For years, when marketers broached the subject of audio branding, the discussion centered on commercial jingles — those catchy ditties that have helped companies deliver brand messages in an engaging, tuneful way. But these days, the use of short sound bites as a strategic brand management tool is fast becoming a critical component of the integrated marketing mix.

From Intel’s four-note audio signature to the distinctive Yahoo! yodel to Mazda’s snappy “Zoom, Zoom” sonic logo, audio branding provides more than just an adjunct to visual messaging. “This is about more than recall,” says Paul Bello, head of brand strategy and development for London-based Sound2 Ltd., one of the U.K.’s leading producers of sonic branding. “The benefits of audio branding also include the emotional stimulation of people to help drive affinity for your brand.”

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As audio branding moves beyond traditional media, to the Internet, mobile devices, and the out-of-home space, it is expected to grow in significance. What’s driving much of the interest in audio branding, experts say, is the realization that, in a media-saturated world, appealing to a single sense is no longer enough. “If you try to attract consumers using only one sense you may get 5 to 10 percent of people to remember your brand. But if you add a second sense, you will lift that to 20–25 percent,” says Graham Lamb, operations director for the Lindstrom Co., the New York/London–based brand consultancy founded by Martin Lindstrom, author of BRAND Sense. “The more senses you incorporate into your branding, the better your chances of having people remember your messaging.”

Bill Nygren, president and creative director of Toronto-based Boom Sonic Branding, says his firm recently developed an audio logo for Canadian utility Toronto Hydro Telecom to help build brand awareness for the utility’s expanded service offerings. The 2.5-second audio logo created such a buzz that Toronto Hydro Telecom now uses it in virtually all of its advertising. It has even become a popular ringtone for employees’ mobile phones. Although Nygren says it’s hard to determine the exact return on investment, he does stress that audio branding is a surprisingly powerful, and cost-effective, integrated marketing communications technique.

A Sound Strategy Is Key
Despite the promise that audio branding holds, 95 percent of companies have either a misguided strategy or none at all, says Martin Pazzani, CEO and president of New York–based Elias Arts, which has helped more than 700 of the Fortune 1000 companies use the power of music and sound to launch, grow, and reposition their brands. “The end result is a less-than-optimal use and in some cases a complete misuse of audio in marketing,” he notes. “Without a plan, people are subject to treating music as an afterthought.”

This lack of understanding often leads to costly missteps. Pazzani points to the practice of licensing a popular song for a brand rather than working with professionals to develop original music or sound. Depending on the usage rights, experts say the cost to license a hit song can easily reach $1 million, while hiring a music production company to compose an original piece can run anywhere from $20,000 to $100,000 — or more.

Julian Treasure, chairman of the London-based Sound Agency and author of the book Sound Business, warns marketers that, as tempting as it may be to use a classic song by Led Zeppelin or the Beatles, there is no guarantee the tune will have a positive impact on a company’s brand identity marketing. “You can do all the demographic research you like, but it’s not going to help you select a perfect track that will resonate in the same way for every consumer,” he says. “The great thing about an original composition is that you don’t have those associations — you own it from the start. The only association is with your brand.”

That said, an original audio composition, be it a song, a ringtone, a natural sound, or a jingle, must fit with your overall branding program, says Ron Erak, president of Seattle-based GMI Media, which provides audio services for radio, TV, and advertising. “You don’t want to simply hand this over to a musician who might create something that’s clever but completely inappropriate for your brand or your target audience,” he points out. “You want people who understand your brand strategy and the impact the audio will have on consumers.”

More Affordable than You Think
For many small and midsize companies, audio branding is regarded as an extravagant expense, but there are ways to build a cost-effective audio strategy. “Good audio branding doesn’t have to be fully orchestrated or have a lot of activity,” Erak points out. “It can be as simple as a few notes on a bell or a solo voice or a solo instrument.”

The best way to save money with an audio strategy, Erak asserts, is to think ahead. “If you realize that your audio brand is going to last for a few years with the same theme, you can do different versions — including a few for the holidays — all in one session, with different kinds of mix-outs and different instrumentation,” he says.

For companies that cannot afford to hire a high-end audio branding consultant, many sound experts offer one-day seminars in major cities, says Bello, of Sound2 Ltd. At these events, brand managers can learn not only how audio branding works, but also what sound strategy might work best for their company.

Even if you can’t incorporate audio branding into an integrated marketing communications program, you can begin to craft your company’s audio identity by picking the right sound for your office waiting room or on-hold phone music. “As long as it’s well thought out, audio branding doesn’t necessarily have to be costly,” Lamb says. “But it does need to be cleverly [approached].”

A World of Promise
Going forward, the real opportunities for audio branding may lie in physical spaces and retail outlets. With directional speaker technology, for example, a company can now use sound to market to one person in front of a shop, and Bluetooth technology allows a company to beam audio branding messages directly to mobile devices. Nygren also points to the growing use of audio logos in “blink advertising,” those one- to three-second spaces between TV and radio commercials.

Treasure says these new opportunities allow companies to use more than song snippets. “We’re often using natural sounds such as bird songs or running water,” he notes. “Partly it’s an expression of a brand and partly it’s to create a space that’s just more pleasant to be in and that helps to increase sales.”

Thinking beyond the obvious is critical with audio branding. Elias Arts worked with Yahoo! on its now-familiar yodel, which Pazzani says not only added some clever irreverence to the company’s brand messaging, but also helped humanize the technology behind it. “By getting savvier about audio, you can create better brand recognition that really cuts through the clutter,” he says.

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