Intentional | Audio Identity Blog

The Singing Revolution looks like a hit — this is the story of 30,000 Estonians who quite literally sang their way to freedom. Matt Zoller Seitz of the The New York Times sums it up best:

“Imagine the scene in ‘Casablanca’ in which the French patrons sing ‘La Marseillaise’ in defiance of the Germans, then multiply its power by a factor of thousands, and you’ve only begun to imagine the force of ‘The Singing Revolution’.”

Coming soon to a theater near you…

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.)

I have to admit I’m sometimes a snob when it comes to what to discuss here at the site: concepts like the power of music or the power of sound aren’t exactly my value-add, given that there are plenty of experts (musicians, academics, etc.) already discussing these things, and they’re usually far more articulate than me. Dabble as I may, I usually try to avoid going there.

So I write about what I know: the strategic use of sound to build brand value — the careful mapping of the what, where, when, why, how (and sometimes even the how much) companies can and should use sound to leverage the woefully untapped relationship between people and sound. Depending on the client’s situation, strategy engagements can cover brand strategy, market research, customer research/ethnography, usability testing, and plenty of workshopping. And that’s even before we get to the sound itself; unlike the sometimes spontaneous act of creating music for art’s sake, this is a matter of planning, of discovering where you want to go and charting an intentional course for getting there.

If you’re still with me, you’re of a like mind. And you may very well appreciate the value that an account planner brings to an advertisement; the value a conductor brings to a performance; or the value an architect brings to the built environment. It’s not always necessarily the difference between failure and success — but it’s often the difference between success and grand success.

I recently came across one of John Groves’ Brand Sounds podcasts, out of Hamburg, and was delightfully suprised to find that Groves is, without a doubt, of a like mind as well. I’ll stay strictly on-topic here — no chit-chat about NPR or water gurglers of the Amazon — and point you to a recent Brand Sounds vidcast in which Groves expands on the comparable relationship between “sound strategy” and architects. Enjoy — and thanks to Groves for spreading the gospel of audio identity.

Podcast: Slate music critic Jody Rosen and cultural editor Julia Turner explore the musical aesthetic of Starbucks.

It’s an interesting conversation if you spend any time in coffeeshops, and moreso if you consider the two-pronged role Starbucks plays as both a coffeeshop and cultural ambassador: the music you hear in the retail space is carefully calibrated to open you to influence; and the CDs for sale at the counter serve to reinforce your perception of the Starbucks brand as an acceptable tastemaker. The former sells coffee, and the latter sells culture. One is a profitable product, the other a profitable relationship. Smart.

Also of interest:

• The hosts suggest there aren’t any living black musicians on the Starbucks HearMusic label. Perhaps they overlooked worldy diva Angelique Kidjo. (Though one certainly ain’t much.)
• You won’t necessarily hear some of SHM’s own CDs actually playing in stores because, well, not all good music is helpful in a retail environment. Don’t want to scare anyone away.
• Which leads us to the indie aesthetic: just as independent musicians and labels will push artistic boundaries long before a major label usually does, independent coffeehouses are usually a bit more willing to actually play innovative, boundaries-pushing music before a Starbucks would.
• (Obvious followup: what is the sound of an independent coffeeshop, versus Monolith Coffeehaus, and how does that affect perception/reputation/brand? For another day…)

Do cell phone companies intentionally add minutes to your calls with those slow, lengthy “to leave a voice message, press 1″ instructions? David Pogue has your answer (scroll to the bottom).

Time for me to stop collecting links and start sharing.

Listeningtowords.com allows you to search for or browse lectures online. Educational, TED, PopTech, whatever…

Perfect for drivetime. Me, I’ve already found a batch of promising lectures by Daniel Barenboim: “In the beginning was sound,” “The Neglected Sense,” The Power of Music” and so on:

10 minutes into the first Barenboim lecture I’m cued in on the relationship between sound and silence. “With silence, notes die. And this is the beginning of the tragic element in music.”

Looking forward to watching this service grow.

I’ve written in the past about the role of sound in physical environments. Most of that’s been in the theoretical, with a few pointers to some idea-seeding examples. Well, let’s take it to the next step…coming soon to a venue near you: the Future of Sound, led by Martyn Ware (of Heaven 17, Human League and the Illustrious Company).

“The idea was a spin-off from work Ware was doing with a fellow alderman of electronic music, Erasure’s Vince Clarke. “We were developing a three-dimensional sound system that basically allows you to put people inside sounds: instead of stereo, which just moves sound from left to right, the computers move sound in height and depth so you feel like you’re on a roller-coaster.

“When I was demonstrating it, I was meeting all these people working on other really innovative projects and I wanted to find a way to bring them all together and take these ideas to a mass audience.” (More on those innovative projects in The Register…)

Perhaps not coincidentally, Martyn also codirects Sonic ID, one of earth’s leading audio-branding agencies, in conjunction with Daniel Kirby of DKPM. They’re doing great work and I see them as partners with a handful of other agencies in growing the practice of audio branding and sonic identity development around the globe.

If you’ve had conversations with me about good or “intentional” audio branding, or found your way to our home page (and dared read through it all), then you know I’m a big fan of using an audio identity in an intentional manner, everywhere the brand lives.

So what’s that mean, really? Well, here’s a visual example. It’s a simple way for understanding some of the touchpoints that most companies use — this is how we already communicate with our customers, prospects and the rest of the world. We’re either doing a good job at it or we’re not.

So, the one-minute exercise today, class, is to pick a company you know well, look at the touchpoints map, and listen up. Consider all the ways in which you’ve experienced sound (or an intentional lack of it) with this brand. And ask:

1. Are any of those touchpoints are sonically strong? Negative? Neutral? Delightful? Offputting?
2. Do any of these sonic touchpoints connect in a way that’s consistent, compelling and differentiating? Do they serve the brand’s best interests? Or detract from them? Are these opportunities gained, or opportunities lost?

Happy listening. Oh, and feel free to substitute touchpoints…this list is far from definitive.

Coming soon: a look at the promotional, behavioral, and strategic aspects of an intentional audio identity. Meantime, don’t be shy. We’re new here, so feel free to spread the word and/or share your thoughts.