As in our times, advertisements do not only pass through newspapers or outdoor displays, recognizing a brand only through sounds has become more and more important. Make consumer indentify immediately the brand only by hearing its “sound logo” has become a real challenge to marketers.But Acoustic Logos are not hazard chance outcomes but the result of hard work. Three main principles have to be considered: uniqueness, recognition quality and flexibility.
First of all, I would like to give a definition of what Acoustic Branding really is:
Acoustic Branding, Sound Branding, Audio Branding or Sonic Branding is the structured process, in which all auditive communications become a part of the brand and its brand identity.
There exist several tools of acoustic branding like the sound logo, jingles, the brand theme and the brand music.The most used and common tool is still the sound logo.An audio logo is a short distinctive melody or a sequence of sound, mostly positioned at the beginning or at the ending of a commercial spot.
The three main principles which have to be taken into account by creating an audio logo:
1) The Uniqueness of the sound or melody
Finding the uniqueness of a sound means that, the used melodies do not have to sound familiar to consumers. Moreover, the sound & melody must be completely different from the other company’s audio logo.
2) The recognition quality
The audio logo has to be simple and clear in order to achieve brand recognition. That means that the melody should be memorable, it has to be an “ear catcher” for the consumers.
If you want to test yourself: just put the TV on, close your eyes and try to find the company which is just presenting its advertisement only by hearing the sound or melody of it!
One of the most memorable advertisement soundtrack could be the Intel Inside melody, which everyone recognize.
3) Sound Flexibility
Finally, do never forget to have a minimum of flexibility in your audio logo. When looses its recognizing function, audio logos have to reconsider their melody. For example: by using a more modern instrumentalization.
The best example is the Deutsche Telekom last advertisement with the Opera singer Paul Potts (Winner of “Britain’s got Talent 2007). Just listen to the final audio logo of the Deutsche Telekom, and you will hear how the company harmonized the sound to the different sounds heard during the advertisement.
To compare with another more “rock” Deutsche Telekom” advertisement:
After giving you those information about acoustic branding, maybe some examples will remind you how irritating some of them are…just remember the Apple Macbook Air with Yael Naim…
January 17, 2009 at 11:33 pm |
This is really interesting what you are talking about Philine…just as we discussed last week in our marketing course. I think you explain it in a good way so that it is clear what you want to communicate to the reader.
Due to your interest in marketing and promotion tools, I advise you to read my new article about “marketing slogans”…up to tomorrow, it will be on my blog. Enjoy it!