Intentional | Audio Identity Blog

Happy new year! This past year has been a remarkable 365 days for those of us in the business of audio branding, sonic branding and audio identity. In 2007, colleagues and clients alike have fortunately expressed expectations well beyond the level of novelty…interest and money isn’t going into audio branding because it’s cool or new. It’s going into audio branding because sound is increasingly understood as a valuable tool for communicating a brand and its intentions.

Why? As you know, things are changing. Where, how and what brands communicate is something we all thought we’ve had figured out for the last sixty-plus years (it’s in advertising and on the sales floor, right?) but now that our world has become increasingly fragmented and our media ever more one-to-one, all we know for sure is that nothing’s for sure. People don’t watch as much TV as they used to. Product experiences drive perceptions. Personal, mobile media is both the present and the future, yet most of us barely even know what that means, really.

Brands that must stay front of mind understand that having a well-constructed audio brand strategy provides a comprehensive, cover-your-bets approach to future brand identification and communication. Some of the reasons why are probably familiar to you by now: music, sound, voice and silence can alter behaviors in ways that nothing else can; sound communicates when and where visuals can’t; unique, proprietary sounds are unforgettable (in ways we can’t escape, like it or not); and music is an ideal vehicle for audience/customer engagement and collaboration. Perhaps most importantly, music can communicate in mere moments what words, images and visuals often take minutes or longer to achieve.

The list of benefits goes on, but the takeaway is simple: the delivery and consumption of media will always be in flux. And brand-savvy companies looking to create meaning amidst the cacaphony must leverage every tool in their toolbox for doing so.

I’m thrilled to have worked, in 2007, with brands that get this. It’s not even that they’re the most innovative among peer brands (though, of course, they are ;-); it’s that they have their act together well enough to see the future, understand it somewhat, and plan for it now. Those that can’t or don’t do the same will be left scrambling. (I don’t quite know, yet, what the sound of scrambling is, but I can assure you that it’s not pleasant.)

So there you have it, a last post and the end of the year. If audio branding is your business, too, then I’m sure you’ve experienced this as well. No doubt you’re excited about the new year and beyond.

A new year which, by the way, will kick off with a five-things-to-watch-for-in-2008 piece here at this site. I’ll follow that up in mid-January with the second of a two-part article series at the AIGA Gain website. (The first, Building Brand Value Through the Strategic Use of Sound, provided an introductory overview of audio branding and identity; this upcoming second piece is a real-world, client case-study for a brand we know and love.) All of which will be followed by yet more surprises.

So stay tuned. Get in touch (noel at intentional audio dot com). And keep in touch. Here’s to more good things to come in 2008.

– Noel Franus

Photo by Joachim S Müller

Shining a little sonic spotlight on a new organization: Ear to the Earth, a group whose aims go well beyond art for art’s sake — they have a problem to solve, and it’s a big one.

Ear to the Earth is an organization that aims to engage the public in environmental issues through environmental sound and sound art. It’s a new idea. And it’s an important idea. Listening can get people involved. Listening is close and personal. And we believe that by connecting people with the sounds of the world, we can involve people in what’s happening to the world.

Multimedia bonus from their website: Bernie Krause, one of the leading researchers on the “noises of nature” provides a sonic peek at the sounds of a jaguar in the wild, practically sitting atop Krause’s microphones. Grab your great speakers or headphones and turn it up:

Stunning, beautiful, haunting, superlative. Awareness-raising, for sure.

– Noel Franus

Heading into a long holiday weekend, the commerce amps up and the opportunities to step back and reflect on things that matter become increasingly rare. Steve Duin sets a useful tone for the break in this very readworthy column.

Snip:

…When it comes to the full-court press of the Nordstrom clerks, the metallic howl of the Salvation Army bells, or the tone-deaf quarrel between the ordinary and the uninspired, I am in full retreat.

Maybe it’s a matter of balance. While there’s more resonance in giving than getting at this time of year, the darkest and shortest of days, we all know we’re at the receiving end of something simple and profound. And we are waiting — and listening — for the quiet reminder of what rests at the heart of the reunion.

– Noel Franus