Sonic branding is about building a relationship between the product and its target market through the latter’s ears, fulfilling the role that a national anthem plays to a country or a hymn plays to a religion. – Daniel Jackson, managing director of Cutting Edge Commercial.
Even though these sound like mere mnemonics, jingles or sound effects, they carry huge emotional and exclusive value and connect with the brand as much as their visual equivalents do (even more).
Your sonic branding connects to your brand, just like the “Happy Birthday to You” song connects to birthdays and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” to Christmas.
Psychology Of Sonic Branding
Sound is as important as visuals, even more.
3 new startups launch every second. That’s three new visual brands every second. However, sonic branding, being one of the most untapped aspects of branding, can make you stand out.
But does it really matter?
“The Intel bong is one of the most powerful assets we have. We’re always looking for ways to showcase the amazing experiences that Intel enables, and the Intel bong sound helps keep our messaging consistent.” – Yogiraj Graham, Director of Production for Intel Global Production Labs.
Studies have shown that the ultimate decisions are made by our brain’s non-rational (limbic system) part. The very same part is aroused by music or sound.
There are many advantages of having sonic branding. These include:
More Attention
With such a vast amount of information available, attention is your most scarce asset. Adding a complementing sound to reinforce your brand identity can help you get more attention from your target audience.
Triggers Emotion
Sound triggers emotions better than visuals do. Try watching a horror movie without the sound, and you won’t feel scared. However, just listening to it without the visuals may scare you.
Enhanced brand recall
According to studies, listening to music or sound that correlates with the message improves the audience’s verbal memory, leading to better brand recall.
Clearer Message
Music is directly related to emotions. Different sounds and chords represent different emotions. For example – trumpets and drum rolls denote heroism, tabla denotes something Indian, djembe denotes something African, strings can be used to represent both happiness and sadness.
The use of the right sound for your brand can help you communicate your brand message better and more creatively.
Any guesses as to what this sonic branding denotes?
A startup consultant, digital marketer, traveller, and philomath. Aashish has worked with over 20 startups and successfully helped them ideate, raise money, and succeed. When not working, he can be found hiking, camping, and stargazing.
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