1. Insights
Insights Executive Education
Power of sound in branding
How to reach your customers through sonic branding Interviewed by Meredyth McKenzie
S
ight is a powerful sense, but sound can For instance, the key tones on the cell phone
be even more powerful. may progressively generate the five tones in
And in marketing, sound is being the Nokia sogo. You want the consumer to
used more and more in branding campaigns be able to connect the sonic dots in the end,
as a way to reach consumers through their even if the forms of media are different.
computers, MP3 players or iPods, and cell One may vary the sonic characteristics in
phones. Sonic branding, as it’s called, allows many ways. For instance, one may create
a company to create an auditory identity, a series of tones that are ascending or de-
leading consumers to equate that particular scending, or vary the number of tones in a
sound with a particular product or service. sogo to match the number of letters or syl-
“The consumer is much more available in lables in the brand name. However, we also
the sonic interface today,” says Vijaykumar want to make sure that our brand sogo is not
Krishnan, assistant professor of marketing easily confused with those of other brands.
at Northern Illinois University. “You can shut Increasing the number of tones might ease
your eyes, but not your ears. Sonic interfaces some of this confusion but render it harder
are always available and, therefore, a sonic to recall. You have to determine how to bal-
branding message tends to work harder. At ance some of these things to create a spe-
the same time, it is less obtrusive, allowing cific auditory identity for the brand.
consumers to process the brand message Vijaykumar Krishnan
even when they are otherwise engaged.” Assistant professor of marketing What are some key things to keep in mind
Smart Business spoke with Krishnan Northern Illinois University when developing a sonic brand?
about how to develop an effective sonic
branding campaign to create both short- A 30-second commercial could cost any-
and long-term financial impacts at your where between $200,000 and $1 million, and
company. Corporate branding, where the brand value would have to be aired several times before
is more abstract and intangible, is another it has any impact. A considered sonic brand-
How does sonic branding work, and what are strong candidate for sonic branding. ing design can lead to fewer repetitions to
the associated benefits and risks? You may also use it in service branding, get to the same level of brand recall, thus
where services cannot be seen in the same influencing the costs. In other words, you
Sound can be innately suggestive of cer- way that a product can be seen, felt or want to make sure the design aspect of the
tain brand situations and experiences. For touched. How do you brand the service of a sonic logo is taken care of properly because
example, we automatically associate a shut- law firm, doctor, hospital, etc.? These are the this has financial implications. Further, com-
ter sound with a camera. Many cell phones type of situations where sound brings alive bining a visual campaign with an appropri-
produce the pseudo-shutter sound accom- and amplifies the brand experience. ate auditory campaign renders the brand
panying the click, even though they do not more authentic, helping build brand equity.
have the shutter mechanism, to create an How can a business implement sonic brand-
authentic brand experience. Here, the shut- ing and develop a sonic logo? What impact does sonic branding have on the
ter sound is innately associated with the long-term financial future of a corporation?
category so that the consumer experience Keep in mind that the sonic logo will be re-
is fluent. The consumer is not consciously peated many times over, so it should be like- If you look at brand equity numbers pub-
aware of the sonic element. However, a son- able. Research shows that likability is based lished by Interbrand each year, many of the
ic branding element that is not congruent on the choice and arrangement of the design top 25 brands such as Microsoft, Nokia and
to the product category can attract undue characteristics, such as the number, nature, Intel have access to and use a sonic inter-
attention and lead to consumer annoyance. quality of the tones and the instrumentation face. So there is a direct correlation between
Thus, it is important to consider appropriate- that you use. For example, major intervals companies using sonic branding and their
ness of the associated sonic elements. might give off a happy mood, while minor in- financial success.
tervals might give off a more somber mood. I find evidence for financial value in my
In what industries would sonic branding be It just depends on the message you’re trying experimental research. My research shows
most successful? to convey. A law firm might want to create that even for a low involvement product,
a feeling of dignity and respect, while The such as bread, changing the sonic logo at-
Overall, it’s relevant in any situation. How- Walt Disney Co. might want consumers to tached to the product can increase the con-
ever, sonic logos, or ‘sogos’ as I call them to feel more exuberant. sumer’s willingness to pay for that product
rhyme with logos, might be more beneficial You also want to implement the campaign by 17 percent. Thus, proper design of a
in situations where brand/product visual- across different forms of media. One needs sonic brand can have both short- and long-
ization is difficult — such as for ingredi- to keep the synergy going while making term implications on a company’s financial
ent brands. For example, the special Lycra some variations consistent with the medium. success. <<
stretch in the garment cannot be visualized,
but sonic branding may be able to bring it VIJAYKUMAR KRISHNAN is an assistant professor of marketing at Northern Illinois University. Reach him at (815) 753-6218 or
alive and draw attention to that ingredient. vkrishnanpalghat@niu.edu.
Insights Executive Education is brought to you by Northern Illinois University College of Business
© 2010 Smart Business Network Inc. Reprinted from the February 2010 issue of Smart Business Chicago