Ic3 Letter-6 Audio Branding

Marketing Services

June 2003

Audio Branding The information avalanche that is hitting us everyday constantly increases the difficulties for businesses to stand out in the midst of the noise. We think that the addition of sound and music to a company or product identity can solve part of this problem and that the resulting 3D branding is a strong differentiating factor.

Breaking the Sound Barrier

Few people will deny that the five-note Intel jingle in all direct and co-op advertising is a strong differentiating feature of the company’s brand. And the Windows’ start-up and shut down melodies remind millions of users every day that Microsoft is here to stay. But is sound the prerogative of large corporations? Few companies actually use sound as an integral part of their brand expression. And when they do, many chose only well know jazz, rock or classical pieces that can’t be copyrighted in association with their brand. We think that these firms pass a huge opportunity to stand out in the long-term, This can be done at very reasonable cost and, therefore, also concerns small and medium enterprises. Until around 1930, a brand was merely a name with distinctive visual features to convey the quality associated with a trademark. In the late 1920s, leading admen introduced the concept of brand image by connecting the mark with movie stars to illustrate a lifestyle to which people could aspire. The rapid expansion of TV from the 1950s caused a relentless inflation of branding that has, among other things, transformed children of all ages into walking billboards. How much is too much? We think that ‘branding’ should step back to the original notions of ‘make’ and trademark and to the basic concepts of quality and reputation. We propose to define a brand as the concise expression of the position a company wants to occupy in the mind of its customers, projecting the company’s identity, culture, style, values and vision. So, branding doesn’t have to be dull.

3D Branding is the addition of the sound/ music dimension to the flatland of verbal and visual identities

For us, Audio Branding is not adding a third dimension to the geometry of the visuals. There is volume; but it is the strength of original sound and music added to the flatland of verbal and visual identities. A brand has two main components: a name and its associated logo. So a simple brand has two dimensions:

− Verbal identity—centred on the name and described by the position statement − Visual identity—centred on the logo and its associated typeface, colour and geo-

MUSICAL ID VISUAL ID

metric standards

We strongly believe that a 3rd dimension will make a brand stand out. VERBAL ID

A core melody can be condensed into a memorable jingle and expanded as the basis of a complex composition.

Most IT aficionados have witnessed the increasing capabilities of graphic software such as Adobe’s Illustrator that enables the production of amazing visuals. Some virtuosos master such programmes to the point of producing documents from a PC that would have required a sophisticated print shop a few years ago. Yet most people are not aware that software to manage the composition of music has progressed at the same pace. A musician, armed with a ‘simple’ Macintosh connected to a music keyboard and running a programme such as Logic Audio, can produce a complete symphony stacking up and synchronising all instruments of an orchestra generated by a software synthesiser working in real time. So, while the graphic artist delivers a complete glossy magazine ready for printing, the musician burns professional-level soundtracks to a CD ready for playing on a standard HiFi system. For Audio Branding, the challenge is to compose an original core melody that translates into sounds the characteristics of the brand, the idea behind it and its cultural, style, vision and identity attributes. For some products or companies, it will be hard rock, for some others, soft jazz, romantic piano, deep metallic bells, angel voices and so one. The possibilities are practically infinite. The key is to find the perfect match. Then, the core melody can be distilled into a very short musical signature such as a jingle or expanded into longer musical illustrations up to complete operas of some sort, i.e. complex compositions used as motivational ‘corporate anthems’, advertising songs, event music, etc. With new technologies, adding the sound dimension to a brand has become relatively simple from a technical point of view. Breaking the sound barrier requires ‘only’ the talent and creativity of a good musician with a flair for ‘atmosphere’. It seems silly to pass such an opportunity to stand out, doesn’t it?

CONTACT US :

IC3 Limited

www.IC3marketing.com

tel : +44 (0) 20 8339 0709

Copyright  IC3 Limited 2002 – All rights reserved

e-mail : [email protected]