What is audio branding?

In the recent years, sound has been a frequent subject when it comes to brand and identity for businesses.

This is because many thought leaders in communication believe the next “wave” in marketing is voice. Audio and streaming has increased a lot in popularity due to the rise of technology like Alexa and Google Home – and I believe this is only the beginning.

As voice gets more popular, branding in the audio world will rise with it and become significantly more important. Many companies are already adapting to this wave and expanding their brand with a voice.

In a decade, a percentage of people will buy their products, goods, and services on a voice-first device. When that happens, you will start realising how smart the branding strategies of companies like Kleenex, Xerox, and Uber really were.

Gary Vaynerchuk

That means you will have to brand your respective “Oreo” over “cookies”. In 10 years, we’re just going to say “Alexa, send me some cookies” and imagine how much brands will pay to be that go-to product. The problem is that most companies haven’t yet thought about what their business sounds like.

This means they’re not ready for this future – or strengthening their visual branding with audio, which definitely has some strong brand benefits.

How your brand sounds

So what is “Audio Branding”, “Jingles” and “Audio logos” all about?

Audio branding or sonic branding is about how your brand sounds and how it gets recalled or remembered. You already have experienced this in the intro of video games and when you boot up your computer or PlayStation.

What happens is you hear a small piece of music, a melody or even just a single hit on a drum – and this has great influence on the way you feel about that interaction. It defines your mood about the business.

You instantly go “Oh, that’s nice” or “What the heck was that?” – and it leaves a deep emotional message.

Sonic branding is not a new concept. Many industry leading companies are using – and have used for years – audio to improve their brand.

Listen to this iconic Sound Logo from Intel and notice how you feel:

Then listen to this Sound Logo of Xbox and notice the emotional difference:

And of course one of the most known and impactful audio logo’s in the world. Notice the feel and how they change it based on the context, without changing the brand identity:

A good explanation

If you are like most people, when you hear these sounds, you have pretty strong feelings.

Simply put, sonic branding is the audio equivalent of a brand’s username – and the audio logo is the perfect companion for a brand’s visual logo.

Listen to this very well articulated explanation from a well known beer brewery about their new sound identity:

Instant recognition

If a brand plays their unique audio tag alongside advertisement or content on social media, eventually that audio tag – by itself – will reflect the intended feelings around that brand. Now you only need to play that audio for them for 2 seconds and they will know.

Get an audio logo for your business

If you are interested in hearing more about audio branding or creating a unique audio identity for your business, contact me.