Intentional | Audio Identity Blog

What happens when a law firm commissions its own anthem, only to rescind it later? A tale of corporate devotionals and brand management gone awry.

Marty Neumeier and his The Brand Gap book inspire a lot of what we do ’round these here parts. I recently found his excellent presentation online, and I think it’s worth sharing.

Why? Marty articulates a clear, digestible connection between business, brands and design. And as he points out in his book, it’s not necessarily always about visual design or the visual aspects of packaging that differentiates a brand — it’s the experiences people have with a brand that matter. Relative to sound, audio identities like Intel Inside, Rhapsody in Blue, the Yahoo! Yodel and even product sounds (see my entry on Ford below) often play a lead role in determining what people think about brands and what they buy.

Enjoy. And Happy Friday.

– Noel Franus

Just a reminder to take our 5-question reader survey if you haven’t already.

Given that “audio branding” and “audio identity” are still fuzzy concepts or practices to most readers of this site, now is the right time to get a sense of what we communally know and what we don’t; what we agree on and what we don’t; and what the future holds, for the industry, or may not.

It couldn’t be easier: answer 5 simple questions in less than 60 seconds. Whether this is your first, hundredth or last time visiting here, your opinion means much. We’ll close the survey in about three more weeks. Thanks.

– Noel Franus

Netflix, the leading US provider of DVDs by mail (and more recently, movies on demand via the web) has put a stake in the ground when it comes to customer service: no more emails with “we’ll get back to you.” No more outsourcing the problem to a faraway country where language barriers can damage customer perceptions. No more oft-ineffective call-center-computers. All customer service issues are now routed directly to Netflix’s 100% human customer-service line, just outside Portland, Oregon.

Full story in the New York Times:

“Netflix’s decision to eliminate the e-mail feature was made after a great deal of research, Mr. Osier (VP, IT and Customer Service) said. He looked at two other companies with reputations for superb phone-based customer service, Southwest Airlines and American Express, and saw that customers preferred human interaction over e-mail messages. “My assessment was that a world-class e-mail program was still going to be consistently lower in quality and effectiveness than a phone program,” he said.”

Curious to see if the proof was in the pudding, I dialed them up. They promised a live human in 3 minutes, but actually delivered a live voice in under 10 seconds. This from a company that’s watching a well-heeled competitor (Blockbuster) creeping in on its turf and needs as many differentiators as it can get.

In this case, sound is the customer service — what’s done on the phone has a direct, immediate impact on brand perceptions and reputation. If Netflix isn’t betting the farm on the power of sound as a key channel in its customer experience, they’re at least betting most the cows and a chicken or two.

So…inevitably, this begs the question: how’s it going with your company, clients or notable household brands? Have you had to call your customer-service line lately, and if so, what sort of an impression were you left with? If things aren’t up to snuff, follow the lead of Netflix, as I’m sure they’ll innovate as the market demands.

(And should you need a world-class vendor to create a measurably improved customer experience, I may be able to recommend one. Wink.)

Photo credit: lilbear

The world of psychoacoustics is heating up lately, not only in our specific audio-branding field of work, but in the larger public sphere as well — it’s a topic that coworkers and friends alike seem to enjoy. Fortunately writers like Daniel Levitin and a handful of others are exploring the music-mind connection in a more approachable way than we’ve seen before. And now you or I no longer need a PhD to understand a little about the brain’s response to sound. We just need a sense of curiosity and a library card.

So, for those of you who are, indeed, curious and have a few bucks (or that library card), Oliver Sacks’ latest work is sure to please. Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain is due in the US this fall. Sneak preview:

“Music can move us to the heights or depths of emotion. It can persuade us to buy something, or remind us of our first date. It can lift us out of depression when nothing else can. It can get us dancing to its beat. But the power of music goes much, much further. Indeed, music occupies more areas of our brain than language does—humans are a musical species.”

Audio bonus: the New Yorker has a 10-minute audio overview (MP3). Give it a listen and enjoy.

…or so says Ford’s global chief for product development Derrick M. Kuzak in BusinessWeek:

“Customers are incredibly attuned to the sounds of quality, but we weren’t, and I think it was costing us.” Read on.

Moral of the story: the art and science of engineering brand perceptions is a highly nuanced business. Sound is certainly one of those nuances, and when it affects perceptions of quality, each person in the organization must articulate the values of the brand in their area of focus.

And that, good friends, is why BMW hires over 200 acoustic engineers to calibrate the sounds of their car doors, engine sounds and so on.

[Photo credit: Otterman56.]

BusinessWeek media bonus: The Sound of a Brand, as evidenced in mostly product-function sounds. Interesting — this is moment-of-truth material; no matter how much advertising or marketing you pour into promoting your product, true brand perceptions succeed or fail depending on how well the products themselves actually perform. Here’s what some brands sound like amidst the hands-on experience.

It’s Friday — I’m turning off my brain and enjoying the music.

Six Degrees Records has a new release featuring the stirring vocals of ten-years-deceased Qawalli superstar Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan set to new dub-reggae tracks by electronica-dub-mixoligist Gaudi.

The combination, called Dub Qawwali, is chilling but chill-out; familiar yet newly intriguing; global and western; and utterly addictive. I’ve been listening to it all week, and it’s worth passing the word.

Over at sixdegreesrecords.com they’re offering a free song download (it’s one of the best on the album) plus obviously the full album via download or CD. Enjoy.

(PS — just found an NPR story, airing today, on the project. Includes the fascinating story on the effort and an interview with Gaudi…who clearly had his work cut out for him. The word is out.)