Not just a jingle…
Sonic branding is a marketing strategy that weaves an auditory thread throughout the customer journey. It captures attention where visual may go unnoticed or not be possible, and when paired with visual branding elevates the impact of your message. A distinct sonic auditory signature can distinguish you from competitors and enhance branding recall. Brand congruent music creates emotional resonance, forging a deeper connection with customers to communicate your company personality and values. Amplify your marketing strategy with sonic branding, ensures consistency and recognition across all customer touch points.
Why Use Sonic Branding
Change Customer Behaviour
Music is a universal lanugage. Through emotional experiences, sonic branding can increase acquisition, consideration and engagement from your customers or clients.
Increase Brand Recognition
Opportunity abounds where the competition is unfound. Most companies have a visual logo, but not a sonic logo. Increase brand associations, recall and awareness of your company with sound.
Maintain Brand Equity
The customer journey is convoluted and every step is an opportunity to maintain that connection. Re-inforce your sonic branding at each touch point to maintain brand strength, premium pricing and customer preference.
taking advantage of sonic branding
Advertisements
Facebook
Google
YouTube
Television
Phone Systems
Hold Music
Answering Machine
Message Tone
Ring Tone
In-Store
In-Store
Reception Music
Consulting Room
Doorbell
Presentations
Introductions
Video Demos
Pitch Decks
Workshop Ambiance
Digital Content
Podcast Introductions
Videos for Website
Social Media Videos & Stories
A Strategy For your business
Changing Behaviour Through The Colourful Notes
The Colourful Notes is a short-term sonic branding strategy to change customer behaviour through licensed music or a music playlist.
The Colourful Notes Process
Questions:
What are you wanting from a Colourful Note?
What customer behaviour are you wanting to achieve?
What is the current customer behaviour and why?
What is the current impact of sound on customer behaviour?
What Colourful Note best represents the desired customer behaviour?
What genres & musical features represent the Colourful Note?
Musical playlist/s or royalty free music to encourage desired customer behaviour.
Refinement and recalibration of music.
What is the current customer behaviour? What motivates this behaviour? What is the current impact of sound on customer behaviour?
Examples of Colourful Notes
Yellow Notes
Energising music to support customers low exertion activities. Useful for industries such as coworking spaces, office space & university spaces.
Example: John Hopkins – Lost In Thought.
Green Notes
Relaxing music to suppress customers psychological discomfort. Usefule for industries such as healthcare, dentistry, airlines, counselling, & customer support.
Example: The Beatles – Blackbird
Purple Notes
Relaxing music to support customers low exertion activities. Useful for industries such as hotels, retreats, massage parlours, spas, yoga studios and beauty treatments.
Example: Arvo Part – Pari Intervallo.
Red Notes
Energising music to suppress customers physical discomfort. Useful for industries such as gyms, bootcamps, team sports & night clubs.
Example: Dua Lipa – Don’t Start Now.
Increasing Brand Recognition Through A Sonic Logo
A Sonic Logo is a medium-term sonic branding strategy to increase brand recognition through a single sonic logo or piece of music.
The Sonic Logo Process
What are you wanting from a Sonic Logo?
How are you wanting to present your brand?
What are your current branding guidelines?
What motivates your branding (brand values)?
What is the current impact of sound on your branding?
What type of sonic logo best represents your brand?
What genres & musical features represent your brand?
Examples of music to inspire you Sonic Logo (temporary tracks).
Composition of Sonic Logo representing your brand and its values.
Refinement and recalibration of Sonic Logo.
Handover of Sonic Logo company guidelines (sonic brand bible), implementation and music.
Examples of Iconic Sonic Logos
Intel
Apple
20th Century Studios
Xbox
Disney
HBO
Maintaining Brand Equity Through Thematic Branding
Thematic Branding is a long-term sonic branding strategy to increase brand equity through variations of your existing sonic logo.
The Thematic Branding Process
What are you wanting from Thematic Branding?
In what contexts are you presenting variations of you Sonic Logo?
What are the elements of your Sonic Logo?
In what context does your Sonic Logo work well and not so well?
What contexts are not currently represented by Sonic Logo?
Which contexts have the greatest opportunity for Thematic Branding?
What genres & musical features represent these contexts?
Examples of music in these contexts to inspire your Thematic Branding (temporary tracks).
The composition of variations on your Sonic Logo in the desired contexts.
Refinement and recalibration of Thematic Branding.
Handover of Thematic Branding guidelines, implementation and music.
Example of McDonald’s Thematic Branding
Dr Thomas Dickson (Phd)
About Me
Dr Thomas Dickson is a musicologist with a background in music psychology, music composition and marketing. Studying his undergraduate at the University of Melbourne specialising in Interactive Composition, he has composed for over 20 short films across a range of genres. He conducted his PhD at the University of New South Wales publishing in 4 international journals and appearing on international radio, podcasts and news websites to discussed musicology. He has been employed in two digital marketing agencies managing budgets over $200k across Google, Facebook, YouTube & Spotify.
Media & Academia
Discover Your Sonic Branding Strategy
Case Study
Colourful Note: Purple
Bloom Chinese Medicine is an acupuncture clinic on the Sunshine Coast specialising in women’s health & fertility. Purple notes represent subtle relaxation of the listener without excessive distraction from the task at hand. For Bloom Chinese Medicine, purple notes can encourage a relaxed state in the patient without overshadowing the experience. Purple notes would suit the entire customer journey from advertisements, to hold music, to waiting room music and to the treatment music. Despite being a Chinese medicine clinic, Bloom integrates western functional medicine approaches and so should not be represented by oriental music.
Sonic Logo
Bloom Chinese Medicine’s sonic logo is performed with a new age ensemble including synth pads, glasslike percussion and a crystal bowl. The logo includes harp to represent the feminine and is tuned to the heart chakra in the key of F. Motherliness is presented through a soundscape of womb sounds including a resting heartbeat. The melody repeats itself but grows in number of notes similar to a ‘’blooming flower’. These elements create an overall feel of relaxation and warmth when the logo is heard.
Thematic Branding
Digital Marketing: Engaging, catchy & highly repetitious music to quickly familiarise the listener with the sonic logo whilst encouraging a relaxing mood.
Hold Music: An ambient variation of the sonic logo to avoid frustration associated with repetition that implements percussion to give the impression of forward motion.
Doorbell: A short and simplified sound that hints at elements of the sonic logo whilst conveying relaxation as the patient enters the clinic.
Reception: Purple Notes: a playlist that encourages subtle relaxation in preparation for the treatment but engaging enough to pass wait time.
Treatment Room: Purple Notes: a playlist that encourages strong relaxation and is differentiated to the reception music to change the state of the patient.
Colourful Note: Yellow
Yellow notes represent subtle stimulation of the listener without excessive distraction from the task at hand. For InTune Sonic Branding, yellow notes can spark enthusiasm and stimulation in the listener but without overshadowing conversations with the client. Yellow notes would suit perfectly for underscoring a pitch presentation, client strategy meetings and video information session. Yellow notes align with the sage archetype and the creator archetype. InTune Sonic Branding may need to divulge away from yellow notes in the direction of red notes for grandiose musical statements.
Sonic Logo
InTune’s sonic logo is performed on clarinet & oboe representing the ‘sage’ academic approach of the company alongside creativity through the colourful timbre of woodwind. The sonic logo is arranged in two voices each originating in different registers before coming together to become in tune, now accompanied by the sound of a tunning fork. To maintain an uplifting and energising feeling, the playstyle is staccato at moderately fast tempo.
Thematic Branding
Digital Video Ads: Engaging, catchy & highly repetitious music to quickly familiarise the listener with the sonic logo whilst supporting the video advertisement.
Short Form Video: A short & subtle version of the logo for listeners familiar with brand. Must not become annoying with repeated exposure.
Demonstrations: Powerful & versatile music to display the potential of sonic branding.
Presentation Intro: Creating confidence in clients ability to use their sonic assets. Book end each side of the presentation.
Ambience: Subtle background ambience that supports client communication whilst hinting at the sonic logo.