In just a few seconds, we can identify a brand by ear alone: it’s the sound logo. Made up of a few easily identifiable notes, it used to be found at the end of famous brand advertisements, but it’s increasingly being used on new media, by companies of all sizes. Mention BMW, SNCF or Intel and that short melody pops into your head. It’s quick, long and sometimes even lifelong. It reinforces the brand image and creates an emotional bond with those who hear it: these are the challenges and benefits of the sound logo.
Features of the sound logo
The sound logo is the audio counterpart to the visual logo. Also known as a jingle or sonal, it’s a short musical format. In 5 to 10 seconds, it enables a brand to be clearly and quickly identified on its communication media, provided, of course, that these include sound. It can be found as a musical signature on radio spots, videos, podcasts or events, and much more besides…
A unique, infinitely adaptable sound signature
There are two fundamental musical elements that make the sound logo unique and unlike any other:
The melody
This is the jingle’s characteristic sequence of notes. On all variations of the sound logo, these notes remain unchanged, as they are what clearly distinguish the brand.
Musical tones
Different instruments and/or voices interpret the melodic line and its accompaniment. If the choice of different sounds is made according to the brand image you wish to emphasize, they can be adapted to suit the context.
In this way, the sound logo can be exploited without limit by varying the sonorities, while retaining its original melodic line. This allows the brand to adjust its sound identity perfectly to events (World Cup, Olympic Games…), seasons (Christmas, Halloween…) or even the cultural variants of the countries in which it operates.
The sound logo: a powerful tool with multiple effects
Brand recognition
As a true brand signature, a simple touch of the sound logo is all it takes to recognize a brand. Like a visual logo, the sound logo can be found on all the brand’s media, enabling it to stamp its personality on all points of contact with its customers and collaborators.
Renforcer la personnalité de la marque
Dans le cadre d’une stratégie marketing, le jingle vient enrichir le branding par sa dimension sonore. Il permet de faire passer les valeurs et le message de la marque par le son.
Créer de la différenciation
En intégrant le logo sonore à ses supports de communication, on imprime encore plus le caractère de sa marque. La perception de la marque devient alors plus lisible, plus qualitative. En personnalisant les supports de communication, le logo sonore crée ainsi de la différenciation par rapport à la concurrence.
Creating an emotional bond with the audience
The musical signature is subconsciously assimilated into the brand, creating a certain complicity between those who hear it and bringing them together around shared memories or feelings.
Improving brand recall
Short and repetitive, the jingle is designed to be easily memorized. Over the course of repetitions, just like a radio hit, it imprints itself on the mind without the listener even realizing it. Take the test: SNCF, IKEA, just mentioning the name of certain brands with strong sound logos can make us sing the melody of their sound logo instantly.
The sound logo and contact points
An authentic brand signature, the jingle can be found on all communication media that include a sound dimension. Here are the main examples:
Videos
In advertising, brand content or corporate films, the sound logo is an essential complement to the animated logo: it’s the packshot logo. It considerably enhances brand memorability.
Radio adverts
Capital to this sound-only advertising medium, the jingle appears to identify the brand. Usually placed at the end of the spot, it can also be used at the beginning, or even right in the middle. You couldn’t imagine a flyer without a visual logo, so it’s just as inconceivable to broadcast a radio spot without a jingle!
Telephone hold
Using your sound logo at the start of the telephone hold immerses the listener in the company’s sound universe as soon as the pre-hook message is played. Many companies often neglect the telephone hold, with its widespread use of standardized music, even though it’s a major point of contact and an additional opportunity to impress your brand image.
Events
To punctuate an announcement, a transition or introduce a speech, the sound logo gives greater strength and scope to the brand image at public or corporate events.
Podcasts
With a sound logo, brands that use podcasts as brand content can clearly reinforce the identification of their programs. Used at key moments, it is similar to a theme tune, but can also serve as a transition between the different parts of a podcast.
Voicebots or voice applications
Essential for branding on voice assistants, the sound logo helps to introduce and identify the brand on these essentially audio media.
The sound logo, an evolving tool
For a long time, the sound logo was used almost exclusively by companies with a presence on television or radio, i.e. large corporations with very substantial communications budgets. The exponential development of the web in recent years has led to the mass exploitation of video media. Today, the sound logo is aimed at all companies, large and small, whose communications are based on video media broadcast on the web. Trends also show that the sound dimension of a brand is increasingly valued by the public. New media are emerging, such as podcasts, digital audio advertising and voicebots. These are all new opportunities to assert one’s audio presence.
The sound logo, an indispensable tool for expressing brand identity
Since the late 90s, the sound logo has become a key element in brand identification. This short format is proving to be a formidable marketing tool for reinforcing a brand’s presence and embedding it in the collective memory. Today, as the number of audio contact points multiplies, the sound logo has become an essential communication tool for making a brand resonate.
Would you like to start thinking about a sound strategy for your brand? Don’t hesitate to contact us.
