Intentional | Audio Identity Blog

What a refreshing break. It’s been raining and snowing (!) here in Portland, Oregon, and we enjoyed a few days off, sitting before the fireplace, chomping on grilled cheese sandwiches and sipping from the soup bowl. We’re exceptionally lucky to live in a world where carefree coziness is an option, and for that I’m grateful. (I’m also grateful that my three-year-old daughter seems to enjoy “watching the fire” more than she does watching the tube, but that’s another story.)

In addition, I’m grateful to be doing what I do for a living: audio as an extension of brand strategy. It’s fascinating and relevant, and although it’s a decades-old practice (thank you NBC, Coke, etc.), it’s still in the early stages of its evolution, which is exciting.

Unfortunately one of the pitfalls of any new practice is managing perceptions. And I’m concerned that a quick web search on “audio branding” reveals that the majority of service providers listed offer audio as a marketing or experiential gimmick, rather than sound as a strategic brand asset. Perhaps now would be a good time to clear up some of these growing misconceptions.

Audio branding is not about your music, sound or voice. It’s about your business and your brand. Everything else follows.

Just as a brand is not an advertisement or a logo, audio branding is not a song, a podcast or an audio logo. In fact, any vendor that offers a soundtrack, a ringtone or commercial audio production as a form of “audio branding” isn’t concerned about communicating who you are, what you do and why you matter in the most useful way; they’re interested in selling prescriptive outputs, rather than strategic solutions. You want a hole in the wall, and they have lots of pretty nails. Commodities sold by the dozen. And commodities are produced by people who have zero contact with a strategic brief.

Successful audio strategy vendors must adopt a this value-add approach; don’t tell me how you’ll provide sounds that will make me sound exactly like your other clients — tell me how you’ll develop a more passionate customer base. Tell me how you’ll help me provide new ways of reaching new and existing customers. Show me the numbers. Define the production savings associated with a useful audio brand. Make me care. Clearly there’s not enough of this happening right now, and I think it’s time this industry took a stronger lead in defining the dollars-and-sense value of a useful audio identity.

Audio is but one piece in a larger system that is your overall brand offering.

Despite what you may be reading or hearing about audio branding, it’s not a simple solution to a simple problem. It must be integrated with discretion, or it’s a wasted opportunity.

Let’s consider, for example, the last three times I ate out for brunch on some recent Sundays: while each of the three restaurants in urban locales sported a unique interior, qualified wait staff and eclectic menu, each restaurant featured the exact same lite jazz/soft rock in the environment, which felt completely out of synch — and drove me out of the restaurant as soon as I finished my meal.

I’m sure the managers at these restaurants have what they think of as a solution — the problem is dead air, the solution is music. Right? But unless that music adequately integrates into all other sensory elements of the meal, then it’s simply noise. And a wasteful investment at that.

(On the other hand, useful music can achieve the opposite. I can’t help but imagine 30 more customers per day sticking around a little longer [rather than leaving ASAP] in each restaurant because they felt good due in part to the role of the right music. If those people spend just $7 more per person on drinks or dessert, that’s $210 more coming in per day. Or $6,300 per month. Or $75,600 per year. All because music was thoughtfully infused with the rest of the dining experience.)

Sound can only enhance a good brand. It can’t compensate for a bad one.

On the other side of the coin, the “greatest” music, sound and voice on earth can’t compensate for a horrible product.

There are countless qualified composers, musicians and sound engineers who capably produce wonderful songs for television commercials, film trailers and the like — things we hear every day. But bad beer is bad still beer and cheap cars still need to go to the shop. Consumers know that — they’re not fooled for long by a cool commercial. And thus, while it’s wonderful that the world may be exposed to more interesting music and the people making the music get paid, at the end of the day it’s a just lot of money changing hands. The world is not any better off just because Random Company has a megaphone. And brands are not viable unless they make the world a better place.

I often see this approach in websites that sport music for visitors to listen to while they browse — it’s almost always clear that the website managers have vaguely understood that we’re emotional beings who respond well to audio, but have no idea what to do with it. And thus, we wind up with the equivalent of radio with pictures: it’s just web with music. Sound has a bigger role in building relationships between people and brands; online, sound can and should increase functionality, build trust, and enhance meaningful experiences.

Ultimately, great sound can make a good brand better. But it can’t fool anyone into thinking that the business itself is any better than its plain-truth strategy and execution.

Dimensional brands will lead the charge

Ultimately it’s the progressive brands, firms and agencies that will lead rather than follow. Dimensional brands will pioneer the path of strategic sound, and the service providers that push the envelope for them will drive the audio-branding conversation for years to come.

Intentionally crafted audio will become a smart part of incredible user experiences, whether it be in your car, in your house, your mobiles or in the larger public. It will be linked to all other parts of a company’s auditory communications. It will save millions in branding campaigns and creative development. And it will open up opportunities for forward-thinking companies to become the next Apple, Starbucks or Google.

Those who view audio branding as a mere sonic logo are just scratching the surface. I’m thankful we all have an opportunity to think beyond that.

Let’s continue the conversation. Add your comments below or ping me at noel at intentionalaudio dot com. — Noel Franus