Boost recall and build an identity for your B2B brand using sonic branding
Music helps you achieve strong brand awareness and consumer connection
B2B brands can use sound to differentiate their products and services, create preference among consumers, and build trust, resulting in increased sales and ROI.
Businesses must create a unique, consistent sound across touchpoints - such as on-hold music, ring tones, and webinars. Users can quickly identify a brand when they experience a consistent experience.
In competitive markets, sonic branding is essential for brands because it allows them to strike an emotional chord with their audiences. In addition, a consistent brand experience helps brands develop a unique, strong personality.
Music and sound tell stories and ensure emotional connections for B2B branding.
WithFeeling CMO Joe Dickinson is a maestro when it comes to sonic branding. His highly acclaimed work has touched the lives of billions of people, from sonic logos and identity packages for major brands to theme music for films and television programs, from signature sounds for digital devices and call centres to aural atmospherics for conferences and retail locations.
As Co-Founder and Lead Composer of WithFeeling, a Dubai-based company founded in 2022, Joe has worked with producers and composers, including Greg Wells (Greatest Showman) and Kevin Churko (Celine Dion). Joe has also worked with performing artists like Mayssa Karaa and Hussain Al Jassmi. WithFeeling has created music for brands such as Google, Expo City Dubai, Oreo, Rovio, Etisalat and the UAE Government.
Joe's work revolves mainly around brand strategy. His team's aim is not so much to please the ears of audiences as to create emotional connections and illuminate the "story" of a brand through sound and music.
He sees sonic branding as the strategic use of music and sound to build brands. Most old-style jingles had the same music and sound; the tagline and hooky things to remember were geared toward the positioning. Music and sound are used strategically to build this high level of branding that will carry a company forward for decades and years to come.
We're now also seeing unique new thinking coming from the business side.
Brands exist on multiple platforms, from products to digital apps and Web interfaces to sponsorships and spaces. This is the sort of "why now?".
Much of the work we do with B2B companies starts with employees and how we can transform how employees connect with companies using B2B Sonic Branding.
We're working with a healthcare brand in the B2B space. The project is national in scope. A hotel chain is also partnering with us, focusing on its business clientele. We create sonic strategies for these companies. In addition to creating sounds, we’ve developed a sonic strategy based on the brand strategy. It's no secret that visual and verbal identities significantly influence how B2B brands connect with their customers. Sonic completes the picture by determining how the brand should sound everywhere for business customers, so we developed ownable sonic identity elements.
The concept of building a brand from the inside out is interesting. But often, you are doing the work for the executive or marketing department.
In most cases, we deal with companies that are in the process of transforming their brands. It doesn't matter if they have a new paradigm for business or if they need to refocus on some of their core values and work those with their employees. From there, they will go to their customers, investors, and all other stakeholders as they rebuild their brand from the inside out. Working with employees first is often the most powerful and authentic way to develop a sonic strategy.
Stand out from the crowd.
The challenge becomes, "how do you stand out and stay front of mind" when there is so much B2B content? It helps to use different music from everyone else. Library music is expected to underpin a large portion of this content. Because a lot of this music is sourced centrally, 'recurring sounds' appear across B2B industries. It's not uncommon for competitors to use the same piece of music in their films. You can find exceptional library music, but you have to know how to sound original to find it.
B2B brands can differentiate themselves by creating a sonic identity and integrating it into a branded music library. In addition to being original, the music should possess a familiar sonic essence that builds brand equity and promotes recall.
Silence is our white space. For instance, if you don't have enough white space in print design, the content really doesn't mean anything. As with additional information or additional design, extra sounds are the enemy.
We all experience sound and can learn from it and apply it to our lives.
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