies. Today, thanks to the rise of new broadcast media, marketing departments are paying increasing attention to brand sound. Communications professionals agree: sound identity will be a key trend in 2020 (source: La Réclame). Focus on the basic principles of this multi-faceted communication tool.
Sound as a marketing tool
It’s also known as “audio branding”. Audio identity aims to reinforce brand image and create differentiation through the use of sound and music. It can be defined as a set of sounds evocative of the brand’s values and characteristics, which individuals spontaneously associate with the brand. Sound identity is a component of overall brand identity. Sound identity, like most marketing strategies, relies on processes that appeal to our subconscious, as this is where they leave the strongest imprint. Sound and music are strong emotional vectors, and when used properly, they can forge a strong bond between a brand and its customer. This is particularly useful since our purchases are often guided by our emotions.
Sound identity: multiple benefits
A carefully thought-out sound strategy can be a real lever for brand development. A communication strategy enriched with a sound identity increases its effectiveness tenfold.
- Studies show:
On average, barely 5% of the marketing budget is devoted to music (Marketing Professionnel), whereas :
60% of consumers consider that audio communication is more memorable than visual communication (PHMG study)
80% of Internet users have a positive opinion of a brand associated with music (E-marketing).
The field of action is therefore very broad.
A sound that makes a brand unique
Music offers unique emotional capital. The possibilities are infinite, and can be used to define a brand’s personality, like a signature, and assert its uniqueness. This is exactly what marketing teams are looking for. Every brand deserves its own sound identity, which, when worked out coherently and intelligently, creates a feeling of adhesion and preference. In a word, sound identity helps make a brand more beautiful.
A sensory footprint in a new territory
As much as we can close our eyes to avoid watching an ad, closing our ears is more complicated… And that’s where sound identity really comes into its own. Visual identity and sound identity are two sides of the same strategy, different but not mutually exclusive, and above all highly complementary. Their languages and motivations are different, because they explore a different sensory territory. By grafting itself onto the graphic identity, the sound identity completes it and increases its effectiveness tenfold, by nourishing auditory perception. With a sound identity of its own, a brand’s signature is enhanced and its DNA is stronger.
Establish a direct connection with customers
History, values, missions, products: sound identity tells the company’s story and creates a dialogue based on emotion. The result is an authentic sense of belonging that unites and converts. A stronger bond that unites the brand with its customers and creates a sense of belonging among its employees.
Sound identity, a brand awareness booster
Brand awareness requires rapid identification of the brand by its customers: to be recognized quickly is to appear as a key player in one’s field. To achieve this goal, sound identity can be a powerful tool, thanks to its high memorization potential. It creates an experience with the person with whom it comes into contact. Sound identifies the brand, enhancing its legitimacy and reputation.
A multi-faceted tool
Here are the different elements of a brand’s sound identity:
The sound chart
Like the graphic chart, it precisely describes the company’s sound identity and guides employees in the use they can and must make of it.
The brand’s music
It musically embodies the company in its entirety, its history, its values, the emotions it wishes to imprint on its customers. This music is then applied to different media (on-hold calls, videos, podcasts, events, etc.).
The sound logo
The most concentrated expression of sound identity, it too will be adapted to the various media it signs. Short and repetitive, sound logos are highly effective in quickly anchoring themselves in the memory and never leaving it. As a result, they are one of the most widely used forms of sound marketing. The best-known example? The SNCF, which since 2005 has succeeded in inscribing its sound logo in the memories of all its users for life.
The brand’s voice
With the advent of podcasts, connected speakers and voicebots, companies also need to take particular care with the voice that embodies them, as part of their sound signature.
An effective sound identity needs to imprint the brand’s personality wherever it can reach its customers. So, once the key elements of the sound identity have been determined, they are rolled out and deployed across all the brand’s points of contact with its customers. Here are a few examples:
- Videos and commercials (web or TV);
Radio spots;
Telephone on-hold ;
Podcasts;
Voicebots;
Events…
To sum up, sound identity is a powerful tool which, through its emotional charge, helps to create a strong bond with customers and collaborators. Acting on the subconscious, it carries a strong memorial potential that contributes to leaving a lasting imprint on customers. It also infuses personality and character, enriching and reinforcing a brand’s image.
This is a complex field, requiring the combination of a perfect mastery of the language of music and an excellent knowledge of brands. It’s a special kind of expertise, requiring advice and support to reap the full benefits.
If you’d like to start thinking about your own, don’t hesitate to contact us.
