Episode Transcript
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(00:03):
Welcometo the Sound In Marketing Podcast.
I'm your host, Jeanna Isham, owner
and founder of Dreamr Productionsand Sound in Marketing learning.
I create, consult and educate individualsand brands
on the power of sound in marketing.
This podcast exploresall the different nuances
of making sound on purposeand why it matters.
(00:26):
Spoiler alert it matters a lot.
Season seven will be sprinkledwith 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 sensorymarketing in one way or another.
If your company is looking to make senseof sound within its brand strategy,
(00:49):
Dreamr Productionswould love to work with you.
Our contact information can be foundin the show notes.
Now on to the show.
In this episode,
we'll be talking about sonicbranding in context.
One of the biggest reasonsI think that brands aren't
all in on this yet is that they don't knowall of what it could be.
(01:09):
So let's dig in, shall we?
So you've spent a lot of timeand energy on your logo.
Maybe you've even done a full brandingpackage with colors, fonts, margins, etc.
you're proud of it. You should be.
Now, what about your sound?
Sound?
With smart technology, social audio
(01:31):
apps, voice search, and the low toucheconomy, booming
sound is 50% of the brand experience,if not more.
And with all of its lowbars of entry, sound
is accessible to any budget, big or small.
I'm talking to you, small business.
Sound in marketing is a subjectthat every company should be
(01:54):
educating themselves on now, beforeit becomes a standard, because it will be.
And so never fear, dearlistener, education
is what the SoundIn Marketing podcast is all about.
So with that, here'sa big word for you to know.
Sonic branding.
What is Sonic branding?
Sonicbranding is the strategic and custom built
(02:17):
sound within a brand's identity.
This sound is incorporated into thebrand's many different audio touchpoints.
And if you're thinking that your branddoesn't have any audio touchpoints or not
enough to worry about sonic branding,well, you'd be wrong.
Every brand makes sound in one wayor another.
(02:37):
It's about finding what that sound isand 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 magicin their marketing. Right?
You wouldn't want tomiss out on that, would you?
(02:57):
You may still be thinking musicisn'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.
(03:19):
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 silentbrand or product
makes sound in one way or another.
I guarantee that I'm right.
(03:40):
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.
(04:06):
Or the buzzing of an office's
fluorescent lights.
That last one is a great exampleof 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.
(04:26):
What if that buzzy sound becomespart 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 aroundsince the mid 90s.
(04:49):
A lot of people sayit's just a fancy word for a jingle.
Well, yes and no.
The short answer is A
sonic logo is a piece of brand identityor personality.
It's created to serve the brandas a whole.
A jingle, on the other hand, is createdto serve a specific product or campaign.
If you want to go deeper intothe differences, check out episode 115.
(05:12):
Are jingles better than Sonic logos?
Or just wait a little longer.
I'm sure to write a whole other episodeabout them sometime in the future.
So back to Sonic logos.
Sonic logos are soundsthat bring personality to a brand.
That sounds pretty fancyand probably overkill, right?
Well, listen to this.
(05:33):
If you can invest in the initial costsof 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 worksfor many and more audio touchpoints.
Check out episode 123 Left Coast Airlines
for a specific examplewhere I did just that.
(05:55):
It may seem like a sonic logoor even a full Sonic branding
package is a luxury for big brandsonly, and irrelevant for the little guy.
But it really isn't.
I'd even argue that a branded soundis even more relevant
to a small brandas a competitive advantage.
As I mentioned before,sound has a much lower bar of entry
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and if done right, could becomea powerhouse of strategic marketing.
Think about it.
Sound is everywhere.
It fits into all those little cracksof 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!
(06:35):
Your advertising ventureshave become that much more effective.
Because unless the customer physicallycovers their ears, they will hear.
And with a brandsound, they will hear you.
Here's an example from a
sound in marketing coursefrom Sound In Marketing Learning.
You're shopping at your favorite boutique.
It's a crisp fall day and the breeze blowsin as another patron enters the store.
(07:00):
Soft and distant music playsthrough the sound system.
It's light and airy and indicatesan autumn day
and or hints at the holidayseason approaching.
You choose a jacket to examine further,with the crisp air
and the sound indicating the season.
You've made up your mindthat a new jacket would be a good idea.
Sale. You've just stepped into an elevator
(07:22):
with two other people silentlystanding on either side.
No one knows each other. It's awkward.
And you still have ten more floorsto climb.
Suddenly, some cheesyelevator music starts to play.
Instantly, you relax as something
has graciously filledthat dead space with something, anything.
Positive user experience.
(07:44):
You enter your favorite coffee shop.
The aroma of the coffee and pastrieswaft into your nose.
You set down your laptopand grab an espresso
and an apple fritter from the baristaas the guitar.
Plucky, folksy singer coffeeshop music plays in the background.
You take a sip and get to work onyour computer as you log into their Wi-Fi.
(08:04):
You notice that they've created a playlistthrough Spotify playlists.
You programit quickly into your phone mental noting
to bring it back upwhen you return to your work at home.
Product recognition. In these scenarios,
I'm not saying that sound alonesaved the day.
Environment is a big part
of the whole experience,and sound is just one of the key players.
(08:26):
The coffee shop
example is the most out there,I would say, as it's a bit more nuanced.
The smells and the sounds playkey roles here, with the idea
of a playlist associating the coffee shopwith the consumer's experience.
This is what I would call creativemarketing.
Connecting a desired experienceof a consumer
to a brand through a thirdparty is a great idea,
(08:49):
especially since that third partycan be accessed anytime and anywhere.
They play that playlist and at least partof them then thinks of that coffee shop.
Because Spotify can be accessedanytime, anywhere.
That coffee shop doesn't need
to be physically present for its patronsto be anticipating their next purchase.
Sound equals recollection equalsconnection equals acceptance equals
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loyalty, and ideally turns the consumerinto a brand champion.
Sound is a wonderful way to connectwith your consumer
or audience because it requiresvery little effort on the recipient's end.
It's very passive.
The user is not interruptedfrom their current engagements
when advertising interrupts and disruptsthe user's experience.
You have the potential of losing themand potentially
(09:34):
losing a sale.
Sound offers the opportunityfor 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 episode118 Sonic Branding for the Small Business.
But basically, Sonic branding
(09:56):
gives a company with limited timeand resources an opportunity
to create a long lasting connectionthrough the senses.
This connection is costeffective, scalable, and long term.
Small
or big businessaside, with proper strategy and care.
Sound can add a level of emotion and depthto any brand that is hard to rival.
(10:20):
Sound brings context and perspective
at an emotional levelwhen 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 workto create and upload your rebrand.
(10:43):
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.
(11:05):
Sonic logos.(music playing)
Are designed with
alternate versions in mind.(music playing)
(11:31):
And they can be stretched and elongated.(music playing)
(music playing)
They can be transposed and manipulated.(music playing)
(12:01):
This allows for familiaritywithin the new.
Orange will always be orange.And times new.
Romans will always be times new Roman.
But with sound you can alter and moldand transpose one sound into another
gradually to work for any usage, intent,
genre, demographic, etc., etc., etc..
(12:24):
A great example of a sonic logothat 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 launchedthe new jingle under
the giese that it was just a new JustinTimberlake single.
(12:46):
Then, after the buzz was generated,the McDonald's campaigns
launched, linking the famoussinger to famous fast food
through the nowfamiliar and buzzy mnemonic.
(Ba da ba ba bah)
As time went on McDonald's was ableto extract the actual lyrics.
(music playing)
(13:16):
And turned it into a whistle.(music playing)
And then they brought the lyrics back
with a new artistgiving an entirely different delivery.
(Ba da ba ba bah)
I would wager the next stepwould be to bring in different singers
of different backgrounds and genders,depending on the specific campaign.
(13:37):
State Farm and Nationwide Insurancehave 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.
(14:00):
Losing feeling in my toes.
Nothing beats a new car smell.
Chicken parm.
You taste so good.
Nation wide is on your side.
(14:23):
Well, Jeanna,
you say that'sstill a lot of work and money.
My visual logo is workinggreat 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?
(14:43):
What about socialaudio 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 onand with their problems
with music usagesthat they've run into lately, i.e.
Universal Music pulling the plug.
Original musicis sounding a lot more appealing.
(15:05):
What about radio advertising that blasts
through grocery storesand other brick and mortar stores?
How does the brand stand outamidst the noise?
Because if you're not standing outfrom 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.
(15:28):
Now is the time for brandsto explore and discover sonic
branding within their own branding.
Before every one has caughton, because again, they will.
Sound is a language we all speak,
and your consumer is just waiting to hearwhat your brand has to say.
So what do you want to say and how do you want to say it?
(15:50):
Thank you to McDonald's,State Farm and Nationwide
for doing so wellwith their sonic branding over the years.
Thank youalso to Artlist for the sound effects.
You may have also recognized
the Sound In Marketing logo in therewith some slightly altered iterations.
Did this episode get you inspiredto start exploring your brand sound?
Dreamr Productions would love to help.
(16:12):
We produce branded podcasts, sonic
logos, and strategizedbranded sound plans.
Contact informationand 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.