Welcome to the Sound In Marketing Podcast. I'm your host, Jeanna Isham, owner and founder of Dreamr Productions and Sound in Marketing learning. I create, consult and educate individuals and brands on the power of sound in marketing. This podcast explores all the different nuances of making sound on purpose and why it matters. Spoiler alert it matters a lot.
Season seven will be sprinkled with thoughts and perspectives in the form of interviews, case studies, or full blown scripted narratives, all of which will have to do with sound and or sensory marketing in one way or another. If your company is looking to make sense of sound within its brand strategy, Dreamr Productions would love to work with you. Our contact information can be found in the show notes. Now on to the show. In this episode, we'll be talking about sonic branding in context.
One of the biggest reasons I think that brands aren't all in on this yet is that they don't know all of what it could be. So let's dig in, shall we? So you've spent a lot of time and energy on your logo. Maybe you've even done a full branding package with colors, fonts, margins, etc. you're proud of it. You should be. Now, what about your sound? Sound? With smart technology, social audio apps, voice search, and the low touch economy, booming sound is 50% of the brand experience, if not more.
And with all of its low bars of entry, sound is accessible to any budget, big or small. I'm talking to you, small business. Sound in marketing is a subject that every company should be educating themselves on now, before it becomes a standard, because it will be. And so never fear, dear listener, education is what the Sound In Marketing podcast is all about. So with that, here's a big word for you to know. Sonic branding. What is Sonic branding?
Sonic branding is the strategic and custom built sound within a brand's identity. This sound is incorporated into the brand's many different audio touchpoints. And if you're thinking that your brand doesn't have any audio touchpoints or not enough to worry about sonic branding, well, you'd be wrong. Every brand makes sound in one way or another. It's about finding what that sound is and making it on purpose. Still don't believe me? Then tell me about your brand. I betcha I'll find your sound.
Besides, sound is magical, and every brand needs a little bit of magic in their marketing. Right? You wouldn't want to miss out on that, would you? You may still be thinking music isn't that magical. And I would say to you, it's more than just music. Sonic branding is about sound. Take a minute to process that. Sound is more than just music. The word sonic means sound.
Sound comes from vibration, which is caused by movement and everything and everyone moves, which means sound is everywhere and in everything. Even what may seem like a silent brand or product makes sound in one way or another. I guarantee that I'm right. So now let's get into how sound can be used in actual marketing. Sonic branding could be a musical tone. Like a sonic logo. (playing sound) But it can also be the sound of a coffee maker percolating. Or the brushes spinning in a car wash.
Or the buzzing of an office's fluorescent lights. That last one is a great example of how sound can negatively affect a customer's experience. You don't want too many of those. However, if you're clever enough, you could spin a negative sound into a positive one. What if that buzzy sound becomes part of the brand's quirkiness? And with that scenario in mind, what if you played it up? I'm not saying that's the answer, but crazier things have happened with sonic branding and sound strategy.
The sky is truly the limit. So what about the term Sonic logo? This one has been floating around since the mid 90s. A lot of people say it's just a fancy word for a jingle. Well, yes and no. The short answer is A sonic logo is a piece of brand identity or personality. It's created to serve the brand as a whole. A jingle, on the other hand, is created to serve a specific product or campaign. If you want to go deeper into the differences, check out episode 115. Are jingles better than Sonic logos?
Or just wait a little longer. I'm sure to write a whole other episode about them sometime in the future. So back to Sonic logos. Sonic logos are sounds that bring personality to a brand. That sounds pretty fancy and probably overkill, right? Well, listen to this. If you can invest in the initial costs of having someone thoroughly define your brand with a sound, then that sound is yours to keep. You can take that logo and build on it so that it works for many and more audio touchpoints.
Check out episode 123 Left Coast Airlines for a specific example where I did just that. It may seem like a sonic logo or even a full Sonic branding package is a luxury for big brands only, and irrelevant for the little guy. But it really isn't. I'd even argue that a branded sound is even more relevant to a small brand as a competitive advantage. As I mentioned before, sound has a much lower bar of entry and if done right, could become a powerhouse of strategic marketing. Think about it.
Sound is everywhere. It fits into all those little cracks of digital marketing. It's different than visual marketing too, because no one has to look at your marketing. They just have to listen and bam! Your advertising ventures have become that much more effective. Because unless the customer physically covers their ears, they will hear. And with a brand sound, they will hear you. Here's an example from a sound in marketing course from Sound In Marketing Learning.
You're shopping at your favorite boutique. It's a crisp fall day and the breeze blows in as another patron enters the store. Soft and distant music plays through the sound system. It's light and airy and indicates an autumn day and or hints at the holiday season approaching. You choose a jacket to examine further, with the crisp air and the sound indicating the season. You've made up your mind that a new jacket would be a good idea.
Sale. You've just stepped into an elevator with two other people silently standing on either side. No one knows each other. It's awkward. And you still have ten more floors to climb. Suddenly, some cheesy elevator music starts to play. Instantly, you relax as something has graciously filled that dead space with something, anything. Positive user experience. You enter your favorite coffee shop. The aroma of the coffee and pastries waft into your nose.
You set down your laptop and grab an espresso and an apple fritter from the barista as the guitar. Plucky, folksy singer coffee shop music plays in the background. You take a sip and get to work on your computer as you log into their Wi-Fi. You notice that they've created a playlist through Spotify playlists. You program it quickly into your phone mental noting to bring it back up when you return to your work at home.
Product recognition. In these scenarios, I'm not saying that sound alone saved the day. Environment is a big part of the whole experience, and sound is just one of the key players. The coffee shop example is the most out there, I would say, as it's a bit more nuanced. The smells and the sounds play key roles here, with the idea of a playlist associating the coffee shop with the consumer's experience. This is what I would call creative marketing.
Connecting a desired experience of a consumer to a brand through a third party is a great idea, especially since that third party can be accessed anytime and anywhere. They play that playlist and at least part of them then thinks of that coffee shop. Because Spotify can be accessed anytime, anywhere. That coffee shop doesn't need to be physically present for its patrons to be anticipating their next purchase.
Sound equals recollection equals connection equals acceptance equals loyalty, and ideally turns the consumer into a brand champion. Sound is a wonderful way to connect with your consumer or audience because it requires very little effort on the recipient's end. It's very passive. The user is not interrupted from their current engagements when advertising interrupts and disrupts the user's experience. You have the potential of losing them and potentially losing a sale.
Sound offers the opportunity for a small business to market at the same level or beyond, what a larger business can do. It's all about strategy and imagination. I talk more deeply about this in episode 118 Sonic Branding for the Small Business. But basically, Sonic branding gives a company with limited time and resources an opportunity to create a long lasting connection through the senses. This connection is cost effective, scalable, and long term.
Small or big business aside, with proper strategy and care. Sound can add a level of emotion and depth to any brand that is hard to rival. Sound brings context and perspective at an emotional level when you come up with a visual logo. You plaster that sucker everywhere. It's all over your social, website, letterhead, and packaging. When the time comes to rebrand that logo, you have to go through it all over again. You have to take down all that hard work to create and upload your rebrand.
Exhausting, but definitely necessary. With Sonic branding as you choose to graduate to a newer, fresher sound, the old Sonic branding can still live on as you slowly filter it out, or even as you play with a new iteration. It is a part of the brand's identity, and creating a new one doesn't mean starting from scratch. Sonic logos. (music playing) Are designed with alternate versions in mind. (music playing) And they can be stretched and elongated. (music playing) (music playing)
They can be transposed and manipulated. (music playing) This allows for familiarity within the new. Orange will always be orange. And times new. Romans will always be times new Roman. But with sound you can alter and mold and transpose one sound into another gradually to work for any usage, intent, genre, demographic, etc., etc., etc.. A great example of a sonic logo that has been altered over time would be McDonald's. (I’m Lovin’ It playing) In 2003 we all witnessed the journey of the sound.
Ba da ba ba bah McDonald's sneakily launched the new jingle under the giese that it was just a new Justin Timberlake single. Then, after the buzz was generated, the McDonald's campaigns launched, linking the famous singer to famous fast food through the now familiar and buzzy mnemonic. (Ba da ba ba bah) As time went on McDonald's was able to extract the actual lyrics. (music playing)
And turned it into a whistle. (music playing) And then they brought the lyrics back with a new artist giving an entirely different delivery. (Ba da ba ba bah) I would wager the next step would be to bring in different singers of different backgrounds and genders, depending on the specific campaign. State Farm and Nationwide Insurance have been masters at this approach. Like a good neighbor, state farm is there. Like a good neighbor. State farm is there. Nationwide is on your side.
Let's go (humming Nationwide theme) (humming Nationwide theme) Go 50 Omaha set hut. Losing feeling in my toes. Nothing beats a new car smell. Chicken parm. You taste so good. Nation wide is on your side. Well, Jeanna, you say that's still a lot of work and money. My visual logo is working great on its own. I think I'll just stick with what I have. A screen less and more mobile. Society is our present and our future. This is not a maybe. It's a fact. How do you market through smart speakers?
What about social audio apps like clubhouse? I know clubhouse isn't what it was, but you'd better believe Social Audio isn't going away. What about TikTok? They are very sound on and with their problems with music usages that they've run into lately, i.e. Universal Music pulling the plug. Original music is sounding a lot more appealing. What about radio advertising that blasts through grocery stores and other brick and mortar stores? How does the brand stand out amidst the noise?
Because if you're not standing out from the noise. Then you've become a part of the problem. You don't want to be noisy. You want to be clear and effective. Now is the time for brands to explore and discover sonic branding within their own branding. Before every one has caught on, because again, they will. Sound is a language we all speak, and your consumer is just waiting to hear what your brand has to say. So what do you want to say and how do you want to say it?
Thank you to McDonald's, State Farm and Nationwide for doing so well with their sonic branding over the years. Thank you also to Artlist for the sound effects. You may have also recognized the Sound In Marketing logo in there with some slightly altered iterations. Did this episode get you inspired to start exploring your brand sound? Dreamr Productions would love to help. We produce branded podcasts, sonic logos, and strategized branded sound plans.
Contact information and all links can be found in the show. Notes. Let's make this world of sound more intriguing, more unique, and more and more on brand.