Sonic Branding | Page 5

The only way to guarantee EXCLUSIVITY is to create something custom and secure rights to that product in perpetuity. There are plenty of other reasons you should be considering custom music for your branding purposes beyond the exclusive nature of doing so.

 COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE 

Custom music can help to differentiate your brand from competitors. According to a study by Sonic Branding Solutions, 79% of consumers prefer ads with music tailored to the brand rather than generic stock music.

 IMPROVED BRAND PERCEPTION 

A survey by the Music Dealers found that 87% of consumers felt that using custom music in advertising made the brand more appealing. Custom music can help to create an emotional connection with the audience, which can improve their perception of the brand.

 INCREASED SALES 

A study by the University of Miami found that music can increase the perceived value of a product, leading to higher sales. Custom music can help to create a unique and memorable experience for consumers, which can increase the perceived value of your product or service.

 INCREASED BRAND RECALL 

According to a study by Nielsen, custom music can increase brand recall by up to 96%. This means that using custom music can make your brand more memorable to consumers.

 HIGHER ENGAGEMENT 

According to a study by the Society for New Communications Research, custom music can increase engagement with content by up to 65%. This means that using custom music in marketing and media can help to keep consumers interested and engaged with your content.

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Sonic Branding | Page 4

CREATING AN
EXCLUSIVE
SOUND

So, what are the ingredients in creating a good sonic brand?

The number one ingredient is exclusivity.

I can say with confidence that there is no one thing more important than exclusivity. You can have the most perfect sound, melody, tone, song, etc. but as soon as someone else uses it, it’s no longer YOUR brand. Necessary disclaimer here: I am the creative director for a company that creates custom music and a large part of our business is sonic branding. I have a dog in this fight but it doesn’t change the facts. Let’s go back to Netflix for a moment because it seems like everyday there’s a new streaming platform that we need to subscribe to.

Netflix is arguably the 800 pound gorilla in that space. Say, for the sake of argument, a smaller streaming platform that was in the market before Netflix came around had a similarly cool mnemonic that accompanied their logo. Then here comes Netflix with their billions of subscribers and they say “hmmm, that’s a cool sound, let’s just use that with our logo”. Do you think it will matter that our other guy was using it first? The answer is no. As soon as Netflix started using it they diluted any connection that may have been associated with the other service.

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Sonic Branding | Page 3

THE POWER OF Sonic BRANDING

So, what makes sonic branding so powerful? Let’s go back to the NBC chimes for the answer. It’s repetition. Success in this area is simple. The only real requirement is commitment.

Anyone who’s ever created anything for someone else knows that’s easier said than done. Getting any one person to commit to something as subjective as a custom sound can be a challenge. Getting a group of people or a boardroom full of people to make that commitment is the branding equivalent to summiting Everest.

It’s easy to think of the NBC chimes now, after nearly 100 years of use, as creative brilliance. Or to hear the Netflix “duh DUM” when that bright red N emblazons our TV screens and think “Wow, that’s really something special” but if we step back for a second and listen to what’s really going on, it’s not that special. What makes it special is the effect it has on us. We don’t need to even be in the same room to know that the Netflix app has just launched and I better get in there if I want to have a say in what we’re going to be watching tonight. If you click on the Netflix app on your smart TV or computer and you don’t get the “duh DUM” it’s only a matter of seconds before you’re clicking around madly and asking yourself, “What’s going on? Why isn’t this loading? Who messed up the TV!!!!?”

It’s the commitment Netflix has made to this sound and the way they’ve used it that gives it this connection.

Now, on top of that, it’s a pretty great execution as well. As someone who does this stuff for a living, I often think, “I wish I had made that one.”

At this point you might be thinking that if all it takes is repetition, an investment in time to build equity in a sound, a commitment to just hammering it over the heads of my audience until they can’t remove themselves from it… then I can just go out on the street with the voice memo app on my phone and make up a sonic brand right? Maybe… but remember that part about getting other people on board? It’s probably not going to be easy to get a business owner to believe that two burps and a hum played over and over with their logo is going to drum up business. Sure, it’ll create a connection but probably not a good one.

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Sonic Branding | Page 2

FAMILIAR

SONIC

BRANDING

Perhaps the best known sonic brand of modern time is the NBC chimes. Just 3 notes G, E, C. They didn’t even set out to create a mnemonic. Originally developed in 1927 as seven notes, they were standardized to the current three-note version by the early 1930s. The chimes were originally developed as an audible programming cue, used to alert network control engineers and the announcers at NBC’s radio network affiliates. Today, it’s recognized as the gold standard of sonic branding. Not for its creative genius—it’s a triad for crying out loud! The endurance and longevity is what all other examples of sonic branding wish to achieve. The subliminal connection that those 3 notes have to the NBC brand is undeniable.

There are other well known examples that don’t have nearly as long a run as the NBC chimes. Intel might be a runner up in “the best known examples of mnemonic devices” race. For 20+ years we’ve heard those 5 notes referred to, affectionately, as the intel bong, at the end of every single ad for Intel.

Relative newcomers like Netflix and T-mobile are quickly becoming just as ubiquitous. A recent television campaign for T-mobile customers having free streaming of Netflix on their service featured dueling mnemonics for the companies. I wasn’t in the room when this was pitched but I don’t think anyone was worried that people “wouldn’t get it”.

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Sonic Branding | Page 1

AN INTRODUCTION TO

SONIC

BRANDING

The Strategic Use of Custom Sound and Music

INTRODUCTION

Whether or not we’re conscious of it, we are surrounded and bombarded by sonic branding every single day.

From television network ID’s to corporate jingles to mnemonic devices, sonic branding is so deeply woven into the tapestry of our lives we hardly take notice of them anymore… until they’re missing that is.

Successful businesses of all sizes understand the importance of branding.

It’s an opportunity to define themselves. To make a connection with their potential customer and distinguish themselves from their competition. It’s not out of the ordinary for a business to have a slogan or catchphrase. Maybe a color palette that is consistent in their printed materials or a spokesperson who personifies that which makes their product appealing. But sonic branding? That’s just for the big guys right? The Netflix’s, T-Mobiles, Intel’s. Those brands with worldwide reach and worldwide competition.

Maybe not.

set of over-the-ears headphones with an audiogram behind it

In this paper we’ll explore what sonic branding is, why it’s important, and how even a small business can leverage the power of a sonic brand.

Sonic branding is the strategic use of custom sound as part of your brand identity. An effective sonic identity creates a meaningful connection with a brand through the power of sound.

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