Strategic Use of Sound in Branding
Strategic use of sound in branding is often the missing piece for marketing teams focused heavily on visuals. Many branding professionals carefully craft logos, colour schemes, and taglines, yet overlook how their brand sounds. If you close your eyes and listen to your brand’s content, does it have a consistent audio identity, or is it an afterthought? This post explores why sound deserves a strategic place in branding and how it can yield real ROI, trust, and recall boosts for your business.
Common Pitfalls in Audio Branding
Marketers frequently encounter challenges when incorporating music or sound into campaigns. Here are some common pitfalls in audio branding that hold brands back:
- Inconsistent Music Choices: Each campaign uses a different track or genre, leading to a disjointed brand sound. Without guidelines, a brand might sound playful in one ad and sombre in the next, confusing audiences.
- “Demo-itis” (Temp Love): Teams fall in love with a temporary demo track used during editing. When it’s time to replace it with licensed or original music, nothing ever “feels” as right. This attachment to a demo’s feel can derail the search for the proper track.
- Budget Constraints and Stock Audio: With limited budgets, marketers resort to generic stock music. The result is audio that’s unremarkable or used by countless others, offering no unique identity. Low investment in sound means low impact.
- Last-Minute Sound Decisions: Sound is treated as an add-on in the final stages of production. Rushed choices – like picking a popular song hoping it fits – can lead to a mismatch in tone or expensive licensing issues. Sound should never be merely an incident of timing.
These pitfalls illustrate why a more intentional approach to brand sound is needed. Instead of scrambling for a track, brands should think of sound as a core element of their identity.
Why Sonic Branding Needs Strategy, Not Serendipity
Too often, choosing music for an ad or a video is left to serendipity, a random catchy song or whatever is trending. It’s time to rethink sound as a branding tool. Sonic branding is the strategic development of sound assets (from jingles and sonic logos to voice and ambient soundscapes) that align with your brand’s personality. In other words, it’s about having a brand sound strategy rather than hoping a cool song will magically do the job.
A strategic approach means defining how your brand should sound from the start, much like you define visuals and messaging. This involves understanding your brand’s values and audience, then crafting audio elements that consistently reflect that across all touchpoints. For example, an upbeat, youthful brand might have a modern, energetic sound palette, while a luxury brand might use refined, soothing tones. The key is intentionality, using sound on purpose to convey meaning.
Why bother with this level of planning? Because research and industry leaders reinforce that strategic sound pays off. Nielsen studies show that advertisements with well-chosen music perform significantly better in audience recall than those without
Sonic branding needs strategy, not serendipity. Brands wouldn’t randomly change their logo for each campaign; similarly, your audio presence should be consistent and deliberate. By treating sound as a planned asset, brands ensure that every audience interaction, be it a TV commercial, a social media clip, or a point-of-sale experience, reinforces a unified auditory identity. This strategic consistency leads to stronger brand recognition through sound and a deeper emotional connection with your audience.
The Measurable Impact of Sound Identity
Is investing in a sound identity really worth it? Absolutely, and the results are measurable. In the past, audio branding’s benefits were considered hard to quantify, but new data proves otherwise. Here are some key stats and findings that underscore the ROI and brand value gains from strategic audio branding:
- Boost in Brand Trust: A unique sonic identity doesn’t just sound nice, it builds trust. In fact, a Nielsen study found that a distinctive brand sound can increase consumer brand trust by as much as 63% when compared to brands with no ownable audio signature. People tend to feel more confident and familiar with a brand that they can instantly recognise by sound.
- ROI Uplift: Investing in audio yields concrete returns. According to industry research, reallocating a small portion of media spend to audio can improve campaign ROI significantly – one analysis showed up to a 23–24% improvement in return on ad spend with the right audio strategy
bizjournals.com. For marketers on tight budgets, this uplift is hard to ignore; a well-crafted sonic branding element can make all your advertising more effective for the cost. - Higher Recall and Recognition: Sound drives memory. Brand recognition through sound is extremely powerful, studies by TikTok’s marketing science team revealed that brand recall is 8 times higher when content features distinctive brand sounds versus when it relies on visuals alone
alistdaily.com. Similarly, audio-only ads on Spotify were found to achieve 24% greater recall than display ads universalproductionmusic.com. These figures mean consumers are far more likely to remember your brand later if they heard a signature sound or music associated with it. - Emotional and Purchase Impact: It’s not just about remembering, it’s about feeling. A cohesive audio strategy has been linked to higher favourable sentiment and even purchase intent. Studies show brands that effectively leverage their audio have seen substantial sales growth, with some businesses experiencing increases of up to 400%, according to Veza Digital. Sound engages emotions faster than visuals, creating positive associations that translate into brand loyalty and action.
From trust to recall to ROI, the evidence is clear: strategic use of sound amplifies brand performance. By developing a sound identity, you turn audio from a background element into a value-driving asset. It’s a shift from incidental use of music to intentional sonic identity with real business benefits.
How WithFeeling Helps Brands Find Their Voice (And Sound)
This is where WithFeeling comes in. As a sonic branding agency, WithFeeling’s role is to help brands utilise sound intentionally, not incidentally. Instead of picking random tunes or stock sounds, WithFeeling guides you through a strategic process to define and create your brand’s unique audio identity.
Our team begins by understanding your brand DNA, its values, story, and audience. Through a collaborative and strategic sound workshop, we identify what your brand should sound like. Is it warm and friendly, bold and innovative, or elegant and serene? These insights inform the creation of a bespoke audio toolkit for your brand.
WithFeeling’s services cover the full spectrum needed for a holistic sound identity. This includes crafting a memorable sonic logo (a short signature sound like Intel’s chime or Netflix’s “ta-dum”), composing original music themes that can be used across campaigns, and designing soundscapes or sound design elements for various touchpoints (think the noise a device makes when you interact with an app, or ambient music in a physical store). We also consider brand voices, the voice-over talent and tone that matches your brand persona – as part of the sonic strategy. All these elements form a consistent audio palette that listeners come to associate uniquely with your company.
Crucially, WithFeeling approaches audio branding with the same rigor as visual branding. We develop sonic guidelines for how and where to use your sound assets, ensuring every campaign or platform has that thread of familiarity. Whether it’s a radio ad, a TikTok clip, or an in-store experience, your brand’s sound remains “on-brand.” By partnering with a specialist like WithFeeling, brands move from ad-hoc music choices to a cohesive sound strategy that fuels brand growth. (As our Sonic Branding service mantra says, “once heard, never forgotten” – that’s the goal of every sonic identity we create.)
The result of this intentional approach is that your brand doesn’t just use sound, it owns a sound. You gain an asset that makes your brand instantly recognizable and emotionally resonant. Instead of your marketing being silent or forgettable in the audio sense, it starts to sing (sometimes literally!). WithFeeling has helped numerous brands, from tech startups to global enterprises, find their voice through sound – boosting their recognition, trust, and engagement in the process.
Make Your Brand Heard
It’s time to reframe how we think about branding assets. We all know a logo and a tagline are crucial, but a sonic identity can be just as powerful. Sound isn’t a mere add-on or a creative experiment, it’s a high-impact brand asset that deserves a strategic place in your branding toolkit. In a world where consumers are bombarded with content, a distinctive sound can cut through the noise (pun intended) and stick in memory.
Imagine your customers hearing a certain melody or sound and immediately thinking of your brand, just as vividly as seeing your logo. That kind of audio association builds loyalty and recall in a way visuals alone often can’t achieve. The strategic use of sound in branding turns every listener interaction into an opportunity to reinforce who you are and what you stand for, all within a few notes or tones.
Don’t let your brand go unheard. Now is the perfect time to give your brand a voice and a soundtrack that resonates. WithFeeling is here to help you every step of the way, from crafting that perfect sonic logo to developing a full suite of audio assets that amplify your brand story. Ready to unlock the potential of sound for your business? Get in touch with WithFeeling’s sonic branding experts and let’s make your brand heard in the best possible way.
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