A sound personality is flexibly developed along with the brand

16 Dec 2016

The history of visual logo development is easily traceable. Although the visual logo provides consistency to a company image and coherence to its marketing through branding, occasional logo redesigns are done to refresh the image and reflect the progress of the company. However, not everyone knows that a sound personality is flexibly developed along with the brand as well.

To some companies, audio use follows the same consistency and stability as is offered by visual branding, and some companies discard this seemingly trivial, but powerful practice.

We know that companies who use sound branding along visual branding to strengthen their branded identity tend to have a greater market share. We know better than to regard this as a fluke.

Market leaders do not hold their positions through sheer luck alone. Although we all guard the exact secrets of our success, sound branding may as well be that one milestone between two brands.

The thing is, however, that while sound branding is a whole new dimension of brand personality, it too can -and by some is- developed along the visual brand design.

Two examples of companies working with this sort of joint sound along visual brand development are the leaders in their respective markets: BBC2 and McDonalds.

Both companies have shown branded design development of sound which followed the changes to their visual elements, this combined effort may be quite fairly regarded as multimedia branding. Learn more here.

However, just as it takes a visual artistic mind with branding knowledge for the mainstream “design”, it takes a musician with similar skills for sound branding. Nevertheless, while visual design experts are common nowadays, experts for sound identification are still a niche.

Some businesses regard branding only according to the old AMA definition. May it be only that, although there is so much more to branding, but why limit the effort only to the widely used visual communication?

Branding can be seen as an ongoing process of development with certain communication coherence. In a world where visual branding is so widely used, sound is a valuable and still underestimated advantage, and we all know what to do with advantages. Develop your brand further now because afterwards a sound personality is flexibly developed along with the brand.

9 Dec 2016

Save money with sound branding

The tradition of using the popular music of the day in marketing dates back to as far as the golden age of TV commercials. Since then, the tendency to build awareness and gain recognition by using mainstream trendy music continues where ever it is usable, from the music in your local supermarket to the soundtracks in your favorite YouTube videos.

Nowadays, the thing is that there are three options using music nowadays: either you buy someone’s music, use the same free tracks as everybody else, or save money with sound branding. Of course, costs of sound and music vary depending on the option you choose.

It may cost you Millions of $ PER WEEK to use the most popular hits for commercial purposes!

Using popular music will solve your sound problem as everybody listens to the big hits, so at least people will not run away from watching what you want to show, but it may do only that. On the other hand, using royalty free music costs you nothing; however, it also costs nothing for hundreds of thousands of other people to use the exact same royalty free music. Then, there is the third option: to get your own sound identity.

Using popular music just builds recognition of the artist, and not necessary of the brand itself. It is no wonder that the most popular tracks cost much and are mostly used by high end commercial brands. It is a paradox of sort. However, where does the artist band identity end and your brand identity start when using popular music?

by stevepb @ https://pixabay.com/

The issue of using popular music may be seen as similar to celebrity endorsement; in which case not many know how to distinguish a brand identity from its celebrity endorser. Average consumers do not do that.

However, what consumers do is: they judge if the brand fits with their image of the celebrity. The two can match or not. There will also be situations when celebrities or artists end up in scandals along with their brands. No expert will deny that scandals create more than monetary costs.

Using popular music is costly, whether in terms of money, reputation or brand identity!

Popular music is costly, so what is the alternative, when you need to produce a video for your brand? There are thousands of royalty free tracks to insert in videos. YouTube is full of free music counted in hours of length. Tons of companies use it in their video communication!

However, all those companies risk ending up using the same music as their competition! Such companies may as well be using the same music as a random person in the world in their videos. It may get kind of crowded in there as hundreds of channels use the music you want in your dream video. But hey, it’s free!

by moneyforcoffee @ https://pixabay.com/

Also, royalty music is still someone’s music just as in the case of popular music, except that free music may not be popular. Just as in the case of popular music, royalty free music may have little to do with your brand identity. Using royalty free music may cost your brand identity dearly in the long run. So what is the best solution cost and branding wise?

The proven and right option is to use sound branding and get an unique set of sound and music.

Initially, it may cost more than royalty free music, but in the long run it will cost less than using popular music or royalty free music. Moreover, a unique branded sound identity will create value to your brand. It will build awareness, provide consistency and cause the brand to be recognized.

What is more, branded sound will cost your brand image nothing when the artist has scandals. The artist’s image does not conflict with your brand’s identity. There is the brand, and the sounds of the brand that fit its identity. That’s it, safer isn’t it?

A branded sound identity protects your sound from being used by other parties through music rights, just as your visual design guide copyright protects your brand’s visual identity! But wait! This also works the other way around! Using your own Corporate Sound Design Manual as sound – identity, sound design and music protects a brand and your employers from the risk of violating other music rights!

Soundbranding music copyrights Tom Serb www.musiccareers.netindustry-termsmusic-rights

Violating music rights may cost a lot both in terms of time and money…

It seems that sound branding is cost efficient also because it prevents the risk of copyright violation related costs.

You may ask yourself: is it boring to use the same sound over and over in your videos?

Think about all your favorite old popular hits past their copyright periods. They were recorded and released once, but they made pure profit when they were protected! Some of them are still in use, and how it is often with old hits: they just gained character with time!

Ok, but how does this sound for companies?

Every news program has a consistently used sound identity which makes them recognizable to the audience! Colombia used the same signature sound composed in 1993. Intel uses the same sound signature since 1994. McDonalds has adapted their worldwide known sound signature in 2001. Learn more here.

Branded sound does not get old – it becomes part of the company’s culture AND it strengthens its corporate identity!

Of course, companies that use branded sound refresh the recording and sound design over time. But sound branding is cost efficient so all of the mentioned companies save money on communication and straight advertising music with sound branding. Contact Soundbranding to start saving money on your brand’s sound and music now!

Monthly Archives: December 2016