Sonic branding from the perspective of brand design agency Coley Porter Bell

Via Coley Porter Bell

“As a brand design agency, you may wonder why we’d bother attending an event like this…  After all, music is the domain of ad agencies right? We don’t think so…

…As with everything these days, music and sound is much more than just an advertising jingle – it is part of the 360° exposure that consumers have to brands across a variety of touch points.

So that’s why a brand design agency needs to be aware of brand sounds.”

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Image courtesy of David Coxon

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Job Description

The Global Brand team is responsible for the strategy and programs that drive overall brand equity and brand reputation, and support the evolution of the Dell master brand. We are looking for a strong program manager to participate in our sonic branding strategy and sonic identity system development, including management of our sonic branding asset library and collaboration across the company to ensure successful alignment and implementation of our sonic branding standards.

• Program management for sonic branding standards implementation; usage guidelines and assisting with integration for brand consistency
• Development of sonic branding resources, libraries, filters and tools, including subject matter expert content development
• Project management for creation of sonic branding assets, including internal partnership development and agency interactions
• Driving strategy and stewardship of our sonic brand in support of overall business... read more

What a fantastic soundtrack to accompany the City Chic | Be Styled In Sizes 14+
runway at Federation Square, Melbourne.

Proud, bold, sassy, sexy, confident and struttin’, the soundtrack spoke directly and unequivocally to the target audience.

Well thought out, focussed and consistent for the whole show.

Please post the playlist on-line for the world to feel.

Great work!

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A good interface sound for iOS (iPhone, iPads) should accomplish the following things.

1. Be useful: Your sounds should have a function such as telling the user where they are and what they are doing, or that the app is working and ready to be used.
2. Emotional resonance: Sounds should have personality and be aligned to the brand. They should elicit emotion – a smile, excitement, anticipation – and communicate the values and benefits of your App and brand.
3. Distinctiveness: Get rid of the generic zips and zaps.  Apps shouldn’t go down the path of the bland one size fits all clicks that polluted the web (flash) experience. It’s boring and people switch off.  A way to achieve this distinctiveness is to repurpose your existing assets. However, just as the internet is not TV, iPhones aren’t personal computers, so careful attention needs to... read more

In the words of Donald Trump: Australia’s live music scene is a “billion dollar industry”.

Actually, it’s closer to a $2 billion industry according to a recent study. Commissioned by Live Performance Australia…

…Chief Executive Evelyn Richardson said the study demonstrates the significant economic contribution of the industry, despite limited government investment in certain events

Read more at Live Music: A $2 Billion Industry In News : Mess+Noise.

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This article “Building a solid base for brand communications” goes right to the hard of what sonic branding is all about.

If it’s sustained marketing success you’re after (versus merely short-term campaign-based ‘hits’), it’s important to understand the power of building a solid foundation of brand communications.

Again, I reiterate this doesn’t mean you don’t run any tactical brand campaigns using advertising, direct marketing or any other mediums that work for you.

But it does require a broader scope of thinking and a willingness to do the ‘little things’ in a communications sense – again and again and again…

PR is all about how you manage your communication and actions over the long term, so that you build positive experiences and trust in the minds and hearts of your audience and stakeholders.

Sonic branding is the management of  sound in your communication over the long... read more

Many brands fall into the trap of using what I call category sounds as opposed to a distinctive brand sound.

For example:

• Fashion –  house and chillout.
• Fast cars – hard rock.
• Youth brands – anything ‘now’ will do.

Intel recently revised their audio logo placing more emphasis on the human aspect of the sound.

Hit play to listen. The first one you will hear is intel’s original sonic logo, the second is their new sonic logo.

Intel audio logo

Not only does this differentiate Intel from its main rival AMD, but also makes intel stand out among the clutter of tech brand sonic logos. Many of whom are indistinguishable because they all conform to the ‘futuristic’ language of wooshes and synthetic sounds, that are derived from film sound design cliches, not brand attributes.

Close your eyes and play your brand soundtrack, jingle, voice over,... read more