“I just heard some sonic branding that blew me away.”
— John Smeddle
Did it contain rich and lavish orchestral movements which elevated the status of the brand it was, um, sonicking?
No.
Did it infuse audio cues from user experience, layered upon a simple but memorable three note tune?
No.
Did it do anything, in fact, to add an acoustic dimension to the set of visual guidelines established for the brand in question?
No.
Couldn’t have been much of a sonic branding thing then, could it?
Except…
It simply and joyfully celebrated the presence and value of each and every customer visiting the website.
Don’t get me wrong. Although sonic branding has been with us for a very long time, its place in the sun has definitely arrived and the investment to be made in it is like, well, putting your money on black – and there’s only black. Right now, you can view about a hundred online articles written in the past week about sonic branding. As a writer who adores writing radio ads, I find myself extremely pleased that the power of sound is finally being taken out for a spin to reveal its true engagement potential.
But when I heard the sonic branding that’s the subject of this piece, I realised that every article I’ve read lacked one important ingredient.
The need for a big idea.
I’m not talking about the type of stunt such as perching an Emirates Cabin crew member on top of Burj Khalifa with an A380 soaring past behind her; the sonic equivalent being swelling orchestras with strings and clashing of cymbals.
I’m talking about a much, much bigger idea. An idea that’s kinda like a brand playing cupid and releasing a love arrow straight into the listener’s heart. The sonic equivalent of that, is the audio pneumonic accompanying the Your Bazaar logo in certain applications.
It’s bloody genius.
Yes, yes, I know sonic branding is so much greater than just a sound on a logo. And so do the folks at the company who devised the Your Bazaar mnemonic. Their impressive portfolio bears testament to that.
The company is called WithFeeling and in an age where AI is providing loads of marketing and advertising ‘solutions’, it’s refreshing to see a company who uses AI as a tool and not a crutch.
The result? A piece of sonic branding that leads the perception of a brand, rather than just supports it.
Feed any amount of data into the most advanced generative AI platform, and it would never come up with this idea.
It’s too human.
So to Chris, Joe and the team at WithFeeling, mabrouk on living up to your name. No, I’m not telling the rest of you what the big idea is. Have a look at the video.
And don’t be fooled by its simplicity. Therein lies its genius.
Sonic Branding That Connects
Written by John Smeddle
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